In case your fall treats aren’t spiced enough, try these tasty Chai Pumpkin Cupcakes! These little cakes, made with a blend of chai and pumpkin spices, are topped with a light and fluffy whipped cream cheese, and might even remind you of your favorite morning latte!
Oh, it’s time for us to let our best, basic selves out.
Let’s just dive into these cupcakes, shall we?
This page includes step by step instructions, as well as tips and notes. If you’d like to skip all that, feel free to scroll down to the full, printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
It’s that time, my friends!
We’ve finally made it to the wonderful season of chai ad pumpkin spice everything!
I decided these two fall flavor faves needed to come together to create these amazing chai-spiced pumpkin cupcakes.
If you’re looking for fall cupcake ideas, your search is over! Bake up a batch of these scrumptious goodies and wow your friends and family this season. Or just keep them for yourself. Do you, boo.
Don’t forget to grab some cute fall sprinkles for a fun finishing touch!
What is the difference between chai spice and pumpkin spice?
So we know that chai lattes and such are delicious, but what exactly is chai spice?
Chai (Hindi for “tea”) is a mixture of many different spices, most famously known for their presence in tea-based lattes. Chai spice recipes can have varying ingredients, but my favorite easy chai spice recipe is the one that I use for this fall cupcake recipe.
Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper are all you need!
Expand to more than just your Starbucks order! Use my chai spice recipe to add a cozy, autumnal taste and feel to many of your favorite foods.
As for pumpkin pie spice, it includes allspice with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. This spice blend does not include cardamom or pepper, which are both key ingredients in chai recipes.
Both are basically essential, cozy flavors of fall, so don’t be afraid to mix them!
Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree – not pumpkin pie filling!
- All-purpose flour – make these gluten free by using your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour!
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Homemade chai spice – the recipe card below has exact measurements for each individual spice, so you can adjust them to your taste.
- Vegetable oil – or melted and slightly cooled butter, if you prefer.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
How to make pumpkin cupcakes with chai
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth and combined. Whisk eggs in one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, folding gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the baking cups, filling each about 2/3 to 3/4 full.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting, then pipe it on cooled cupcakes. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or seasonal sprinkles.
Crumby Baking Tips
Don’t skip over these tips – they could be the difference between a recipe for success or failure!
If you’re looking for the best cupcake recipes, you know I’ve got you. These chai pumpkin cupcakes will blow your freakin’ fall-lovin’ mind.
Though these cupcakes are already amazing, there are ways to make sure your chai pumpkin cupcakes will turn out to be your most perfect cupcake recipe yet!
- Use good quality ingredients such as real vanilla extract, rather than imitation vanilla. Trust me, you’ll be able to tell the difference!
- Avoid over-mixing or under-mixing your batter. These mistakes can result in tough cupcakes or one that is too crumbly or flaky. For a desirable texture, mix your cupcake batter until the ingredients are just combined – meaning just until there are no lumps of flour.
- Use a trigger ice cream scoop to portion out your cupcake batter. Baking your cupcakes all at the same size ensures that they will all reach the same level of doneness.
- Bake your cupcakes in the center of your oven. If you have multiple tins, rotate them halfway through baking so they come up evenly.
- Bake with the High-Low Method. Place your raw cupcakes into a 400 degrees F oven for 5 minutes, then reduce the temp to 350 degrees F for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cupcakes are done according to the recipe directions. This gets you perfectly domed cakes every time!
- Frost the entire top of your cupcakes. Frosting your cupcakes helps them retain moisture and keeps them from getting dry before you eat them!
FAQ
What frosting is best on pumpkin cupcakes?
In my opinion, all cupcakes deserve a good cream cheese frosting. That is especially the case when it come to fall flavored cupcakes like these.
There’s no cozier treat than a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting!
When it comes to the chai pumpkin spice cupcakes, I decided a whipped cream cheese frosting was the answer. The heaviness of the spice needs a little bit of a lighter sweetness on top, one that doesn’t overwhelm the flavors inside the cake.
It’s basically a cream cheese flavored whipped cream, which is definitely a good flavor all around! And it kinda looks like the top of a cute chai latte, right?
Can this be turned into a layer cake?
Yes, you can! I recommend following the recipe for my Pumpkin Layer Cake for ingredient amounts, then just add in the additional spices to inject the chai flavors.
A double- or triple recipe of the frosting recipe will make more than enough to fill, frost, and decorate a lovely cake!
HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS FOR MAKING PUMPKIN CUPCAKES:
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LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS PUMPKIN DESSERT RECIPES?
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Chai Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 batch Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth and combined. Whisk eggs in one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, folding gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the baking cups, filling each about 2/3 to 3/4 full.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting, then pipe it on cooled cupcakes. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or seasonal sprinkles.
Cupcake Boxes uk says
They seem to taste lovely – The chai pumpkin cupcakes