Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting Recipe {and WINNERS}

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
{by Momma Go Round}

and the three Inner Hooker WINNERS!

We have a visitor today, and she just so happens to be one of my favorite people in the whole wide world!

Meet Nina, of Momma Go Round

{aka Hotty McHotty Pants}

And you may remember her adorable little guy, LJ, who happens to be Baby W's best bud...even if that means  hair pulling and pinching each other when no ones looking.

Nina has a Momma blog jam packed with yummy recipes, tutorials and tales from the trenches of mommyhood.

Here's a sneak peak of the awesome you will find at 

Momma Go Round.

Flower Flutter Shirt Tutorial

Typography Word Art Tutorial

Memo Board with Slots

Click here to see an entire list of her tutorials.

And her crazy talent doesn't stop there!

She even has a rad Etsy shop called, Your Memories Captured, filled with printable holiday cards, invitations, announcements, party supplies, and my newest line of reusable stencils!

{this will likely be my card this year}

{and I am totally digging this stencil}

And now I hand you over to Nina:

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

Today I want to share this AMAZING recipe with you! It's by none other than the incredibly talented Ina Garten....but it's soooo not a "celebrity chef recipe that no one in the universe can actually do" type of recipe--it's a you and me can do it kind of recipe.

{serves 12}

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Maple Frosting (recipe follows)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars

Maple Frosting Ingredients:

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used light and it worked great!)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon Maple Flavor

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Step 1: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Step 2:

In a large bowl (or mixer) whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.

Step 3:

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture.

Step 4:

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Step 5:

Using a hand held or stand mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter using paddle attachment on low.

Step 6:

Add maple flavoring and vanilla, and mix. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar and mix until smooth.

Step 7:

Frost completely cooled cupcakes.

(yeah, this picture wasn't impossible to take by myself or anything :P )

Step 8:

Break up Heath Bar and sprinkle on top.

I took these to a girls' night and they were a huge hit! Perfect for all the holiday celebrations coming up or an alternative to pumpkin pie.

Enjoy!

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And now, for the 3 lucky Inner Hooker WINNERS!!!

WINNER 1: comment #326 Charity

WINNER 2: comment #175 Krista

WINNER 3: comment #10 Lauri

Head over to Inner Hooker and pick out your favorite patterns.

Good luck narrowing it down {I want them all}!

And a BIG thank you to Inner Hooker for this generous giveaway!

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Did you notice your newest sponsor, Cozette Couture on the right sidebar?  Well, you'll get to meet them soon, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this little teaser:

For those of you who are so excited about this cuteness that you can't wait, head over to the

Cozette Couture Shop

and the

Cozette Couture Blog