It would be wrong to end Halloween month without some pumpkin baked goods, and these pumpkin cupcakes are the perfect little treat.
Pumpkin puree aside, these cupcakes contain no special free from ingredients that are hard to find, the cake batter is unbelievably easy to make, and they’re topped with a delicious vegan cream cheese frosting. The hardest part is waiting for them to cool before you get tucked in.
INGREDIENT CHOICES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
As you’ll see below, this recipe contains pumpkin puree, which can be hard to find in canned form in the UK. If you’re struggling to locate canned, it’s really easy to make your own. Especially if you have some leftover Halloween pumpkins around. Simply boil your pumpkin until soft, drain thoroughly, then mash until as smooth as possible, or speed things up by pureeing your pumpkin in a food processor.
I used the Nush cream cheese alternative. Results with different non-dairy alternatives may vary slightly.
As for the rest of the ingredients, you can add slightly more cinnamon and nutmeg if you want weaker/ stronger ‘pumpkin spice’ flavours. If you aren’t gluten free and want to make this recipe with regular plain flour, you will likely need less of the wet ingredients as gluten free flours tend to be on the drier side, so follow the recipe as listed below, but add wet to dry rather than dry to wet until you reach the desired consistency.
Don’t have time to make your own frosting or simply don’t want to? Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting is vegan friendly.
HOW TO STORE AND KEEP
Keep them in a cool, dry place. Due to the cream cheese frosting, they will perish quickly. At room temperature, covered, they will keep for 2-3 days, or up to a week if kept refrigerated.
VEGAN PUMPKIN CUPCAKES RECIPE
Easy vegan pumpkin cupcakes recipe with cream cheese frosting.
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, and vegan friendly. It can be nut and soy free depending on your choice of dairy alternatives.
Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe
Easy vegan pumpkin cupcakes recipe with cream cheese frosting.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 208 kcal
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 1 cup GF plain flour
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ can canned pumpkin puree (210g)
- ¾ cup golden caster sugar
- ¼ cup oil (100g)
- ½ cup vegan milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 120 g vegan cream cheese
- ¼ cup vegan butter at room temperature
- 1 small splash sweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 ½ cups icing sugar sifted
- 1 heaped tbsp cornstarch sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a cupcake tray with cases, I prefer the silicone ones.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Add the pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and milk to a large bowl. Mix using a hand mixer for at least 3 minutes on low to medium speed until all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Add half the dry ingredients in, mix for about 30 seconds on medium, then slowly add the other half, mixing for another 30 seconds, scraping down the sides as needed. Continue to mix on low to medium speed until everything is fully incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners. You can use an ice cream scoop to help! Tap the cupcake tray on the counter to remove any excess air bubbles before baking.
- Place in the middle rack of your oven and bake for 20 to 22 minutes until the centre is fully cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes, then remove onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add the vegan butter and cream cheese to a bowl and mix with a hand mixer for a few minutes until fully incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla extract or paste and a pinch of salt.
- Add in a cup of sifted powdered sugar and all the sifted cornstarch. Mix for about 1 minute. Slowly add in the powdered remaining icing sugar until the frosting has reached the desired thickness.
- To make them even better, place the frosting wrapped or covered into the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight, until being used. You can enjoy it right away, but it will thicken up beautifully in the fridge. They will still work perfectly if you don’t have time to advance prep your frosting, just make sure you keep your cupcakes in the fridge.
- Frost cupcakes and decorate. The frosting will set at room temperature. For best results, keep refrigerated.
