These moist pumpkin chai latte cupcakes are made with a chai pumpkin cupcake, whipped sweet cream buttercream, and sprinkled with a brown sugar chai spice mix. These pumpkin chai cupcakes are inspired by one of my favorite fall drinks, an iced chai latte with pumpkin sweet cream cold foam.
Pumpkin chai latte cupcakes are a fun fall cupcake made with a unique combination of two beloved fall flavors - pumpkin and chai. These boldly spiced cupcakes are bursting with flavor. Even my 3 year old son loves them! If someone is not a big fan of chai spice, try these pumpkin cupcakes made with cream cheese frosting instead.
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Ingredients for Pumpkin Chai Latte Cupcakes
The ingredients for these pumpkin chai cupcakes are simple but full of spices, although optional if you choose not to do the brown sugar chai spice mix topping.
- all purpose flour
- baking soda and baking powder
- pumpkin puree
- dark brown sugar
- sugar
- large eggs
- vegetable oil
- chai latte concentrate
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
- sweet cream creamer or heavy whipping cream
- vanilla extract
- spices: pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon, all spice, ground cloves, cardamom, ground ginger
Ingredients for Pumpkin Chai Latte Cupcakes
The first step to making theses deliciously moist pumpkin chai cupcakes is making the cupcake batter and it couldn't be more simple to do. These cupcakes use the wet dry method so they come together quickly and are as simple as mixing together the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, and then combining them.
- Step 1: Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Step 2: Whisk all the wet ingredients together.
- Step 3: Fill the cupcake liners ¾ of the way full.
- Step 4: Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once the pumpkin chai latte cupcakes are baked, be sure to allow them to cool completely before frosting with the buttercream.
Make the whipped buttercream and then fill a piping bag with a piping tip to frost these cupcakes with a nice big frosting swirl. The frosting recipe makes plenty to do a generous topping on each cupcake.
Optionally, but recommended, sprinkle the homemade brown sugar spice mix over top each cupcake for that additional unique fall spice flavor. Remember a little goes a long way here!
Why You'll Love These Cupcakes
- Perfect for fall - these are the perfect fall cupcakes with a unique flavor combination of pumpkin and chai spice. Made with chai tea latte concentrate so no making hot tea and cooling.
- Moist and delicious - these cupcakes stay super moist because of the pumpkin puree and oil.
- Easy to make - these pumpkin chai cupcakes use the wet dry method, so they could not come together any quicker! No complicated instructions.
- Perfect cupcake tops - the cupcakes rise perfectly creating the perfect cupcake dome on top, not too big but not flat either.
How to Store Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes
Store these frosted pumpkin chai cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
These cupcakes also freeze well for up to a month. If freezing, omit dusting the brown sugar spice mix on top until ready to serve. When freezing cupcakes, I prefer to get the buttercream to crust and firm up by placing them in the refrigerator for an hour and then wrapping each cupcake individually with plastic wrap. Then placing the individually wrapped cupcakes in a freezer bag. Thaw unwrapped in the refrigerator overnight.
More Pumpkin Recipes...
Looking for other pumpkin inspired recipes like this? Try these:
More Fall Flavor...
More fall recipes to inspire your fall baking:
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Pumpkin Chai Latte Cupcakes
Equipment
- stand mixer or electric hand mixer with beater attachments
- whisk
- measuring cups & spoons
- cookie scoop optional to evenly distribute the batter in the cupcake liners
- silicone spatula
- large piping bag
- large open star piping tip
Ingredients
Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup chai latte concentrate (I like the Tazo brand in the carton! )
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped Buttercream
- 1½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, softened at room temperature)
- 5½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons sweet cream creamer (or heavy whipping cream)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Brown Sugar Chai Spice Topping
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon all spice
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger
Optional Decorative Garnish
- ideas: cinnamon sticks, star anise, mini pumpkin candies
Instructions
Brown Sugar Chai Spice Topping
- In a bowl, combine brown sugar and all of the spices whisking until combined and uniform. Set aside.1 Tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon all spice, ⅛ teaspoon cardamom, ⅛ teaspoon cloves, ⅛ teaspoon ginger
Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients including the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.1¼ cups all purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 1½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- In a separate larger mixing bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients including pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, chai tea concentrate, and vanilla extract. Whisk really well until fully uniform.¾ cup pumpkin puree, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup chai latte concentrate, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Combine the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredients, whisking until combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way full with cupcake batter.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out completely clean. IMPORTANT: Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating!
Whipped Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with a beater blade attachment, whip the room temperature softened butter and fine sea salt for 1-2 minutes until it is lighter in color and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl down with a silicone spatula.1½ cups unsalted butter, ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Add in 3 cups of powdered sugar gradually mixing on low speed. Add in the sweet cream creamer (or heavy whipping cream) and the remaining 2½ cups powdered sugar, mixing on a higher speed to combine.5½ cups powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons sweet cream creamer
- Once combined add in the vanilla extract and set to low medium speed allowing the buttercream to whip for 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Buttercream should be super smooth and light/fluffy.2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Prepare a piping bag with a large open star piping tip and fill with whipped buttercream.
- Once the cupcakes are COMPLETELY cooled, pipe each cupcake with a large swirl of buttercream. Lastly, sprinkle the tops with brown sugar chai spice mix - you don't need a lot, it's strong! Garnish with a cinnamon stick if desired - for decorative purposes only.
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