Pumpkin Cupcakes

Homemade Pumpkin Cupcakes

These tender Pumpkin Cupcakes will satisfy your pumpkin cravings by combining instant pumpkin spice pudding mix, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice with a boxed cake mix! Finish them off the whipped cheesecake frosting and you’ve just met your new favorite pumpkin dessert!

Warm spices pair with fluffy cheesecake frosting that will have you wanting to keep these treats all to yourself! However, you’ll want to resist that urge as these really make such a great addition to all of your harvest gatherings!

What I love About This Recipe!

• Easy To Make! A recipe doesn’t get easier to make when it starts off with a boxed cake mix!
• Frosting Variations!
• Delicious Pumpkin Flavor! These cupcakes have a perfectly sweetened balance of pumpkin flavor just by using three simple ingredients!
• Add In Some Chocolate Chips! Throw a cup of mini chocolate chips into the cupcake batter for pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes!
• Make It A Cake! Want to make a pumpkin cake instead? No problem!

Ingredients For Pumpkin Cupcakes

This Pumpkin Spice Cupcake recipe starts out like many of my other popular cupcake recipes, with a boxed cake mix! An unprepared box spice cake mix is the base of these cupcakes and then gets doctored up to pack in that delicious pumpkin flavor!

Finish off the cupcake batter by combining the cake mix with instant pumpkin spice pudding mix, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, eggs, whole milk, and vegetable oil. After they’ve cooled you’ll pipe on the light and fluffy cheesecake frosting!

To make this you’ll whip together heavy cream, powdered sugar, and cheesecake flavored pudding mix. Once the cupcakes are frosted you can sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice onto each one for a put-together look!

How To Make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven and then beat all of the cupcake ingredients together in a large bowl or stand mixer.
2. Add the batter into cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners.
3. Reduce the oven temperature and place the muffin pan in the oven to bake.
4. Remove the cupcakes from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.
5. Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and pudding mix to bowl and whip until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.
6. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.
7. Dust each cupcake with Pumpkin Pie Spice.

How To Store Pumpkin Cupcakes

You can store these cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Keep in mind that storing them in the refrigerator does tend to dry the cupcakes out. For best taste, I recommend enjoying the cupcakes within 2 days!

Is There Another Frosting That I Can Use On These Cupcakes?

Yes! If you’d like to switch up the frosting you can try using a buttercream frosting such as my Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or a cream cheese frosting like the one I use in my Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe!

What Should I Do If I Can’t Find Any Pumpkin Spice Pudding Mix?

Not a problem at all! Just grab a vanilla pudding mix and add an additional teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice to the recipe!

Enjoy another seasonal pumpkin treat!

• Pumpkin Scones – Made with pantry staple ingredients and ready in under an hour!
• White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart – Made with a tasty gingersnap crust!
• Moist Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Brown Sugar Icing – Topped with a 5-ingredient sweet icing!
• 4-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Tender cookies made with a box spice cake!
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Poke Cake – Dense pumpkin spice cake is soaked in sweetened condensed milk, loaded with chocolate chips, and finished off with a fluffy cheesecake frosting!

This recipe was originally published in September 2014 and was updated in October 2021 with new photos and a slight change to the frosting recipe.