These Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes are a great copycat of the popular Starbucks fall drink. The pumpkin, coffee, and spices go together so well. And who can resist cute pumpkin cupcakes with a fun green straw?
So a few weeks ago, my family and I had a chance to go see Hillsong Live in concert. It was amazing being in a room with that many people just praising and worshiping our God.
I think my favorite part of the night was when the lead singer had them turn off all the lights in the room, and then he asked the audience to turn on their cell phone lights and hold them up.
That many lights together were able to shine out and make the room bright enough to see again. It was a great reminder to keep on being a light in the dark world that we live in.
It is easy to get discouraged by all the things that go on around us from day to day, but God is mighty to save and He has conquered the grave to give us a light to shine.
I know I am so thankful that God loves me know matter what failures and fears I have in this life. I mess up on a daily basis, but Jesus is always there to encourage me and love me without fail.
What an honor it is to be able to shine like a light to those around me. The song that Hillsong sang next was Mighty to Save. It is one of my favorite songs that we sing in our church. (You can click the name of the song to hear it, if you are interested.) I am so thankful for a mighty God!!!
As we were driving home from the concert, we passed through a small town. I could see their town sign in the distance, and I swear it looked just like a giant cupcake with writing. I turned to my husband and asked him if he saw "the cupcake".
Of course, he just thought I was a little crazy. Then he just laughed and asked how long it had been since I had eaten cupcakes.
I guess if I am seeing giant cupcakes in the dark, it has been waaaaay too long since eating my last one. I needed to make cupcakes right away!
Now that it is September and Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes are all the rage, I decided to make a copycat version of the drink as a pumpkin cupcake.
Pumpkin and coffee just go together so well. These pumpkin spice cupcakes was light with a certain dense quality from the pumpkin. But I have to tell you, it was the whipped coffee frosting that really made this cupcake.
It was so light and fluffy...I just wanted to sit in my kitchen and eat all of it with a spoon.
How to make Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes:
- Combine the cake mix, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, coffee, and spices in a bowl and mix.
- Spoon the batter evenly into 24 cupcake liners, bake, and cool.
- Heat the white chocolate and cream in a saucepan until melted and smooth. Remove and let cool.
- Whisk together water and instant coffee, then add butter and beat until creamy.
- Pour in the cooled white chocolate mixture and beat again until creamy.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar
Since we had a picnic to attend, I topped the easy pumpkin cupcakes with the white chocolate mocha frosting right away. And of course, little mini green straws were the absolute perfect extra touch! (Yes, I know latte's do NOT come with straws...just humor me!)
Other delicious Starbucks inspired cupcakes you may like:
- Caramel Caffe Mocha Cupcakes
- Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cups
- Toffee Mocha Cupcakes
- Eggnog Latte Cupcakes
- S'mores Frappuccino Cupcakes
Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
These Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes have a white chocolate cinnamon coffee frosting. They are a delicious copycat of the popular fall Starbucks drink.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 box spice cake mix
- 1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup oil
- ⅓ cup brewed coffee, cooled
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
For the Frosting
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
- 6 ounces baking white chocolate squares, chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Place 24 cupcake liners in a pan.
- Combine the cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, oil, coffee, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Beat on low for 1 minute, and beat on medium for 2 minutes.
- Spoon evenly into the cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely
- Stir the hot water and instant coffee until dissolved. Set aside.
- Heat the white chocolate and heavy cream over low-medium heat until melted and smooth. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Place the butter and coffee mixture into a bowl and beat for 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in the melted chocolate mixture and beat until creamy.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar and cinnamon on low speed. Increase the speed to high and and beat until thick and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Use a piping bag and icing tip 2D to frost cupcakes. Keep refrigerated. Makes 24 cupcakes.
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Shannon
I made these and won a baking contest with them; absolutely delicious! I tweaked the recipe just a little bit, added extra pumpkin pie spice to the batter and a few other preferential additions. My frosting whipped up just fine just not as much fluffy whip/height as in the picture. But I was not disappointed at all. It was a much lighter buttercream that paired really well with the cake without overpowering the flavors. I will absolutely be making these again; thank you for sharing!
