Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

My mother-in-law made these little cupcakes for a bridal shower recently and I was excited that she had enough to share with me. I added them to the many sweets we baked for my sister's senior recital reception (lots of recipes coming this way!)

These cupcakes are perfect. Not too pumpkin-y and not too spicy. They're perfect with a little dollop of cream cheese frosting on top but they're also very satisfying on their own. Even people who aren't fans of pumpkin admit to loving these cupcakes. Give them a try!

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

recipe courtesy of my MIL 

via allrecipes

Ingredients:

   2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    1 cup butter, room temperature
    1 cup white sugar
    1 cup packed brown sugar
    4 eggs
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

Instructions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, and cloves in a bowl; set aside.
    

2. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
   

3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!