These cupcakes were fantastic! For the cake part, I just used my favorite recipe for pumpkin bars and added a maple frosting from the book, 100 Best Cupcake Recipes.
For the cupcakes:
1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs at room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and eggs on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Maple Frosting
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) softened butter
3 tbs. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbs milk (if necessary)
Beat butter in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add 1 to 2 tbs milk, if necessary, to reach desired spreading consistency (I did not add any milk). Garnish the top with a candy pumpkin or candy corn.
Yield: about 2 1/2 cups.