SANTA’S CHAIR HAS ARRIVED AT THE MALL. There are trees up, decorations hanging from the ceiling, and Santa Fast Passes available for purchase online. Yes, you can apparently now reserve a time slot to go sit on Santa’s lap. I mean I get it, because we have a Cameron and waiting patiently is not something that we do at this time, but I can already see my grandchildren looking at me like I have 5 heads when I tell them about lines. LINES, YOU WHIPPER SNAPPERS!
Anyway, while the world is trying its best to gloss over Thanksgiving, and antiquated methods of seeing Santa, I’m here to remind you that this fun and fabulous day is nearly around the corner and I have the most incredible dessert recipe that’s so delicious it blows pumpkin pie out of the water. Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are sweet and pumpkiny, heavily spiced, super tender, and buried under a cloud of cream cheese frosting. They are incredible!!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie is something I hacked last year for Thanksgiving with Mini Crustless Pumpkin Pies. They’re a fantastic, crustless, gluten free swap for regular pumpkin pie, but if you’re up for going outside the box on the big day, these frosted cupcakes are where it’s at. Plus, nobody would know they’re gluten free unless you told them. (In fact, don’t then see what everyone says…or doesn’t.) ;)
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting would be great to make for Friendsgiving where everything’s a bit more casual, an office Thanksgiving party because you don’t have to worry about cutting slices of pie, or just something fun and festive to make with your kids to celebrate the season. Whatever the reason, just promise me you’ll find one to make these cupcakes!
Try These Pumpkin-Spiced Treats
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
Start by mixing 2 eggs, 1 cup pumpkin puree, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, until smooth and creamy. Next, whisk together 1 cup gluten free “recipe ready” or 1:1 baking flour blend (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour in the blue bag,) 1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and1/4 teaspoon salt then add to the wet ingredients and mix again until smooth.
By the way, I was out of pumpkin pie spice the day I photographed these cupcakes (could have SWORN I still had some in the cupboard!) so I made my own using this recipe. It was phenomenal!
Let the batter sit for 5 minutes which will give the gluten free flour a chance to soften while it absorbs the liquid in the recipe then scoop 1/4 cup batter into each cup of a 12 cup, paper-lined muffin tin. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
Let the cupcakes cool completely then whip up the cream cheese frosting to slather on top. To the bowl of your electric mixer, or another large bowl if using a handheld mixer, add 6oz softened cream cheese (regular or 1/3 less fat,) 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Mix until smooth and creamy then scrape down the sides of the bowl and gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar while mixing until the frosting is thick and creamy.
You can of course use a knife or spatula to frost the cupcakes, or you can get a more polished look by using a piping bag or Ziplock bag to swirl the frosting on top. Stuff the bag into a pint glass, fill with frosting then, if you’re using a Ziplock bag, snip the corner off and frost away.
Voila! I dusted the tops with extra pumpkin pie spice which not only looks really pretty, but the scent hits your nose when you’re going in for a bite and is so lovely. :) I hope you love, love, love these DELICIOUS gluten free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. They really are such a special treat! Enjoy!
More Gluten Free Pumpkin Treats
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
- Soft Batch Pumpkin Gingersnap Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mini Crustless Pumpkin Pies
- Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Description
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are tender and flavored with warming pumpkin pie spice. The perfect fall treat!
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup gluten free “recipe ready” or 1:1 baking flour blend
- 1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 6oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium-sized bowl then whisk to combine and set aside.
- Add eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin puree, and vanilla to the bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl if using a handheld mixer. Mix until smooth and creamy then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add dry ingredients in one batch then mix until smooth. Let batter sit for 5 minutes while lining a 12 cup cupcake tin with liners.
- Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each lined cup (I use an ice cream scoop) then bake for 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in tin for 10 minutes then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting: Add cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl if using a handheld mixer. Mix until smooth and creamy then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add powdered sugar gradually while mixing until thick and creamy. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, frost then dust with additional pumpkin pie spice if desired.
Notes
Adapted from Paula Deen
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
These are wonderful! I used King Arthur Measure for Measure flour. The gluten eaters at the dinner I brought them to had seconds!
