These pumpkin cupcakes have simple ingredients and super easy to make . They are moist and full of fall flavors then topped with a maple buttercream frosting . These delightful cupcakes are a must try during the fall season and are sure to be the first dessert to disappear. I created this cupcake with some Sprinkle Pop sprinkles in mind . I had ordered their pumpkin carriage sprinkle mixture and fell in love with the colors and flavors. I am not affiliated with this company at all, I just love their produce. Check them out here. All of their sprinkles are the perfect way to jazz up a plain cupcake or cake for the season.
Growing up my mother rarely made anything from scratch and mostly made doctored cake mixes. Using a cake mix as a base to baking makes life so much easier , and I have never messed up a recipe using a cake mix. Many ingredients can be added and subtracted and the end product will still be good. It is basically full proof and nearly impossible to destroy . The trick is to make a homemade frosting , nobody will ever know you have used a cake mix.
Let’s make Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting!
Equipment needed for this recipe:
- Mixing bowls
- Hand Mixer or Stand up mixer
- Cupcake Cake tins
- Paper cupcake liners
- Sifter
- Rubber spatulas
- Optional –pipping bags and tips
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees . Add all of the cupcake ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Yes all of them , you can’t mess this up.
Blend well , stopping to scrape the side when needed.
Line cupcake tins with liners and spray the insides of the paper liners with a baking spray. This allows the cupcake to release from the paper easily. Fill all 24 cupcake tins with batter evenly and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until done.
Once the cupcakes are cooled mix the Maple Buttercream Frosting. Make sure to sift the powdered sugar, this will prevent any lumps and provide a smooth frosting.
Frost and decorate cupcakes as desired.
If love Pumpkin checkout my other recipes:

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 2 Eggs
Maple Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup butter-room temperature
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/2-1 teaspoon Maple flavoring see notes
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line 24 cupcake wells with paper liners and spray the inside of them with cooking spray
- In a large mixing bowl add the cake mix, eggs, brown sugar, milk , oil , pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Blend very well until smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly among all of the cupcake wells.
- Bake cupcakes in the preheated oven about 20 minutes.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove them and place on a cooling rack.
Maple Buttercream Frosting
- Blend the butter until smooth
- Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl with the butter, sifting gets all of the lumps out and makes it easier to blend
- Blend the butter and powdered sugar together until it is incorporated well
- Add the maple flavoring and blend well.
- Add a little milk at a time blending until the frosting is a creamy consistency
- Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired
Cute and these Muffins look moist and delicious. Love the flavor of the Pumpkin Spice too. The Maple frosting sounds yum.
Thank You!
That frosting job you’ve done here is amazing. Beautiful choice of sprinkles and fantastic texture of the frosting itself! Sure gonna be making this – but I’ll have to make the cupcakes from scratch as I can’t find these cake mixes here š
So beautiful!!! I hope my cupcakes turn out just like yours – I love the pumpkin flavours and that maple buttercream? A winning combination!
When I saw this post on Twitter I knew I had to make these cupcakes! I won’t tell you how many I ate but I will tell you they were delicious!
These are so pretty! I love the sprinkles! I love pumpkin muffins, I recently posted my favorite recipe but making them into cupcakes makes them even better!
Such pretty pumpkin cupcakes, I am swooning over this amazing frosting! Dying to give this recipe a go!
I am a sucker for a homemade frosting and this one is amazing!
I’m so happy I came across this recipe! These cupcakes were out of this world, and soo easy to make! Mine didn’t look anywhere near as pretty as yours, but they tasted delicious!
I am so glad you enjoyed them !
So good. Absolutely outstanding and delicious. I will definitely make them again.
So glad you enjoyed them !
Wow, they look beautiful, and what a great texture they have! The maple buttercream frosting and those lovely sprinkles just take these pumpkin cupcakes over the top!
Thanks so much.
Absolutely love the photography of these cupcakes! We’re in a bit of a baking mood lately and as we’re currently still stuck at home, we are making care packages of baked goods and was looking for cupcake recipes with a difference. These are definitely going in the packages!
Thank you for your kind words Amy .
Please tell me where I can get Maple flavoring…would that be Maple syrup
Hi Lisa I usually get mine at our local Kroger but I have also bought it at Wal-Mart. For some reason it’s didn’t show on my Wal-Mart App but McCormick and Watkins make a Maple extract or flavoring , it can be used interchangeably .
Click Here to see it on Amazon.
Sorry, but I don’t see how much pumpkin you use.
Hi Carol..It is 1 cup of pumpkin , sorry for the confusion .