Pumpkin Cupcakes

We're back! We were abducted by martians...

Just kidding! Actually just Aubree was abducted.  She decided to go off to college far away leaving Ashley, who is now working full time and being a slacker part time, to fend for herself on the baking front.  It's been a tough battle thus far, but that ends now! Nothing like the holiday season to get you out of that no-baking blues.  These pumpkin cupcakes with home-made cream cheese frosting are an excellent choice given the time of year.  They taste heavenly, so much so that Ashley wanted to ship one to Aubree (sadly it probably won't survive) and they only cost $5 for 24 cupcakes (that means its 21 cents a cupcake).

                                 Aubree's Note: It also means I'll be demanding 

some when I get back for the holidays!

This recipe was adapted from the book The Frugal Foodie Cookbook which has many different interesting ways to cook on a budget.

It requires oil, pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, milk, salt, baking soda, and flour.

 Mix 1/2 cup milk, 2/3 cup oil, 2 eggs beaten and 1 1/3 cup pumpkin puree in a large bowl.







The mess above should become  that on the left.  (looks much more appetizing now!)

In a separate bowl mix 2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 2 cups flour.

Once all the dry ingredients have been combined,

slowly add the dry into the wet ingredient mix.

The oven should be preheated to 350F.

Add approx. 1/4 cup mix to every cupcake holder.

Bake for 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Now comes the guilty pleasure addition: home-made cream cheese frosting.  This part of the baking creation is a family recipe, and we've sure used it during a great number of baking adventures.  So, the recipe is listed below but a more in-depth view of this frosting is here.

Happy Autumn!

Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe

2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Eggs Beaten
1 1/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree
2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
2 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix oil, milk, eggs and pumpkin puree in a bowl.  Set aside.
Mix sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour in a bowl.
Fold in dry ingredients into pumpkin mix.
Fill cupcakes 2/3 full.
Bake 20 minutes.

Actually yields 24 cupcakes.


Home-made Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Small package cream cheese
1 Stick butter or margarine
1 Box powdered sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

(Optional: Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to frosting for a delicious twist!)

Cream together cream cheese and butter.
Mix in sugar and vanilla.
Frost onto cupcakes.

Enjoy!