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disclaimer: some people have different definitions of what is vegan. this is what works for me and my dietary choices.
forewarning, this isn't healthy by any means. it's made from boxed caked mix and pre-made frosting (aka tons of sugar), but it's super simple. i first heard of "two-ingredient cupcakes" back in high school when i had a friend who always made her chocolate cakes with a can of soda. turns out, there are tons of different things you can use for two-ingredient cakes, and one of them is pumpkin! perfect for fall, no? and since the pumpkin replaces any eggs and butter needed, it's vegan!
i went to my local grocery store and picked up betty crocker carrot cake mix and cream cheese frosting. while you could really use any type of cake, carrot cake is my all time favorite dessert, and i figured the spices in the cake would work well with the pumpkin. i also grabbed a 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree. i had vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and cupcake liners already in my pantry, so i was all set!
i can't even begin to explain how simple this all is. start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. for the cake part, all you have to do is dump the cake mix in to a big bowl and add the pumpkin to it. mix it all together (i used a rubber spatula to do this) so that the cake mix is completely mixed with the pumpkin. then, add it to your cupcake liners! i put one heaping spoonful in to each liner, and then used the left over batter to even everything out.
i put the cupcakes in the oven for 18 minutes and, while they cooked, i worked on the frosting. i mixed a bit of the frosting with a little vanilla extract and a couple shakes of my pumpkin pie spice (funny story about the pumpkin pie spice: a few weeks ago, i asked alex to pick it up from the store, and he assumed i meant whole foods. when he got home, he exclaimed "pumpkin pie spice is so expensive!!" turns out, whole foods is capitalizing on basic white girls and charging $9 for a bottle of pumpkin pie spice!!!!). after the cupcakes had finished baking and i let them cool, it was time to put everything together. i spooned a little frosting on to each cupcake and sprinkled a little more pumpkin pie spice on top. and they were done! and delicious :)
recipe recap: things you'll need: 1 box of carrot cake mix 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!) 1 can of cream cheese frosting vanilla extract pumpkin pie spice what to do: 1.) preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tray with liners 2.) in a big bowl, mix the cake mix with the can of pumpkin completely 3.) bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes 4.) while the cupcakes are baking, mix 3 tbs of frosting with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 shakes of pumpkin pie spice 5.) let the cupcakes cool before topping with them off with frosting 6.) enjoy! :)
