Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes are the perfect moist seasonal cupcakes with warm spices, crystallized ginger, and rich cream cheese ginger frosting.

These festive cupcakes take classic autumn spices that you’d usually find in a Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Cookies and bakes them into amazing Soft Cakes. They are delicious, portable, and perfect for a fall party!

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting swirl and candied ginger garnish

PUMPKIN GINGER CUPCAKES

Autumn is such a wonderful time of year for baking. Between the Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie Spice in everything, there’s no end to the way you can use up the seasonal fruits and spices. In this cake recipe, we’ve used ginger and pumpkin for the ultimate fall flavor pairing.

These amazing cupcakes get their delicious flavor from pumpkin puree and warm spices like ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. The recipe only calls for a little bit of each spice so that you can enjoy mellow pumpkin cupcakes without any of the flavors being too overwhelming. Warm ginger spice is also mixed into the cream frosting for a seasonal and comforting taste throughout the whole recipe.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes batter in cupcake pan before baking

With the delicious, flavorful spices and ginger cream cheese frosting, these soft cakes are sure to become a favorite dessert recipe for the holidays. They are also easy enough you could make them anytime a cupcake craving hits. This is the perfect dessert to serve at a family get-together or potluck, and you could also make the flavorful cupcakes as an unexpected Thanksgiving dessert. The delicious baby cakes make a kid-friendly dessert that’s a nice change of pace from all the holiday pies.

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BAKING TIPS

Prep time: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then line the muffin tins with paper liners.
Cupcake batter: Add the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Whisk the ingredients by hand or use a handheld electric mixer with paddle attachment to blend them. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon cloves, and salt into your pumpkin mixture. If using a handheld mixer, turn it to its lowest speed to mix the flour mixture into the batter. Stir until the dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the crystallized ginger to finish.
Baking time: Use a ¼ cup ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 22-25 minutes. To test if the cupcakes are done, stick a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, take the cupcakes from the oven. Let the un-frosted cupcakes cool on a wire rack before adding the frosting.
Ginger cream cheese frosting: Add the softened cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla extract, and ground ginger to a stand mixer or medium bowl. Beat at high speed for 1 minute until the cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, and mix at the lowest speed for about 2 minutes until smooth. Transfer the cream cheese frosting to a piping bag and frost the Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting swirl and candied ginger garnish

VARIATIONS

Chocolate: For some rich chocolatey flavor in your Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes you can either mix mini chocolate chips into cupcake batter or melt chocolate to drizzle over the top of the cupcakes before serving.
Brown sugar cream cheese frosting: You can also experiment with variations on the cream cheese frosting for these perfect pumpkin cupcakes. To make a rich brown sugar frosting, simply whisk ½ cup of brown sugar into the cream cheese mixture. Because of the extra sugar, you can decrease the amount of powdered sugar. Just add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until it reaches a nice, fluffy consistency.
Maple cream cheese frosting: To make maple cream cheese frosting, you can simply add in a few drops of maple extract until it has your desired flavor. This is easier than adding any maple syrup because it won’t really change the consistency.
Nuts: To give the moist cupcakes some contrasting crunchy texture, sprinkle chopped nuts over the top. Chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds would all work nicely.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting swirl and candied ginger garnish

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HOW TO STORE

Serve: Because of the cream cheese frosting, you shouldn’t leave these festive cupcakes at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If you leave the cupcakes unfrosted, they can stay out for up to 3 days.
Store: Put the cupcakes in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Freeze: You can also seal and freeze un-frosted cupcakes for up to 6 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight before frosting and serving.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting swirl and candied ginger garnish