Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Toasted Meringue

Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Toasted Meringue are delicious little bites with real pumpkin puree stirred into a spiced cake mix for a healthier treat. If you love pumpkin, be sure to visit my Best Pumpkin Recipe page for more great recipes.

I love cupcakes! Cute little bites that are packed with flavor and so easy to share with friends, not to mention how easy cupcakes are to bake. No splitting layers of cake, no crumbs all over the counter, just neat individual treats to make everyone fell special.

For some reason, the Fall holidays seem to sneak up on me when I am not ready. You can bake these cupcakes at the last minute and still have a show stopping dessert!

Hey! The don't call me the "Queen of Last Minute" for nothing.

Easy batters that start with a boxed cake mix and mix in heathy fruit or vegetable purees like pumpkin or zucchini are perfect for cupcakes and can save a lot of time. Add a dollop of quick and easy meringue for a tasty, low-fat frosting.

Toasted Meringue Tastes Like S'mores

These Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes are perfect for any Fall event or gathering from school parties, to Halloween treats, to Thanksgiving gatherings. I bake them all year long.

The toasted Meringue Frosting tastes like a S'more so why not bake them all year 'round?

Meringue on top takes the place of regular frosting and is actually lighter in calories and has less fat than traditional icings but, who has to know that? It can be our little secret.

Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Toasted Meringue has been featured on other blogs

I originally shared this recipe with blogger Candi Elm who featured them on her blog, A Day in Candiland , as a fast and easy Halloween treat.

Head on over to A Day in Candiland and check out her other cupcake recipes and while we are talking about cupcakes, don't forget about my Fall Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Pumpkins (also perfect for Thanksgiving) that I shared on the blog, Summer Scraps.

Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Toasted Meringue

Sandy Hoopes

Fast and Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes that add real pumpkin puree to a spiced cake mix for a healthy, cinnamon-y treat.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3 whole large eggs (for cupcakes)
• 3 whole large egg whites (for meringue)
• ½ cup sugar (for meringue)
• ¼ teaspoon salt (for meringue)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with cooking spray.

  In a large bowl, whisk the dry cake mix and the pie spice together until well blended. Add the pumpkin puree and the yogurt. Mix on low speed until blended then, turn up the speed of the mixer to med-high speed and beat for 2 more minutes.

  Spoon the batter into the cupcake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done and a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

  Remove from the oven and cool slightly before turning the cupcake out onto a board or counter.

  Make the meringue—

  I a large bowl, combine the egg whites, the sugar and the salt. Put the bowl over the top of a sauce pan with simmering water and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Make sure water from the steam does not get into the egg whites.

  Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat the eggs whites with a mixer on med-high speed.

  Put the meringue in a pastry bag that has been fitted with a very large star tip.

  When the cupcakes are cool, pipe the meringue onto each cupcake.

  Brown the meringue with a creme brûlée torch or place the cupcakes under a 400 degree oven until the meringue is toasted OR use a small kitchen torch or creme brulee torch to toast the meringue.

Tools I use to make Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Toasted Meringue