Jocelyn
Woo hoo! I always thought these were a winner and now I know they are for sure. Congrats on winning the baking contest! I am so happy to hear you love them as much as we do!
Naomi
It doesn't mention when to add the melted butter in the frosting? Maybe that's why people are having a hard time?
Jocelyn
Actually if you look at step 3 in the recipe, it says place the butter and coffee in a bowl and beat. I think the problem is that people are not whipping the mixture fast enough and long enough. It is a soft whipped frosting. I hope that helps.
The passionate Baketender
I see quite a few people have had troubles with the frosting, you have to be patient and let the frosting work it's magic for awhile! I made these last year and even during summer, they are my best sellers! I use this recipe to a T. The frosting (if done correctly) is perfectly light and fluffy, it is hardly sweet, and the white chocolate just makes it like heaven in your mouth! Best recipe I have yet to find 😉 thank you for the wonderful share!!!
Jocelyn
That's awesome to hear! I have never had a problem with the frosting whipping up either. It's one of my favorite frostings to date!!!
Kim
Making these right now. I modified just slightly...added sour cream...about 1/3 cup. Iam going to cheat on the icing...using ready made and will add cinnimon and Starbucks Via instant whipped in. Thank you for the recipe. 🙂
Sydney Sun
These look awesome! My frosting was a little bit on the soft side too, check out my Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes from scratch on my blog!
For the Love of Baking
Sydney Sun
The Passionate Baketender
I just Made these, They were Heavenly!!! I recommend EVERYONE to make these and share them with your loved ones!! They just came out with the PLS here and my fb page is blowing up about it.. decided to try this recipe out and so glad I did!! These were a huge hit!!! Thank you so much!!
Patricia
thanks for the words of encouragement its so nice to hear. God bless you and your family
Vera Zecevic – Cupcakes Garden
These cupcakes are even better than Starbucks drink. I've featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don't mind, but if you do, please contact me and I'll remove it. All the best.
Tammy
I hope that the frosting measurements posted above get corrected before too many 'new bakers get confused when they add 1
1/2 Cups of powdered sugar to butter and it stays a liquid consistancy. . .Frosting requires around 4 to 5 cups of powdered sugar. I believe they meant 1 1/2 pound of powdered sugar. Perfect fall recipe and delicious! I'm sure there will be many people trying it.
Jocelyn Brubaker
The measurements for this frosting ARE correct for this recipe. This is a whipped frosting with the heavy cream and melted white chocolate. I have made this frosting many times and it has always whipped up perfectly for me.
Tammy
I'll be sure to use the whisk attachment next time I make these. Thanks again for the recipe!
Jennifer
Just made the frosting, with my own pumpkin cupcake and am going to have to do a whole new type of white chocolate buttercream. While I love the idea, the sweetness is SO overpowering more than any cupcake I've ever had/made. Thanks for the wonderful idea though!
Jocelyn Brubaker
I am sorry to hear you don't like the taste. But it does show that everyone has different tastes because I didn't think it was that sweet at all. I hope you have better luck with a different frosting.
Olivia
I tried these cupcakes because they looked so good and also I love pumpkin spice lattees! But when I made the frosting, it was a bit watery, so I added maybe a cup more of powdered sugar and it was still watery! So luckily I had the idea to add some frosting which was cream cheese frosting and I used the rest I had which was 2/3 of a container. But the frosting didn't take away from it, I felt like I made it better! But anyways thanks so much for the recipe, it tastes delicios and everyone at the party loved them!
Jocelyn Brubaker
I'm glad you were able to make the cupcakes work. This frosting has to be beaten for quite a while to whip up just right. Did you beat it for the five minutes?
Jen {Bakerette.com}
These look absolutely awesome! I'd love it if you linked this up at our link party at Bakerette[dot]com.