A very, very, very good and yummy recipe.......

I grew pumpkins for the first time this year.  More as an experiment than anything else.  Anyhow, they were a great success and I have numerous small pumpkins sitting on my deck.  So the other day I cooked up a couple of them.  So now I had some pumpkin puree to do something with.  On Wednesday I decided to make some pumpkin cupcakes and they were really good.   

Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Cake/Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil  I used 3/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups plain/all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 12" x 18" pan.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl combine sugar and oil.  Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in nuts.  Spread batter into prepared 12" x 18" pan. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

This will also make 24 cupcakes.  I baked them at 350 degrees F for around 25 minutes.

I iced them with cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1/2 cup butter
8oz cream cheese
2 - 3 cups powdered/icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together until very smooth.  Add the vanilla extract and slowly add the powdered sugar, until well mixed.

This is enough icing to ice 24 cupcakes or a sheet cake.

I sprinkled pumpkin pie spice on top of the icing.

They are so moist.  I kept them in the fridge because of the cream cheese icing.

This recipe is a keeper!