A soft spiced cupcake, cinnamon sugar top, cinnamon frosting and a drizzle of melted chocolate make these Pumpkin Churro Cupcakes irresistible and perfect for Autumn!
Hi guys, hope you’re all well and that you had a good weekend. I’ve been really ill the last 6 weeks off and on, but the last 2 weeks have been particularly awful.
I’ve got a nasty sinus infection which is great… not! I already have eustachian tube dysfunction which I have steroid nose spray for, so when my sinuses first started playing up, I assumed it was that. However, after a week of using my nose spray my nose and cheeks still felt ready to explode.
I then got a really painful and swollen lump on a lymph node and last Sunday the most horrific migraine of my life started. I have had migraines for years, but this one was more intense and I also went blind in one eye for a few minutes. I had to crawl around the house as I felt so nauseous.
Once the migraine had lasted 3 days, I booked myself a Doctor’s appointment. At first he thought it may be sinusitis, however, because it’s been going on for 6 weeks he thinks it’s another type of infection, a deeper rooted one. And he thinks us driving up and down mountains in France may have caused it… as apparently my body cannot deal with changes in altitude/atmosphere.
I first felt ill the first morning in the South of France and thought it was a cold, but it just kept coming and going and now I feel terrible all of the time. I’ve got antibiotics until the end of this week and then if I don’t feel better I have to go back for more tests.
I really hope the antibiotics get rid of it as, although I no longer have a migraine, I still have a really bad headache and I’ve forgotten what it feels like to not have sharp, stabbing pains in my head. I still have a lot of pressure in my head as well, although the antibiotics have definitely improved the dizziness I was experiencing.
Anyway, let’s talk about these insane Pumpkin Churro Cupcakes! I feel like the only thing better than a Churro Cupcake is one with pumpkin, especially in Autumn!
These are absolutely delicious and worth every calorie! I made spicy pumpkin cupcakes, rolled the tops in cinnamon sugar, piped cinnamon frosting on top and then drizzled melted chocolate over them to ensure these churro cupcakes have every element of those delicious, crisp, fried snacks.
When you bite into one of these cupcakes…. pure heaven!! A little hint of chocolate, creamy cinnamon frosting, a little crunchy sugar and then that earthy, spiced cake.
Man I love pumpkin season! It allows me to take things I already love and then add pumpkin to make some insanely delicious desserts!
If you don’t love cinnamon as much as I do, you can keep the frosting plain vanilla. You’ll still get that churro flavour with the cinnamon sugar top and chocolate drizzle. The cupcake has cinnamon too, but that’s along with ginger, nutmeg and cloves too, so it’s not just a hit of cinnamon.
I adore cinnamon, so for me, I wanted alllllll the cinnamon goodness in these Pumpkin Churro Cupcakes!
You can also leave the chocoate drizzle out if you want. I love dipping my churros in chocolate sauce, so adding a little drizzle of chocolate onto these cupcakes was the perfect way to finish them off!
Let me know if you get to try these awesome cupcakes and if you want traditional churros, I have a recipe for those here!
Pumpkin Churro Cupcakes
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) caster/white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp groung nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 cup (180g) pumpkin purée
- For the topping:
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- For the frosting:
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) icing/powdered sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2-3 tbsp milk
- 2 oz (56g)) milk chocolate, melted and placed into a small Ziploc bag
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a cupcake tray with liners.
- Make the cupcakes first: Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs, scraping down the sides as necessary, and beat until well incorporated, around 1 minute on medium speed.
- Place the flour, baking powder, salt and spices into a medium sized bowl and stir until the spices are evenly dispersed through the flour. Tip into your large bowl and mix on low until the mixture begins to come together, then add the pumpkin purée and continue to mix on low until everything is combined. Turn the speed up to medium for 15-20 seconds just to make sure everything is well mixed.
- Divide the batter between the liners, I used a cookie scoop and placed 2tbsp of batter into each liner. Place in the oven for 18-22 minutes, until risen and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean.
- Place kitchen paper underneath a cooling rack and transfer the cupcakes to the rack as soon as possible. Leave to cool completely.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled, place the granulated sugar and cinnamon into a small, shallow bowl and stir until well combined. Take 1/2tbsp of this mixture and place it in another bowl. Leave to one side (this is for sprinkling on top).
- To top the cupcakes with sugar: Brush the top of each cupcake with melted butter and then either sprinkle the cinnamon sugar onto each cupcakes, or dip each cupcake into the cinnamon sugar. Leave to one side while you make the frosting.
- Place butter, icing sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, and mix on low until it starts to come together. Add 1tbsp of milk, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and mix until light and fluffy. Add extra milk as necessary, you want your frosting to hold its shape, but be soft enough to pipe. It takes a good 2-3 minutes for my frosting to get ultra light and fluffy, it will pale in colour slightly as well.
- Fit a piping bag with an open star nozzle and fill halfway. Pipe a swirl onto the top of each cupcake. Once you've piped all the cupcakes, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar you took out of your topping mixture.
- To finish off the cupcakes, take your Ziploc bag with melted chocolate and make sure the melted chocolate is all in one corner. Snip the corner off of the Ziploc bag, only a small amount, and then drizzle melted chocolate over each cupcake. Leave to set for 10 minutes, then dig in!
- Pumpkin Churro Cupcakes will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 5 days. The cinnamon sugar will be absorbed into the cupcake after a few days.
