Pumpkin Cupcakes with Brown Butter Frosting

In case you still have a hankering to make pumpkin cupcakes, I made another recipe. I don't know why Martha has two pumpkin recipes. Presumably, she has a lot of pumpkins in her pumpkin patch, which she harvests and cooks down and needs to use for something.

I have never been a big fan of pumpkin pie. While discussing Thanksgiving dinner with Melanee and George--in particular, pie--I learned that pumpkin pie is our least favorite of all pies. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but I have never been a big fan of the custardy texture of pumpkin pie. I do not need it to feel like my Thanksgiving dinner has been a success. This recipe is not like pumpkin pie, just to put your mind at ease, if you, like me, do not like pumpkin pie.

This recipe is a bit more rustic than the last recipe. It calls for browned butter, which was something I had never made before.

These cupcakes are amazingly soft, and the brown butter gives them a kind of caramel flavor. It's a little different from the other pumpkin cupcake recipe, but equally delicious. Weeks later, one of the women I worked with said she continues to have dreams about the brown butter frosting.

Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins.

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for tins.

1/4 c. fresh sage leaves, cut into chiffonade (optional)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 c. canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325. Brush muffin tins with butter, dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add sage, if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving behind any burned sediment behind; let cool.

Whisk together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter. Add flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake about 20 minutes. To finish, dip top of each cupcake in brown-butter icing, then turn over quickly and let set.

Brown Butter Icing

(makes 1 cup)

1 stick unsalted butter

2 c. sifted confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp. milk, plus more if needed

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to brown butter; stir until smooth. If necessary, add more milk, a little at a time, just until icing is spreadable. Use immediately.