Another week, another potluck. I offered to bring dessert, because I wanted to try making this pumpkin cupcake. But what a marathon, I forgot that I only had one day to get the ingredients and make the cupcakes! Surprise it to less time that I thought, which was great because it meant I could go to sleep earlier. Tasted pretty good too!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

1/2 cup grape seed oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup earth balance butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or
1 pod vanilla bean, scraped
2 drops orange essential oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (add more to taste)
2-4 cups powdered sugar (add more or less to make it a stiffness that you like)

Muffin
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin pan with paper muffin liners.

Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger (if using) in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the eggs, oil, apple sauce, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in colour. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack

Icing
In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract, seeds, cinnamon, and orange essential oil. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the mixture is fluffy. You may not need to use all the sugar, it depends on the consistency you want and whether you want to pipe the icing.

** Make sure the essential oil you use is edible, I use young living.