Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s that time of year where we need all things pumpkin because everything pumpkin is delicious. These chocolate chip pumpkin cupcakes are tender and perfectly spiced with the most luscious cream cheese frosting!

My dear friend Lisa makes the most spectacular chocolate chip pumpkin cupcakes and always gifts me some every fall. She’s the type of human being that you want in your corner. Not because she makes dang good cupcakes, not because she’s a fighter (which she is after battling cancer), and not even because of some special talent or anything. She’s the lifelong, loyal, completely genuine woman that all women should strive to be.

When we first moved and were so lost and bummed that we couldn’t (and still haven’t) found a home to settle into she showed up with another friend bearing these cupcakes as a reminder that I and my family are seen and loved even when we don’t live by each other. I just cried when I opened the door. I love her and I think she makes the best pumpkin cupcakes ever so I had no choice but to share them with all of you.

They are perfectly balanced with flavor, texture and the frosting is literally the icing on top. Best. Pumpkin. Cupcake. I promise.

What You Need to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Grab a can of pumpkin from the grocery store and I’m willing to bet you have the rest of the ingredients already! Here is everything you will need:

For the Cupcakes

• Wet Ingredients: Eggs, Sugar, Pumpkin, Water and Oil
• Dry Ingredients: Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt. Ground Cloves and Cinnamon
• Mini Chocolate Chips

For the Frosting

• Cream Cheese: I’ve had the best results with full fat Philadelphia brand cream cheese.
• Butter: Make sure it is softened to room temperature.
• Powdered Sugar: Adds the sweetness and structure to the frosting.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor
• Milk: Helps the frosting be a little more creamy.

The details and measurements for each ingredient can be found down at the end of the post.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cupcakes

You’re just a few steps away from the most delicious pumpkin cupcakes of your life! Here is a step-by-step guide to making the cupcakes:

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Combine: Start by mixing the eggs and sugar together until well combined. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients and blend thoroughly.
3. Mix: Add all the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Then fold in the mini chocolate chips.
4. Bake: Fill the cupcake liners in the muffin pan 2/3 full and then bake the cupcakes for 17-19

Peanut Butter Mug Cake

This Peanut Butter Mug Cake is moist, indulgent, and only takes 5 minutes to throw together. Even better, this easy mug cake is a kid-friendly recipe! 

Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug

Peanut butter cake in a mug! Now that I have your attention, I have a delightful little recipe for you, for those days when you are craving a cozy dessert but you forgot to prepare anything.

Who doesn’t love a cute mug dessert — aka a delicious miniature cake for one made in just minutes, perfectly portioned so that all you need to do is find a spoon and a comfy space on the couch to satisfy that sweet tooth?

I used to think my One-Bowl Chocolate Cake was easy, but then I created this microwave cake recipe and now I’m hooked. I’m so hooked that I’ve created protein mug cake recipe too that you totally need to try! Made from scratch, fluffy, and flavorful, I bet you have all the ingredients you need for this recipe on hand right now.

Plus, peanut butter and chocolate chips — like in these Peanut Butter Muffins or this gorgeous Peanut Butter Cheesecake Dip — are just the best of friends.  Is there a more perfect couple? You just can’t beat the taste of those two together!

What’s in This Peanut Butter Mug Cake?

Now, microwave mug cakes are small and we’re trusting the microwave to cook it perfectly, so it’s important to get the right balance of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make this best mug cake:

• Peanut butter and chocolate are of course the main flavor components here.
• Vegetable oil helps to keep the cake moist – no dry mug cakes here.
• Egg white gives the cake structure and helps it to be light and fluffy.
• This cake in a mug recipe uses brown sugar for enhanced flavor and also moisture.
• Finally, cake regulars, flour and baking powder do the job of structure and lift.

Can I Make a Cake in a Mug Without an Egg?

Yes, you can make this eggless and use milk instead, but the texture is much better using the egg white. I should note here that this recipe is dairy-free and you can make it gluten free by swapping the all purpose flour with gluten-free flour.

How to Make a Mug Cake

Mug desserts are as easy as it gets. Here are the basic steps to making this microwave cake in a cup:

1. Start by combining the wet ingredients and sugar in a large microwave-safe mug. Give it a good whisk with a fork.
2. Add the dry ingredients and stir the cake b

Lemon Jello Cake [+ Video]

This Lemon Jello Cake is perfect anytime of year, but it’s especially great for Easter and the 4th of July. It’s an easy lemon cake that uses a few shortcuts to speed things up!

The Best Lemon Cake Recipe

Hey guys! It’s Sarah, yes that one who was able to share our road to adoption with your help and the most incredible day when we finally held our baby girl and the miracle of adoption. But today is about lemon jello cake.

I got so excited about this easy lemon cake recipe that I have to warn you that this post not only includes a delicious recipe for lemon jello cake, but it also includes a lot of tangents that you’ll read in the gazillion parenthesis! Writing this down instead of telling it to you personally allows my brain too much time to wander as I write simple sentences.  You will learn the inner-workings of my head!

I love lemony food. Everything with lemon tastes fresh—lemonade, lemon squares, pasta lemon cream sauce…Sour Heads (those freshen up your senses pretty quickly). And there is nothing better than a fresh tasting dessert! (Do you want to know how I learned to spell dessert? In elementary school my teacher told me that you want more dessert so you spell it with two “s”es and not one…desert. Shout out to you, school teachers!)

