Experience fall in dessert form with delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes. Soft and tender spiced pumpkin cupcakes topped with coffee-infused whipped cream frosting and a generous caramel drizzle!
Experience your favorite fall drink in dessert form with these delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes! These cupcakes are a delightful fusion of warm pumpkin spices, rich espresso, and a creamy, coffee-infused frosting.
Perfect for cozy autumn afternoons or festive gatherings, they’re sure to be a hit with any pumpkin spice lover. Whether you’re a fan of the classic coffee shop beverage or just love the flavors of fall, these cupcakes bring all the comforting notes of a pumpkin spice latte into a delectable treat.
For more cupcake recipes try my tiramisu cupcakes, caramel latte cupcakes or snickers cupcakes.
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Why you will love these pumpkin spice latte cupcakes
- Fall-Inspired Flavor: These cupcakes combine the best flavors of fall – warm pumpkin spices, real pumpkin, and a hint of espresso – to create a treat that’s both comforting and flavorful.
- Coffee Lover’s Dream: Infused with espresso, these cupcakes taste just like a sip of a pumpkin spice latte, making them perfect for coffee enthusiasts.
- Moist and Fluffy: The addition of pumpkin puree keeps these cupcakes wonderfully moist and tender, while the combination of flour and leavening agents gives them a light and fluffy texture.
- Easy to Make: With simple ingredients and straightforward steps, this recipe is approachable for both beginner and experienced bakers.
Ingredient Notes
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: This essential blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves adds the signature pumpkin spice flavor to the cupcakes.
- Espresso Powder: For that unmistakable coffee kick, espresso powder beautifully complements the pumpkin spice.
- Cream Cheese: Use softened cream cheese for the frosting to ensure a smooth and creamy texture.
- Unsalted butter – I like to use unsalted butter here however you can use salted butter instead just be sure to reduce the salt to in the dry ingredients.
- Brown sugar- I used light brown sugar but you can use dark brown sugar as well.
- White Sugar- I used granulated white sugar.
- All Purpose Flour- I like to use unbleached all purpose flour.
- Eggs – I like to use a room temperature large eggs.
- Canned Pumpkin – Make sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling since pumpkin pie filling has sugar and spices already added to it.
Step by Step Instructions
Here is how to make and bake this Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes recipe. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Step 1:Whisk the dry ingredients. In a small mixing bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Beat the butter, oil and both sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in large bowl using a hand mixer beat the butter, oil and both sugar on high for 2-3 minutes. It will become very light in color almost white.
Step 3: Beat in the eggs and pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed beat in the eggs one at a time until combined. Gently fold in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
Step 5:Pour the prepared batter into the muffin pan. Using an ice cream scoop pour the batter into cupcake liners until they are about ⅔ full with batter.
Step 6: Bake the cupcakes. Bake for 22-25 mins or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans and place on wire racks to cool completely before frosting.
How to prepare the whipped cream frosting
Step 1:Beat the heavy whipping cream. In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer beat the chilled heavy cream until soft peaks form.
Step 2:Add the confectioners sugar and vanilla extract. At the soft peaks stage add the vanilla extract and sifted confectioners sugar and beat for 4-5 mins until stiff peaks form.
Keep the prepared frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use.
How to assemble the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
Step 1:Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe a big dollop on top of each cupcake.
Step 2: Drizzle the cupcakes with the salted caramel sauce and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Spoon and level your flour: Make sure to spoon measure your flour. This means using a spoon to fluff the flour first, then spooning it into your measuring cup.
- Use room temperature eggs: Using room temperature eggs would ensure that eggs whip correctly.Place the egg whites in a mason jar and seal the top. Submerge the jar in a bowl of hot tap water for 5-10 minutes until the egg whites are warm.
- Mix the batter gently: If you mix it too vigorously, you will deflate the air in the batter and then the cupcakes won’t rise.
- Use a cookie scoop: Using a cookie scoop will allow you to fill the liners easily and ensure all the cupcakes are the same size.
- Don’t over bake the cupcakes: Over baking will result in dry and crumbly crumb.
- Wait until they cool to frost: You must wait for the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them, otherwise the frosting will literally melt right off the cake!
- Use cold heavy whipping cream. Make sure to use really cold heavy whipping cream otherwise it wont whip to stiff peak stage
FAQ’s
Yes! You can use really strong brewed espresso. I used instant coffee here as thats easily available everywhere.
Yes ! You can easily substitute it with 1 ¾ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger and ¼ tsp cloves.
Yes it can! Just double the recipe. It will make three 8 inch cake layers when doubled.
Ideally I would recommend using only canned pumpkin puree for consistent results. However, if you live somewhere where you don’t have access to canned pumpkin puree then you can use fresh roasted pumpkin puree. Keep in mind that fresh pumpkin puree has more moisture than canned so I would suggest wrapping the puree between several layers of paper towels or a cheesecloth to remove some of the excess moisture.
How to store and Freeze pumpkin spice latte cupcakes
Store these pumpkin spice latte cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Let the cupcakes come to room temperature before enjoying.
FREEZING
You can freeze the cupcakes before decorating. Wrap the cupcakes individually in plastic wrap or store them together in a freezer safe bag. Freeze up to 30 days.
Let them thaw for 1-2 hours before decorating.
More recipes you will love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Recipe 📖
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 12 cup muffin pan
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup butter at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup salted caramel sauce
Instructions
For the frosting:
- In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese for 1 minute on high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Beat in the butter until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar, instant coffee and heavy cream. Beat on medium-high speed until combined and creamy.
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners.
- Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil and both sugars together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Then beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
- Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder ,pumpkin pie spice and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on medium speed until well combined..
- Spoon batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling them about ⅔ full. Bake for about 20-22 minutes.
- Once baked, take them out of the cupcake pan and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, frost the cupcakes with the prepared frosting and drizzle salted caramel sauce on top.
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