Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Yesterday was a busy day. It was Open House night at the school, so I had work, then a meeting after work, then I ran home to eat a little dinner, and went back for open house. Monday night, after practice, I made myself make time to bake. I figured it was long overdue, and since we had a work meeting and Open House, a little treat for my co-workers would be nice. With fall creeping around the corner, pumpkin was a great choice. I had debated not breaking into the pumpkin just yet, but let's get serious, pumpkin coffee came back to Dunkin Donuts in August...

August!

August is still summer. Flavors should be berries or beachy cocktails, like the drinks I had while on vacation at the beach in August when pumpkin returned. Don't get me wrong, pumpkin is my favorite coffee from Dunks, but August is just too soon. However, September isn't, especially when temps are in the 40s when I wake up.

Now that I have some open time today, I can write this post and make a home-cooked meal. Last night tomato soup (from a can) was okay, but I want a real meal tonight. For the cupcakes, I used vanilla bean paste instead of regular extract.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes wit Cinnamon Buttercream
from Macaroni and Cheesecake

For the cake:
2.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each of nutmeg, cloves and ginger
1.5 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1.5 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 (15 oz). can pure pumpkin
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1-3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar, oil, buttermilk, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla until fully incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add in flour in small amounts until just incorporated. Gently stir in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
4. Scoop evenly into cupcake liners and bake for 18-23 minutes. Let cool.
5. For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until fluffy.
6. Add in the powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, mixing in between.
7. Add one tablespoon of milk and the vanilla. Beat until incorporated. Add cinnamon and beat again until evenly dispersed. If you want your frosting softer, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time (I ended up doing 3).
8. Frost and serve!