Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

These cute little bites of pumpkin and sweet cream cheese frosting are a perfect Fall treat! Top them with a little Hershey Kiss acorn, and they are a sweet place setting for Thanksgiving!

If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that I hate pumpkin. I cave in to autumn recipes though and sometimes create pumpkin treats for you all. I rely on others to tell me how they taste, and these got RAVE reviews from my taste-testing friends.

They are an adaptation of my mom’s delicious Pumpkin Roll, but in cute and bite-size portions!

And then there are those cute little acorns- easy and fun to make for your fall celebrations.

Here’s how we created all of this yummy-ness! (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 38-40 mini cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

• 2/3 cup pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Frosting: (halve this if you don’t like piles of frosting as shown in my photos!)

• 8 oz (1 package) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup of butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• dash of salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips (melted)

Acorns: 

• 40 Hershey kisses
• 40 mini Nilla Wafers
• about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Mix together all of the cupcake ingredients, adding the flour, cinnamon and soda last.  Blend well.
• Spoon into mini cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes
• Cool completely and frost.

Frosting:

• On medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
• Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
• Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, until smooth.
• Add melted white chocolate to icing and beat on low until completely combined.
• Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe frosting on top of cooled mini cupcakes.
• Add leaf sprinkles and acorn (if desired)

Acorns:

• Count out about 40 chocolate chips, Nilla Wafers and (unwrapped!) Hershey kisses.
• Melt remaining chocolate chips
• Set Nilla Wafers flat side up on a plate.
• Spread a small amount of melted chocolate on the bottom of a Hershey kiss and set it (melted chocolate side down) on a Nilla Wafer. Repeat until all kisses are placed and refrigerate until hardened together.
• Use a toothpick to put a small amount of melted chocolate on a chocolate chip and carefully hold to the top of the Nilla Wafer until it hardens and stays (when the Nilla Wafer is cold from the fridge, this happens in seconds).
• Use to decorate your table and your cupcakes!!!

My thoughts: Cute, easy and (according to my friends!) delicious! I hope you get a chance to try these little bites of fall happiness! Enjoy!!  ~r

Other really fun and cute fall treats: (click on a photo to see the recipe!)