This lemon jello cake is one of our favorite treats. It is the moistest (my sister-in-law’s favorite word…and anything that has the “oi” sound) cake with help from the Lemon Jell-O flavor packet and the icing on top that seeps down through the sponginess (is that a word? I like to make up words) of the cake. And moist cakes are the only way to go.

This lemon jello cake will forever and ever remind me of visiting my grandparents house on Sunday evenings where we would play, talk and eat.  I still see their 50-year-old antique silverware and old plates lining the table before everyone digs in. Food does that, doesn’t it? What recipe do you make that transports you back in time?

Lemon Jello Cake Ingredients

This lemon cake recipe comes together quickly with the help of a few shortcuts. I love homemade cakes, but simpler family recipes like this one are great to have on hand too! Here’s what you’ll need to make this cake mix lemon cake recipe:

• Lemon Cake Mix: We prefer Duncan Hines brand, but any brand will work great.
• Eggs: Adds structure to the cake.
• Water: Adds moisture and helps activate the jello making the cake extra moist
• Oil: The fat that keeps the cake moist and tender.
• Lemon Jello: You will use just the jello powder and be sure it isn’t sugar free
• Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is an absolute must!
• Powdered Sugar: Adds all the sweetness to the icing

The measurements for all the ingredients can found down below so keep scrolling down to the recipe card for all

Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are super moist with a delicious spice cake flavor and fluffy cream cheese buttercream.

Zucchini is such an amazing food to bake with. I know that the whole idea of putting vegetables in baking sounds weird to a lot of people – but trust me – zucchini is incredible in muffins, cakes, breads and cupcakes. It makes baked goods super moist with a soft crumb, just like these Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

So today we’re making zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes have a delicious spice cake flavor thanks to warm cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Then there’s a hint of vanilla and a touch of brown sugar for even more flavor.

The fluffy cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping. Smooth, creamy, extra fluffy and slightly tangy. You’re seriously going to love them. One of my favorite zucchini recipes ever!

Why Use Zucchini in Baking?

Using zucchini in baked goods adds moisture, texture and even healthy nutrients without altering the flavor. Zucchini is very mild in flavor and high in water content so it is ideal for adding moisture to a muffin, cupcake, quick bread, etc. The added bonus of using zucchini in baking is getting lots of yummy treats from all that zucchini coming from your summer garden!

Zucchini Cupcake Ingredients

Most of the ingredients for zucchini cupcakes are pantry friendly, and chances are that if you have a zucchini or two, you can whip this cupcake recipe up with little prep. Here is what you need:

Zucchini Cupcakes

• Zucchini: If you grate it finely, you won’t even know the zucchini is there.
• Flour: Just regular all-purpose flour is all you need.
• Baking Powder: Acts as a leavening agent to give the cupcakes rise and fluffiness.
• Salt: Enhances the sweetness and all the flavors.
• Seasonings: Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ground Cloves
• Vegetable Oil: Adds fat to the cupcakes to keep them moist. Canola oil also works great.
• White Sugar: Adds sweetness.
• Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and rich flavor.
• &

Strawberry Jello Cake

This delicious strawberry Jello cake is the perfect summer dessert! Made with a white cake mix and strawberry Jello, this dessert is sure to be a hit at your next gathering. It is quick and easy and a moist cake with a hint of strawberries and cream!

Years ago our friend Sarah gave us her family recipe for Lemon Jello Cake (I know you’re supposed to write, Jell-O, but no one actually follows that rule, right??) and it’s been one of the most popular recipes on our site year after year. We’ve experimented with Pineapple Crush Jello cake, orange Jello cake, strawberry lemonade jello cake, even a festive 4th of July Jello cake and now a strawberries and cream jello cake!

It’s important to use a white cake mix and strawberry jello for this recipe as it will tone down the strawberry flavor and allow you to taste that “strawberries n creme” thing.

What Does Adding Jello to Cake Do?

There are several reasons to add Jello to a cake. Jello enhances the flavor and color of a cake. It also helps the cake be more moist and dense in texture. I highly recommend it!

Ingredients for Strawberry Jello Cake

I hope you’re sitting down because you aren’t going to believe that you only need 7 ingredients to make this jello cake recipe! Keep in mind that when you make the glaze, you have a few different options. I’ll explain that more below. Here is what you will need:

CAKE

• White Cake Mix: A vanilla cake mix is our preferred flavor, but yellow works fine too. The color will just be a little more orange with a yellow cake mix. We use Duncan Hines brand.
  • NOTE: You will use just the box cake mix powder when making the batter for this cake. You will not follow the directions for making the cake on the box.
• Eggs: Gives the cake structure and richness.
• Water: Adds needed moisture to create a perfectly moist cake.
• Oil: Canola oil or vegetable oil both work great and don’t alter the flavor of the cake while still keeping it moist and fabulous.
• Strawberry Jello: You just need the small box (3 oz) and you will only be using the jello powder. Don’t use the sugar free jello. It doesn’t set up the same.

ICING

• Heavy Cream: Helps bind the icing together and adds richness to the flavor and texture. Save some extra cream to whip up and spread on top of the cake after cooling.
• Powdered Sugar: Acts as the base for the icing and provides all the sweetness.

The measurements needed for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end