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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I got this super cute Halloween chocolate mold so I made a bunch of little Halloween chocolates.



But then I didn't know what to do with them, so I opted for making cupcakes for a pumpkin carving party that I was going to, and using the little chocolates as decorations. :)

Stacey's Pumpkin Cupcake Ingredients:
1c unbleached white flour, organic
3/4c whole wheat flour, organic
1/4c brown rice flour, organic
1tbs cornstarch
3/4c dark brown sugar, organic
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tbs cinnamon
1/2tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 can pumpkin, organic (15 oz)
2 eggs, organic
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2c nonfat yogurt, organic
1/2c butter, salted, organic (1 stick)
1/4c whole milk, organic
1 tsp fresh grated ginger

For the frosting, I thought I'd try using Neufchâtel. I think I will use regular cream cheese next time because it looked a little grainy.

Stacey's Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
8oz Neufchâtel cheese
1/2c butter, salted, organic (1 stick)
1/4c heavy cream, organic
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2-2.5c confectioners sugar

Toasted pumpkin seeds
Chocolate decorations


First I [preheated the oven to 350F, then mixed all the dry ingredients for the cupcakes in a large bowl.  Then in a large glass measuring cup, I microwaved the yogurt, butter, and milk, for about 30 seconds to 1 minute in order for the butter to be soft without it melting all the way.  I added the eggs, vanilla and fresh ginger, and whisked with a fork.  I poured this over the dry ingredients and then put the canned pumpkin on top.  I mixed everything with a spatula and then used a cookie scoop to spoon the batter into cups in a muffin tin - this is easiest since the batter is kind of thick.  If you don't have a cookie scoop, probably 2 large spoons would be good to scrape batter into each cup.

I baked them for about 22-24 minutes, rotating once in between and it made 22 cupcakes.  While the cupcakes were cooling, I made the frosting.

I had let the cheese come to room temperature, but you can probably microwave and stir it and the butter at 10 second intervals (making sure it doesn't get too hot) until everything is soft.  Then I added that and the cream and vanilla to my standing mixer and added the confectioners sugar 1/3 cup at a time until it was the sweetness and consistency I wanted.  It ended up a little grainy, as I said before, but it still tasted good.

Once the cupcakes were cool, I frosted them, and placed 1 chocolate in the middle of each cupcake.  Then I sprinkled the toasted pumpkin seeds around the chocolate.


I liked these.  The cake isn't too sweet so the frosting goes well with it.  Everyone at the party seemed to enjoy them.  And of course, I can't not show you the pumpkin I carved at the party!


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