tbt Pumpkin Pomegranate Cupcakes

For this Throwback Thursday, I’m sharing one of my favorite fall recipes – Pumpkin Pomegranate Cupcakes.  I’ve made these several times before (these photos are from 2010 when I first got my fancy DSLR camera).  The combination of flavors is perfect for fall! 

 

I remember a few years ago, my friend Thu and I had bought all the ingredients to make these cupcakes, but the store was out of pumpkin.  We tried 2 other grocery stores, just to discover that there was a canned pumpkin shortage that year!  Since we already had everything else we needed, we substituted for canned yams.  They still were good, but the original recipe is definitely better.    

 

The pomegranate arils look like little gems garnishing the tops of the cupcakes! These are best served warm so the chocolate chips inside are nice and gooey. 

Pumpkin Pomegranate Cupcakes (adapted from Flamingo Bear)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1- 15 ounce can pure pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 t vanilla
• 3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 1-1/2 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips (plus 1/2 cup extra for drizzle)
• Seeds of 1 pomegranate (You can sometimes buy them already seeded, but I usually buy a whole one and seed it myself.  Check this post to see how to remove the arils from the fruit) 

 Cream Cheese Drizzle:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
• 5 T butter, softened but still cool
• 1 T sour cream
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.  Next, beat in the eggs, pumpkin, water, and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. 

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir to blend. Then gently stir in 1-1/2 cups of the chocolate chips.

5. Spoon batter into pre-greased muffin tins and bake for 18-21 minutes, or until muffin tops spring back and tester comes out clean. 

6. Remove the muffins from the oven, and cool them on a wire rack. 

7. While the muffins cool, prepare your drizzles.  Mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed of standing mixer until well combined, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until combined. 

8. Put the icing in a piping bag or Ziploc with small hole cut in the corner, and drizzle over the tops of the muffins. 

9. Melt ½ cup chocolate chips, stirring to ensure they don’t burn.  Drizzle on the cupcakes as well. 

10.  Finally, top the drizzle with your pomegranate seeds while the drizzle is still wet.  Enjoy!