Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkins just make me Happy! I don't know why, the color the shape the season they represent. I'm not sure, but they do- Pumpkins make me feel great! I know weird, right!

So at the beginning of the summer Karl took these award winning pumpkin seeds that we got from the Pumpkin Growers of America and passed them out with instructions on how to grow an award winning pumpkin to all of our neighbors. We were to have a friendly pumpkin growing contest. Well the sad story goes, no one had much luck. The growing season was so short this year, all the crops struggled. Karl had two pumpkins that started to grow and then for no apparent reason rotted. But he went to clean up his garden a few days ago and look what he found.....

He told me it was a pumpkin so I guess I believe him. :)
Anyways we invited all of our friends and neighbors to come sit around a cozy fire, drinking hot cocoa....

Ethan and friends...


and everyone brought some kind of pumpkin treat.


It was a delightful evening. Here is what I took.....
Pumpkin Cupcakes
(this recipe is from Nova Scotia out of the Taste of Home cook book)
* It's actually pumpkin bread that I just made into cupcakes*
1- 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( or instead I use chocolate chips)

*Combine the sugar, pumpkin, oil,water and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips.
* Pour into greased bread pans or cupcake liners and bake at 350 degrees. Bread will take about 50 min. cupcakes about 10 min.



And then I topped them with my new favorite Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting....

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

This was so much fun we will have to have another pumpkin growing contest next year!