Simple Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

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Chocolate cupcakes made simply with a cake mix and super soft and moist with pumpkin. Just a hint of spice lets you know that your fall cupcake dreams have come true!

     Super simple to make and full of flavor, the chocolate pumpkin cupcakes have something for everyone to love! Whip up a batch and make your favorite frosting and sink your teeth into a delicious bite of fall!

      These cupcakes really do have something for everyone. They start with a chocolate cake mix, so they are crazy easy to make.  <

    Even people who consider themselves “not a baker” can bake these. There are so few ingredients and steps, it would be hard to mess them up!

     The texture is fabulous. Sometimes chocolate cake can be a bit dry and bland. There is nothing worse that looking forward to chocolate goodness and being disappointed.

     That is not going to be an issue with these. They are moist and flavorful. They have a perfectly soft crumb that begs you to take another bite.

    There is just a bit of cinnamon spice to them which really adds something. It lets you know this isn’t just any chocolate cupcake, this is more!

      MiMi has been mixing cake mixes and cans of pumpkin for years. She almost always used a yellow or angel food cake mix though.

     She also baked them in a 9×13 and we always enjoyed it. If I remember correctly, sometimes she did a little drizzle of glaze or a bit of streusel too.

     Made plain, it really doesn’t get any more simple. I figured if it worked so well for her, I could put a spin on it and make a chocolate version!

    Little Dude and I have been on a cupcake kick. I *may* or may not have waaaaay overbought cupcake liners when ordering for his Grinch cupcake birthday cake and my brother’s wedding cupcakes.

    He loves picking out the colors to use and loading them in the cupcake tins. He also likes scooping the batter and licking the spatula. But who doesn’t love that?!

    So we decided to make cupcakes! To make sure they held together, we decided to stray a bit from the nothing but a cake mix and can of pumpkin formula.

    A few eggs and tablespoons of oil helped keep them moist, and gave them structure enough to hold those perfect cupcake domes. Under that dome is the softest chocolate cupcake!

    We tried piping some whipped sweetened condensed milk frosting on top. The creamy taste was great, but the frosting is too soft to hold a delicate shape. At least not like the American buttercreams I’m used to!

     I should have known better. It is a lot like ermine frosting, which I love but rarely pipe with!

     I’d still recommend trying it and just schmearing it on with a knife rather than piping it. Or schmear on some cream cheese frosting!

    If you want something pipable, I’d recommend sweetened condensed milk buttercream, chocolate buttercream, or Italian meringue buttercream.

   So put a chocolate cake mix on your grocery list and plan to make a batch of these this fall. Your family and friends will thank you!

Tips and tricks

• Want a more true chocolate flavor? Leave out the cinnamon and nutmeg!
• Want them even more chocolaty? Stir in 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips 
• Don’t want cupcakes? Just bake the batter in a 9×13″ pan, using the directions on the back of the box to estimate the baking time.
• Want to eat them for breakfast? Leave off the frosting and call them a muffin! 😉

More great cupcake recipes:

• Chocolate banana cupcakes
• Semi-homemade white cupcakes
• Semi-homemade chocolate cupcakes

Thanks for sharing!