Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

A few years back (2016 to be exact) I posted a recipe for these Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes. 

These Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting are the perfect fall cupcakes: easy recipe, delicious texture and the flavor is everything a fall recipe should be. I love this recipe so much I decided to do an update on it for this year. You’ll see not much has changed from the original but after making these for the past few years now I’ve collected some extra tips, tricks & ideas to share with you, and some new, fresher photos don’t hurt either!

Making Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Has Never Been So Easy

I’m a firm believer that baking should be fun – not stressful, overwhelming, and leave you feeling like a failure. Sometimes cupcakes/cakes can be a little tricky but there’s a very simple solution if you find yourself wanting to bake but feel overwhelmed with the process. Buy a cake mix. There I said it. I use cake mix all the time as a shortcut to making unbelievable desserts. The trick here is – don’t follow the ingredients on the back of the box. You’re just using the mix for a base a dry ingredients, that’s it! For this particular recipe you’ll need a All Spice flavored box cake mix and some pumpkin puree.

freezer friendly

One of the things that I love about this recipe is that it’s freezer friendly. If you want to make the cupcakes ahead of time simply follow the recipe and bake them accordingly. Allow the cupcakes to cool to room temperature, store them in a freezer safe container and stick them in the freezer. When you need them, simply stick them in the refrigerator a few hours to thaw. Luckily, they thaw pretty quickly. Then frost and decorate them as desired. This tip makes planning ahead super easy and saves you a lot of time.

frosting, frosting, frosting

When it comes to pumpkin my go-to frosting flavor is marshmallow. I’m obsessed with the whole pumpkin-marshmallow flavor combination. One thing I did this year was update the marshmallow frosting recipe. Not a lot, but just a few small changes and I was pleased with the result. I also wanted to add a charred marshmallow to the top for extra flavor, decoration and to just tie the whole recipe together.

To achieve the look you see in the photos, simple frost the cupcake like you normally would. Cut a large marshmallow in half (width wise) and place the marshmallow half on top of the frosting, use a small kitchen torch to char the top and sides of the marshmallow. I think this would also work well with mini marshmallows too.

Other frosting ideas: If marshmallow isn’t your thing other frosting suggestions that could be delicious are cream cheese (a classic), chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla bean.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with toasted Marshmallow Frosting

• Author: Kimberly | Just Add Sprinkles
• Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

• (1) box of Spice Cake cake mix (15.25 to 18.25 ounces)
• (1) box Pumpkin Spice Instant Pudding Mix ( 3.4 oz box – vanilla flavor will work too*)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• (1) 16 oz tub marshmallow fluff
• pinch of salt
• 12 jumbo sized marshmallows (cut in half width wise)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. Set pan aside.
2. In a bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk ingredients together just so they are combined. Set aside.
3. In a separate, large mixing bowl combine sour cream, pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together until thoroughly combined. Slowly add in dry ingredients and continue mixing (scrape down sides of the bowl as needed) until thoroughly combined. Cupcake batter will be thick.
4. Using a cookie dough scoop, fill cupcake liners about 2/3 (a little more than half full) of the way full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, closer to 20 minutes. Use a toothpick to test the center of a cupcake to tell if it’s done, toothpick should come out clean when cupcakes are fully baked. Do not over bake cupcakes.
5. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
6. Make the frosting: Add softened butter to a large mixing bowl, mix on medium – high speed for 1 to 2 minutes so butter becomes whipped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in marshmallow fluff and vanilla extract, continue mixing on medium speed to mix ingredients together. Slowly add in powdered sugar (on low speed), add a pinch of salt and then turn up speed to high for another 2-3 minutes to make frosting super fluffy. Frost cupcakes and serve.

Notes

* If you can’t find pumpkin spice pudding mix you can use vanilla instant pudding mix as well to get the same texture.

More Tasty Recipes:

Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies Marshmallow Ice Cream Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes No Bake Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie {Updated} Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes