Ina Garten's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

I was flipping through my favorite magazine House Beautiful when I saw the recipe for Barefoot Contessa's Pumpkin Cupcakes. I knew I had to try them, and when I did, I was highly surprised to find that I could bake if I wanted to! All of my cupcakes rose just right and tasted amazing! The only change I made to this recipe was that I made mini-cupcakes instead of regular sized cupcakes because minis are more fun!

Ina Garten's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I just used large)
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (8 oz), not pie filling
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple frosting (recipe follows)
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Divide the batter among the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.

Maple Frosting 
- 6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (I used the Philadelphia Whipped)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor (of course, Albany didn't have this anywhere so I just used Maple extract that I finally found at Walmart)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a 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 confectioner's sugar and mx until smooth.