Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk all wet ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Pour into dry ingredient bowl, stirring until just combined.
Pour 1 tsp worth of cupcake batter into each of the mini muffin liners, or 1 1/2 T worth into a regular sized cupcake liners. Basically you want each cupcake slot to be 2/3 full of batter to leave room to rise. Bake mini cupcakes for 12 minutes. Bake full sized for 18 minutes. Check to ensure doneness by inserting a toothpick into one cupcake and pulling out--if there are a few crumbs on the toothpick they're done, if there is wet batter, bake a minute or two more. Remove and allow to cool completely.
Make the pumpkin caramel by adding all caramel ingredients to a small saucepan over low heat. Stir with a whisk until melted through. Add to a squirt bottle for easy distribution among the cupcakes.
Make the buttercream icing by combining the butter and shortening together in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed for one minute, and then add vanilla extract and beat for 30 more seconds. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time, adding almond milk one tablespoon at a time to make sure the icing isn't too dry. (I usually use about 3 T of milk, adding it after 2 cups of powdered sugar has been whipped in)
Put icing on cooled cupcakes and then top with caramel sauce. Sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon over top if desired.