Fall Recipe Poll- Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes

Hey everyone! Welcome to the results of the Fall Recipe Poll. I am sooo, sooo sorry that I didn't get this post up sooner, and even sorrier that I never had a chance to make these! 

Technically, the carmel apple shake won, but I made the huge mistake of not checking out the recipe beforehand and some of the ingredients were things that you can only buy online or in health food stores. I didn't want to get into that because I would probably only make the shake once or twice. Therefore, you guys get the recipe of the Chai Latte Cupcakes. 

I love chai tea lattes, so I'm hoping that when I do actually get the chance to make these, they will be just as yummy as I imagine!

In this recipe, you start with the basic cupcakes (which is below) and then you add other things to make the cupcakes chai, pumpkin chai, or vanilla chai. 

*Source

The Perfect Yellow Cupcake Recipe

1 cup unsalted butter (I soften this up in the microwave first, after cutting this into cubes for easier mashing)

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk (my secret: I use low fat goat’s milk which tastes like cream)

2 tablespoons of either melted cream cheese or sour cream (really adds a lot of moisture!!!)

If this is all you want to do, scoop into your muffin papers/tins and bake at 350 for 20 25 minutes. You can freeze after they cool, if needed.

Now, onto the fun stuff:

Chai Latte Cupcakes

What you will do is bring 1 cup of water to boil and place two black tea bags (does not matter if it is decaffeinated, in fact I often make it without caffeine because I have a lot of friends who don’t like caffeine) in the water. Let it boil for about 2 minutes, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it reduces to 1/3 a cup of water. You’ll add HALF of that to your basic batter. Then you will add the following spices:

* 2 tablespoons Cinnamon

* 1 teaspoon ground ginger

* 1 teaspoon nutmeg

* 1 teaspoon black pepper

* 1 teaspoon cloves

I almost always add MORE spices than that, but I am giving you the minimum because I know that people have different tastes than me, so just taste your batter and adjust accordingly.

The frosting for this should be a buttercream frosting with the addition of 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Vanilla Chai Latte Cupcakes

Simply add an extra 1/2 teaspoon to vanilla to the batter and when making the buttercream frosting add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and then sprinkle each cupcake with a little cinnamon.

Pumpkin Chai Latte Cupcakes

To the Chai Latte cupcake batter, mix in 1 cup of NON SPICED pumpkin puree. If you have only pre-spiced pumpkin puree, please adjust your spices accordingly.

Frost these with a cream cheese/butter frosting with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla mixed in.

And since it is the season, a generous topping crunchy orange sugar sprinkles is always super nice!