It’s definitely pumpkin spice season! The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and heating up the oven on a chilly day feels so cozy.

Today I wanted to share my recipe for pumpkin spice cheesecake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. That’s a mouthful and so are these cupcakes!

I started with a basic pumpkin spice cupcake, but upped the ante with a spiced cheesecake filling. A fluffy and not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting tops these beauties off!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canola oil
3 large eggs

Cheesecake Filling Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cupcake Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper or foil liners. This recipe makes about two dozen cupcakes, so I used this muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugars, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Set aside.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the cheesecake filling ingredients until smooth.
5. Spoon the cupcake batter into the muffin cups until they’re about half-full or a little less. Add a spoonful of the cheesecake filling to each muffin cup and top with more cupcake batter until each muffin cup is about 3/4 of the way full.
6. Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in a cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack until completely cooled and prepare cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Cream Cheese Frosting Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
2. Add in the vanilla extract and continue beating.
3. 1 cup at a time, add in the powdered sugar. Be sure to beat the mixture between each addition of powdered sugar so your frosting is light and fluffy instead of gritty.
4. Top your cooled cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting (I used this pastry tip and these bags, but you could also use a simple offset spatula or butter knife!) and enjoy!

Notes: The cupcakes can be made a day in advance and stored at room temperature. The frosting can be made a day in advance, but be sure to store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. Leftover cupcakes should be store in the refrigerator. They can be stored for up to three days.