Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes give you the flavor of a moist and tender pumpkin spice muffin with a latte twist. Coffee lovers will rejoice at this incredible fall cupcake recipe. 

These cupcakes were almost a no-go with a recent frosting fail. Luckily, I was able to improvise! I thought I’d try a new frosting recipe that I found online. I should have known something was off by looking at the ingredients, though. They had originally said 2+ cups of heavy cream and a 1/4 cup icing sugar. Maybe the author had some success with it, but I sure didn’t. It was like frosting soup! From now on, I’ll stick to my tried-and-true frosting recipes and trust my gut instincts.

Even frosting-less, these Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes would still be tasty! You can taste the hint of coffee mixed with pumpkin in each bite. I used brewed coffee since I know not everyone has an old-fashioned coffee maker that gives you ground coffee. You can use the ground coffee in the mix if you have one. I saved a bit of my morning coffee to use in the recipe.

Ingredients

The full printable recipe card with measurements and instructions is found at the bottom of the post.

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Cupcakes

• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Salt
• Pumpkin puree – Don’t use pumpkin pie filling!
• Ground coffee or brewed coffee
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Vegetable oil
• Milk
• Eggs

Vanilla Frosting

• Powdered sugar
• Salted butter
• Milk
• Vanilla extract

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Follow along to see how to make pumpkin spice latte cupcakes – perfect for fall!

• Step One: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan.
• Step Two: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
• Step Three: In another bowl, add pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, milk, coffee and oil. Beat together until combined.
• Step Four: Add eggs, one at a time to the wet mixture, beat well after you add each egg.

• Step Five: With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two halves, mixing just until well mixed.
• Step Six: Fill cupcake liners with batter about ¾ way full.
• Step Seven: Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
• Step Eight: Let cool for 20 minutes in the cupcake pan. Then move them to a wire rack to continue to cool. Once they have cooled, top with the frosting.

• Step Nine: To make the frosting, add all your ingredients to a large bowl. Beat on medium until smooth. Frost on the cooled cupcakes.

Can I Swap with Store Bought Frosting?

If you want to use store-bought frosting to save time, go right ahead. Try French Vanilla, Vanilla, or Cream Cheese flavored frosting. Yum! Or skip the classic frosting and reach for whipped cream instead! 

Easy Ways to Them Up

Want to elevate the presentation value of these tasty cupcakes? Drizzle caramel over the top or dust on some cinnamon or pumpkin spice. This will completely transform the look and add incredible flavor to your already delicious homemade pumpkin latte cupcakes. 

I went plain with mine, but if I am doing a bake sale or serving up to guests, I will dust with pumpkin spice seasoning to really add a whole new element to the cupcakes. 

Ground Coffee or Brewed Coffee?

Either works! You could even use espresso in this recipe to elevate the coffee flavor. If you want a stronger coffee, add a few more grounds into the mix. 

Craving more pumpkin spice? Try my Pumpkin Spice Cake Cups!

Pumpkin Puree vs Pumpkin Pie Mix 

You will want to use pumpkin puree for this recipe. This is canned pumpkin where pumpkin pie mix has other ingredients in the can, and it won’t work in a recipe like this. So make sure you buy just straight canned pumpkin puree. 

Pumpkin Recipes

• Pumpkin Spice Latte | Check out my homemade latte recipe. Pair this next to these cupcakes for a pumpkin spice latte overload in flavor!
• Pumpkin Ribbon Bread | If you love a quick bread this is the recipe to make. Incredibly moist, stunning presentation and don’t even get me started on how delicious this tastes. 
• Easy Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies | A great excuse to eat pumpkin for breakfast! These cookies are easy to whip up, store great and are freezer friendly. 

How to Store

Because of the frosting, you will find that these cupcakes store best in the refrigerator. You can store your cupcakes for up to a week in the fridge.

How to Freeze

You can freeze these cupcakes for later. Just place in a proper container and the store in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge or quick thaw on the counter. I love tossing what we won’t eat in the freezer so when I get a sweet craving I skip the bakery and reach for a dessert in my freezer. 

You’ll also love these Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes, Caramel Apple Cupcakes or Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.

Are you baking lots of pumpkin spice items this month?

You’ll also like this Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice and Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

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