Pumpkin Pie vs. Pumpkin Cupcakes

For me - pumpkin is not just something for Thanksgiving, it's a flavor I crave all year long (which I've been trying to explain to Starbucks for quite some time now!!!). 

I've been toying with the idea of going the non-traditional route for dessert at Thanksgiving this year...I mean, we're cooking our turkey in a Big Green Egg, how much more non-traditional can you get?  We always have pumpkin pie and pecan pie, but quite honestly I'm not crazy about "pie" in general.  So I thought between now and next week I'd play around with a few recipes and see what I can come up with to possibly change things up a bit this year...If all else fails there is always pie...sigh.

Here's what I've come up with.

Caramel Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 spice cake mixes

1 30-oz. can pumpkin

1 12-oz. bag of caramel chips

Okay, super-tricky here. Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mixes and canned pumpkin. Stir in caramel chips.

Spoon mixture into lined muffin pan. This can make as many as 48 muffins or as few as 36, just depending on how full the cups are filled. These really don't rise very much, so you can fill them pretty full. If aesthetics are a concern, keep in mind that how they look going into the oven is very much what they will look like coming out of the oven. So a cookie scoop works great to keep things on the prettier side.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting (OMG!!) 

Courtesy of Ina Garten

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.  Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.  I also sprinkled them with a little pumpkin pie spice for a nice finishing touch...it's all about presentation, right?

Sooo...the verdict is in - WOW, they're a keeper!  I'm not 100% sure Aaron will go for no pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day, but these little morsels will definitely be on the table, with or without pumpkin pie.