Butterscotch Pumpkin Cupcakes

It was a Thanksgiving Dessert Recipe Swap in honor of Thanksgiving, and I got Pumpkin Cupcakes from Sarah at A Taste of Homecooking.

I love pumpkin.  Love it.  So I was excited that these came my way.  Lately, I've been obsessed with the pumpkin and butterscotch combination.  I also thought about putting regular chocolate chips in there as well because the pumpkin, buttercotch, and chocolate chips seem to be a match made in heaven, but I thought it might overwhelm the cupcake, so left it with just two out of the three awesome ingredients.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
slightly adapted from A Taste of Homecooking
Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon salt

1 can (15 oz.) solid-packed pumpkin (about 1 ¾ cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

4 eggs

Cinnamon for dusting the tops of the cupcakes

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with decorative cupcake papers.

1) In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil.

3) Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.
4) Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring with a large wooden spoon until just combined. 5) Add the butterscotch chips and stir until the chips are distributed through the batter. 

6) Fill the muffin tins about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

7)Transfer the tins to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
slightly adapted from A Taste of Homecooking originally from Sherri
Ingredients
4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
5 cups confectioner's sugar (I used 4 cups and still had enough frosting, with desired sweetness for all of the cupcakes)

Directions

1) Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat. Add sugar one cup at a time and continue to beat an additional 5 minutes.

2) Once cupcakes are frosted, sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon.                            

By the time these cupcakes came out of the oven, everyone in the house was waiting to snatch one from the cooling rack.  The pumpkin smell was just too great to keep our hands off the cupcakes.  The cinnamon on top of the frosting was amazing and added just a little extra spice punch to the cupcake.  The cupcake had amazing pumpkin flavor and every once in awhile you got a surprise butterscotch chip that was like an extra flavor burst.  They were moist and delicious.  I cannot wait for Thanksgiving dessert time to roll around again.

Warning: These cupcakes were so good that I had to take them up to work in order to keep from devouring them all.  They are great "take to the office" treats.