LOVE to hear that, Diane! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Very good. Could easily pass these off as non-GF cupcakes. Whole family enjoyed. Made less icing than recipe called for and still had some left. Will make again.
These were very good. I did cut the amount of powdered sugar in half for the cream cheese frosting. I don’t like super sweet frosting. Next time, I might add a little more pumpkin pie spice or maybe just some extra cinnamon. The texture of these is perfect.
So glad you liked them!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Omg these are SO delicious! Best pumpkin pie cupcake recipe GF or not! Moist, tasty, just the right amount of pumpkin pie flavor. I could eat a bowl of the frosting by itself 😋
These were delicious! I did not have pumpkin pie spice, so I mixed my own. I used cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and cardamom. I will definitely make these again.
These turned out fantastic moist and delicious!!
So glad you loved them, Lise! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Just made these for my sister-in-law who’s gluten free and they were SO yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Thrilled they were a hit with you BOTH! Thanks Emily!
Excellent! I used 1/2 cup stevia and 1/4 cup reg sugar. Will try all stevia next time!
So glad you were able to make it work for you, Pam! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Oh Wow! Another winner. Absolutely Perfect. I made these cupcakes today for my husband’s birthday. He loves Pumpkin Roll but an entire Pumpkin Roll is too much for just the 2 of us. I called them “Pumpkin Roll Cupcakes” and he was thrilled.I used Maninis Multi-Use GF flour and made a 1/2 batch – just 6 cupcakes. Thank You for the great recipe.
I made these today. They are so so delicious. I am keeping this recipe! I did make one small change to the frosting, and that was to add a teaspoon or so of lemon juice.
Made this yesterday and absolutely love them! The cream cheese frosting is the perfect top to these cupcakes that are so moist and delicious! I used King Arthur Gluten Free measure for measure flour. A new favorite!
Hello….. can you substitute honey for the sugar in this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Dawn! I haven’t tried this, but here is a guide I found if you’d like to give it a go!
These are amazing (and fool-proof)! I used Krusteaz gluten free flour for the first batch I made for just my husband and I and they didn’t last long! Then I made them with normal flour for my in-laws Thanksgiving get-together and everyone LOVED them! My father-in-law ate 3 of them before anyone could get a chance and he doesn’t even like pumpkin! These cupcakes were the first dessert to disappear. I’m no baker, but these came out perfect both times! I will make these for years to come :)
We made these cupcakes & found them to be very delicious. We did however, tweak the frosting, we chose a maple syrup butter instead. They are very moist & have great flavor.
Hi! My friend made these and they were incredible! Have you doubled the recipe and if so, are there any tweaks you made other than doubling the ingredients? Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved them! You can double all the ingredients with no issue. :)
These were fabulous-moist and yummy. They melt in your mouth. Served them at my bridge card day and they were a hit.
How do you adapt these for your dairy free child?
You can use any dairy free frosting you like. We love Simple Mills vanilla coconut oil-based frosting!
Made these cupcakes today! They are the perfect combination of sweet and pumpkin spice. Texture was absolutely beautiful as these cupcakes were fluffy and moist. Definitely making again. Also love that the recipe makes just 12 muffins. The perfect amount to have on hand. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I am so glad to hear you love these cupcakes as much as we did, Erica!! Thank you so much for your recipe rating and review! :)
Do you need to refrigerate them after cooled/frosted?
No, they can sit on the counter for 4-5 days!
Those look fantastic! I am going to try them. I have one question…how do you get your frosting to look so nice?
I hope you love them, Ruthie! I scooped the icing into a Ziplock bag then snipped the corner off and just swirled it around. Here’s a tutorial to watch! https://youtu.be/uANBzCJ-RnY
Do you think these would work as mini-muffins? I think I’d bake them about 10-12 minutes and check. Other than baking time, would any other adjustments be needed?
I think they’d definitely work in a mini cupcake tin! They’d be so cute for kids or a dessert buffet (or whatever!!) I wouldn’t adjust anything but the baking time as you mentioned. Let me know how they turn out. :)