Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are tender and flavored with warming pumpkin pie spice. The perfect fall treat!
“Every single time this recipe delivers the lightest, moistest crumb I’ve ever had on a gf cupcake/muffin. I’ve been baking gf for 15 years. Thank you!!!”
While I truly appreciate the amount of bakeries offering gluten free cupcake options these days, I find most of them to be really dense and crumbly.
My Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting though?
Soft, tender, perfectly sweet and pumpkiny, heavily spiced, and buried under a cloud of cream cheese frosting. They are so incredible that you’d never, ever guess they’re gluten free!
Soft & Tender Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
Whether you make these moist cupcakes for a fall party or potluck, as a pumpkin pie swap for Thanksgiving, or for any fall occasion in between, they’re great to feed a crowd because the taste and texture do not scream “gluten free”.
Especially when they’re finished with a flourish of crowd pleasing Cream Cheese Frosting, which is truly a cinch to whip up.
Grab a few gluten free baking staples, and let’s get to baking!
Try Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
Start by mixing eggs, 100% pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, vegetable or canola oil, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer, until smooth and creamy.
Next, whisk together a gluten free baking flour blend, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to the wet ingredients then mix until smooth.
Let the batter sit for 5 minutes, which gives the gluten free flour a chance to hydrate and absorb 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 softened cream cheese (regular or 1/3 less fat,) softened butter, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until smooth and creamy then scrape down the sides of the bowl and gradually add 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 dust 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 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 Muffins
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
- Soft-Batch Pumpkin Gingersnap Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mini Crustless Pumpkin Pies
- Pumpkin-Spice Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
Equipment
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 baking flour blend WITH binder, see notes
- 1 teaspoon heaping pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 6 oz 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 then line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners and set aside.
- 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 then mix until smooth. Let batter sit for 5 minutes.
- 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
- I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Just have to review again – I’m so grateful for your recipe!
I’ve made it a bunch of times and people have loved it and didn’t realize it was GF.
I was diagnosed with Celiac over a year ago and this time of year, I really want that warm pumpkin cake/bread from Sbucks – and I just put pepitas on top and voila!! That and a nice cup of coffee and I’m a happy girl!
Thanks again!
I’m so glad you can continue to enjoy your favorite fall flavors after your diagnosis, Nancy!! I love that nobody could tell they are GF, either. It’s a perfect copycat to the real thing!
This is a great recipe. The cupcakes were light and fluffy but did not fall apart. I may just regular homemade buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese frosting, and the cupcakes turned out great. One question I have is do you have a gluten-free vanilla cupcake recipe?
So happy to hear this, Chrissy!!
A vanilla cupcake is on my list — I do have a GF/vegan chocolate cupcake recipe though! https://iowagirleats.com/gluten-free-chocolate-cupcakes/
Can I use Almond Flour instead of Bob Red Mills? My brother has celiac and I want to make him a yummy dessert. I just don’t have time to go get the other flour.
Hi Jessica! Unfortunately this recipe was developed to use a gluten free flour blend with added binder, vs a single flour like almond flour or coconut flour, etc.
I do not use “seed oils”. Does anyone know if avocado oil or coconut oil or butter would work? They sound delicious!
I only ever have coconut oil on hand and use it in all my baking recipes that call for a vegetable oil. Works great in this recipe! You just have to melt it down a bit first.
Avocado or melted coconut oil is just fine to use instead.
I’ve made these now two years in a row, and keep coming back to this recipe. So moist and delicious, and super easy to make. I cut the frosting ingredients in half and it perfectly iced the batch of 12 :) Also, subbed out the oil for unsalted butter, and they still turned out great!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Hannah!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
These are delicious! I baked for 22 minutes (living at higher altitude in Colorado), other than that followed the recipe and turned out perfectly yummy!
So, so happy to hear that, Jamie! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Made as directed and were a tasty treat!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Erin! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I made these yesterday and then iced them today for a function tonight. I don’t normally bake GF but wanted to make sure our host could eat a dessert. This turned out amazing. I did use slighlty less sugar in the muffin and almost half as much sugar in the icing (I did set the recipe to 18 muffins). The only other alteration I made was I used only half the oil called for and the other half I used unsweetened applesauce. These were so declious and moist!!! I will definitely make these again.
I’m so glad you were able to make them work for you, Amy!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
No need to look further!
These are simply delicious and easy. I love that there are simple ingredients I usually have on hand.
I’m Celiac and offered to bring dessert to a party, and started searching online – so happy to have found this recipe! Everyone LOVED them!
These are delicious with or without the frosting – I’m thinking I’ll just top with pepitas – like the pumpkin bread at the big coffee chain (totally cures my sadness over not being able to eat that again!).
The frosting is yummy – I think it would be enough for a double batch of the cupcakes.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am so thrilled to hear this, Nancy! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I made these for my family for a nice treat, oh my gosh it was AMAZING!! i did 2 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting instead of 4, and it was perfect. My family doesn’t usually like pumpkin/pumpkin spice but they ate all of them. 10/10 recommend!!!
LOVE hearing this, s d!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Hi! My 4 year old son (soon to be 5) asked for a pumpkin pie cake with white icing for his birthday and I was so happy when I searched and found that you have made them and have had such great reviews! We have made several of your recipes and are never disappointed :) Anyway, I was going to make this as a cake for his birthday and he has a cousin who is allergic to eggs and I read all the comments but didn’t see anyone ask about using something in place of the eggs…do you think applesauce would work as an egg replacement in this recipe since it only calls for 2 eggs? Thanks so much!
Hi Jaime! Happy (almost) birthday to your little man! :)
I haven’t made this recipe using an egg replacer and since it already contains pumpkin, which is wet and heavy, I hesitate using applesauce as the egg replacer because it too is so wet. I might go with Bob’s Powdered Egg Replacer instead – it’s proven to be “strong” in recipes I’ve used it in in the past. Another alternative is to make half the recipe as written, and half the recipe using an egg replacer, just so not all the cupcakes are hinging on whether the egg replacer works well in this recipe. https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-vegan-egg-replacer.html
This review is for the cupcakes, not the frosting. I made these for a friend who is gluten and dairy-free. The texture is divine, light and fluffy. They rose to a beatiful dome which remained after cooling. The only thing I changed was the spice. Instead of pumpkin pie spice, I used 1 heaping tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp pepper, and a pinch of cloves. This is my new go to pumpkin cupcake recipe! Thank you!
I’m so happy these cupcakes were a hit, Marlene, and you were able to customize the cupcakes for your friend. I hope you’ll get a chance to try the icing sometime – it’s truly divine!
LOVVVE these cupcakes, I made them last year and everyone loved them. People are asking for them again this year.
I had a quick question, can this recipe be turned into a cake? I assume so but wanted to ask since I’m new to gluten free baking. Also if it can be baked as cakes, can you freeze them to prep for a party?
Amazing, SO happy to hear it, Amy! I would follow Tessa’s advice for how to bake a cupcake recipe as a cake – she is a baking wizard!! https://handletheheat.com/how-to-convert-cake-into-cupcakes/ You should be able to freeze the cakes/cupcakes just fine!