Owl Pumpkin Cupcakes with Choco-Orange Frosting

I treated myself two nights ago (i.e. Halloween, night of the dead, sugar-induced-accidents evening) to an indulging, sinful, completely guilty treat.

Sleep. Lots and lots of it.

That’s right—my haunting, harrowing, happy, hooligan-ing Halloween…ended at about 10 PM. I just turned off the lights, pulled on my PJ’s, and hopped into bed. No candy for you, children. This night is mine.

So are these owl cupcakes. Mine, mine, mine. Okay, maybe one yours. But mostly mine.

Aren’t they absolutely adorable? And I promise they won’t regurgitate their dinner in your living room.

Wallflour Power: I just watched “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” today. I’m so excited to review my (partial) namesake in my next post! In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this inspiring quote–“We accept the love we think we deserve.” <3 You deserve a lot. Embrace it!

These cupcakes have been circulating the blog-o-sphere since owls roamed the earth (give or take a few…millennia), and I couldn’t wait for a good excuse to make them. So I strolled on over to my calendar. I can always count on my calendar to have something awesome lined up. If it says “August 15,” I can just say, “Oh look–tomorrow’s the smack middle of August. Guess we’re gonna really need CUPCAKES.”

This time, my excuse was a little bit more warranted.

Excuse, meet Halloween. Halloween, Excuse. Pleasure. Let’s sidle over to the oven while we chat, shall we?

After throwing on a hastily-compiled, years-used Hogwarts student costume yesterday, I pulled out my authentic wand from Ollivander’s (you know, the really genuine one sitting in tropical Florida) and zapped up a batch of these owl-order cupcakes.

Technically speaking, conjuring food out of thin air is not allowed under the five principle exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration. But I didn’t just completely give away the caliber of geekiness at which I am operating there. And even if I did…obliviate, right?

Don’t worry. Even if you forget about your entire life, my utter geekdom, and the names of the Supreme Court Justices, you won’t be forgetting these adorable cupcakes anytime soon.

I guarantee it. And yes, Men’s Wearhouse stole that from me. Maybe.

Oh, whatever. Obliviate and let’s move on to the recipe, shall we?

These moist, sweet pumpkin cupcakes pair perfectly with a refreshing chocolate-orange frosting that will have trick-or-treaters lined up at your door next year!

Owl Pumpkin Cupcakes with Choco-Orange Frosting

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients (adapted from Allrecipes):

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, and applesauce. Mix in vanilla and pumpkin puree. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine all remaining (i.e. dry) ingredients, then dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir in until just incorporated.
2. Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Fill each liner 3/4-full with batter. Bake for 17-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted it just comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting with a scrumptious choco-orange surprise frosting!

Choco-Orange Frosting Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice (adjust to reach desired consistency)

Choco-Orange Frosting Directions:

1. Cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and orange zest; mix until blended. Gradually add orange juice, stirring in after every half tablespoon to check for consistency. Add as much orange juice as needed to obtain a thick, gloopy frosting (you can also thin it out with additional orange juice as needed for a thinner frosting).