Flavorful, moist, and sweet, these gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes get a little topping of cream cheese frosting. Easy and fun!
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
Many people are sensitive, some extremely sensitive, to gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. As someone who went wheat-free for 10 years, I can tell you that living without pizza, bread and pasta isn’t easy.
I found a bag of Bob’s Red Mill wheat-free and gluten-free baking flour in the health food section of our local grocery store and decided to try it on a batch of pumpkin cupcakes.
I had low expectations for this experiment and thought it would help to spice up the recipe a bit with nuts and raisins, molasses and honey, anything to make the cupcakes more edible.
The result surprised us all; the cupcakes were delicious! Really good. Sort of like carrot cake, a good carrot cake.
Note that Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour contains the following ingredients: Chickpea Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, Sweet White Sorghum Flour, Broad Bean Flour.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
ingredients
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1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature (I only had 3/4 of a stick so I used that and added 2 Tbsp olive oil. It worked well.)
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1 cup brown sugar, packaged
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1 tbsp molasses
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1 tbsp honey
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2 large eggs
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 cup pumpkin puree
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2 cups gluten-free flour from Bob’s Red Mill
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1/4 teaspoon baking powder
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest)
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1/2 cup buttermilk*
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1/2 cup chopped pecans
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1 cup raisins
- Ingredients for the frosting:
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8 ounces. Cream cheese, room temperature
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1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
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1/4 cup maple syrup
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1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- *Note: To make your own buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Stir before use and leave for 10 minutes.
method
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Preheat the oven:
to 350°F. Place an oven rack in center of oven.
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Beat sugar and wet ingredients, add eggs, then pumpkin:
In a mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and honey, about 2-3 minutes. (Start at low speed and increase to high speed to make the mixture light and fluffy.)
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Beat until well mixed.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:
— the gluten-free flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
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Combine dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and buttermilk to make the cupcake batter:
Alternate the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions to the pumpkin batter, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
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Add pecans and raisins:
Using a wooden spoon, mix in the pecans and raisins.
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Divide batter into muffin cases:
Arrange paper cupcake holders in a muffin pan. Portion the batter into the cupcake paper cases and fill them to the top of the liners.
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Bake:
Bake at 350°F for about 18 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven onto a rack. Allow to cool completely before freezing.
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Prepare glaze:
In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add maple syrup and powdered sugar and stir.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, apply the frosting.
