Chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, made with pumpkin puree, are a delicious autumnal treat. Topped off with a cashew icing they’re more cupcake than muffin, but still whole grain. Not a fan of cashews? Use vegan chocolate ganache instead.
These are fibre and nutrient packed, but indulgent, little cakes. They’re rich and chocolatey. Even though they’re made with whole spelt flour, you can serve them to non-vegan processed food eaters and they’ll love them. This has been tested. Trust me. Desserts can be tasty and make you feel good too.
Need a gluten free option? Try these grain free black forest cupcakes instead.
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Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Creamy Cashew Icing
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup whole spelt flour
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cacao nibs*
- 1 spotty banana
- ½ cup pumpkin puree*
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup coconut oil melted
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Icing
- ¾ cup raw cashews soaked for at least a couple of hours
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease or line a muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix the spelt flour, cocoa powder, ground flax, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and cacao nibs. Make a well in the centre.
- Mash the banana with a fork. In a medium bowl, combine the banana, pumpkin, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond milk, ACV, and vanilla extract. Alternatively, especially if you’ve roasted your own pumpkin, you can toss it all in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour your pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don’t over mix, you don’t want chewy lumpcakes. Spoon into your muffin tin.
- Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack for a few minutes before removing from the tin and cooling completely.
Icing
- Blend everything in a food processor for about five minutes or until completely smooth. Refrigerate for at least thirty minutes before icing the cupcakes so it can firm up a little bit. Ice your cakes! Store them in the fridge to keep the icing nice.
Notes
2. Don’t use pumpkin pie filling! If you can, please roast your own pumpkin to use here. If not, canned pumpkin is fine.
3. You can leave the icing off and just eat them as muffins if you’d like.
Alexandra Daum says
Thank you! It's so nice to eat a cupcake and feel good after. The cashew frosting is great!
Camilla / Blueberry Tales says
These look so good! I have to try to make a cashew frosting for my next cake 🙂