Pumpkin Crunch Cupcake

I love fall. Like...REALLY love fall. I love the chilly nights, I love making s'mores over a bonfire, I love wearing hoodies with flip flops, I love the colors. But what I love most about fall is PUMPKIN!! Everything has pumpkin!! Coffee, cakes, candles, cookies....the list goes on and on. As you can tell, I have the biggest sore spot for pumpkin!!!

So I stumbled across some inspiration on pinterest (go figure) for a pumpkin cupcake and headed straight for the kitchen. Well....I had to go pick up a few items from the grocery store first). The result was a deliciously light and fluffy cake with an airy whipped topping. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Pumpkin Crunch Cupcake

Cake Ingredients:

24 Golden Oreos
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil
1/2 c. Cinnamon Applesauce
3 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 c. Sugar
1 c. Brown Sugar
15 oz Pumpkin Pie Puree (I used Libby's)
2 3/4 c. Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
(if you use just canned pumpkin, you'll need nutmeg and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice)

Whipped Topping Ingredients:

1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tsp Vanilla
1 c. Powdered Sugar
A few dashes of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice for garnish

1) Preheat your oven to 350*
2) Line tin with cupcake liners. Separate the Oreos and drop the half with the cream in the bottom of each liner. (cream side up)
3) In a bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla.
4) Stir in both white and brown sugar, and beat on low for a minute or two.
5) Stir in Pumpkin Pie Puree (if you use pumpkin puree, add your cinnamon/nutmeg here too; to taste)
6) In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix only until combined. Do NOT over mix. Take a test and add nutmeg/cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice to taste.
7) Fill the liners just shy of 3/4 full and bake for 17-20 minutes. To test, I stick a toothpick in and pull them out when the toothpick comes out sticky but not runny. I find that if you wait until the toothpick is clean that the cake is overdone.


For the whipped topping, the KEY is to use a very cold metal bowl and beaters. I put mine in the freezer when the oven gets turned. Put the heavy whipping cream in the bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Then add vanilla and powdered sugar. Then add in a few dashes of either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and beat until the topping is stiff. Put it in a piping bag and go to town!!! Don't be shy with the topping! I sprinkled some seasoning on the top of each cupcake to add some pizazz to them.

The result is a moist fluffy wonderfully fall inspired pumpkin cake with a perfectly spiced whipped topping. The cream from the Oreo adds just a hint of creaminess to the cake and crunch is a nice finishing touch.