Chocolate pumpkin cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

• 1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix (preferably dark chocolate)
• 1 Whole Egg & 2 Egg Whites - beaten
• 1 Cup Pure Pumpkin Puree
• 3/4 Cup Strong Brewed Coffee - cooled
• 18 to 24 Cup cake liners
• Cup Cake baking tray

For Frosting:

• 1/2 Package Low-fat Creamcheese - softened and brought to room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons Pure Pumpkin Puree
• 1 Tablespoon Butter - softened and brought to room temperature
• 1 Cup Powdered (10x) Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

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Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cup cake tray with cupcake liners (batch will make about 18 cupcakes in total).
• Use a large mixing bowl and combine the chocolate cake mix with the eggs, pumpkin puree and brewed coffee (if the coffee is hot, allow it to cool before adding to the mix).
• Whisk to combine and beat for 2 minutes either by hand or with a hand mixer on medium speed.
• Use an ice cream scoop with a spring load mechanism to fill the cup cake liners with the batter; fill each cupcake tray 2/3rds full.
• Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes then rotate the tray and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Test the cupcakes with a skewer to see if they are done in the middle - no wet batter should stick to the skewer/tester only be a few moist crumbs should stick to it.
• Cool for 5 minutes in the cupcake tray before turning out to completely cool the cupcakes on a rack.
• Add the remaining liners to the tray and fill with the remaining cake batter to bake off the rest of the batch.
• While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, make the frosting by combing the softened creamcheese and butter until throughly blended.
• Whisk in the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract. Next, fold in the pumpkin pie spice and the powdered sugar until the frosting is completely smooth and lump-free.
• Chill the frosting to help it set up and become spreadable. Cupcakes can be frosted once they are completely cooled and the frosting has set up and thickened.