YUMMY PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper cupcake liners;set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined; set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, beat the sugar, canola oil, buttermilk, pumpkin, and eggs for 2 minutes or until well combined. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat another couple of minutes just until well combined. Fill each regular-sized muffin tin about 2/3 full of batter. Bake cakes at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled, frost with the frosting recipe below.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
1 pkg (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp (or more if needed) milk
Orange food coloring

In a large mixer bowl, with electric mixer on high, beat together the cream cheese and butter for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk, beating until smooth and of spreading consistency. Add another drop of milk at a time if frosting is too thick to spread. Add the orange food coloring and blend well. Frost some cakes then add more color if you want to darken the shade so as to have different shades of pumpkins. Decorate by making jack-o-lantern faces or by adding a short pretzel rod in the center, leaning rod slightly, to make the stem. Or get fancy by adding some green leaves to the rod as in the photo below. If doing that, be sure to take out a small amount of icing before adding the orange food coloring so you can make some green.
 

 Note: File Photo