Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes: Because every food blogger is obligated to do at least one pumpkin spice recipe per fall season 😉

Seriously though.  While pumpkin spice may be overdone and PSL is item no.1 on the basic bitches guide to life, I’m just going to go out on a limb and say – I’m cool with basic as long as it can always be this amazingly. delicious.

I even went a step further and made these gluten free, if I thought I wasn’t being basic enough.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I definitely don’t keep a gluten free lifestyle.  But!  I have a very close friend that keeps gluten free due to serious stomach problems, so whenever we have a get-together and I’m baking, I do my best to accommodate.So during my gluten free baking research I’ve found a few things- gluten free flour is incredibly confusing and potentially disgusting, but given the popularity of gluten free diets these days there are several really good options if you know where to look.

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I have only attempted to bake gluten free using pre-packaged all-purpose gluten free flour.  And what I can tell you is that Cup 4 Cup is definitely the best.  It performs essentially the same as regular flour and, as advertised, you can use it pretty much in any recipe that calls for regular flour.   I used Cup 4 Cup in this recipe and it worked incredibly well; in fact, I challenge anyone to taste one of these and tell me that they can tell that they are obviously gluten free.  I could not tell, and I am incredibly picky when it comes to the texture and flavor of my baked goods.

Cup 4 Cup can be found at Sur La Table, and Williams Sonoma.  The developer of the flour is Thomas Keller of Bouchon Bakery and The French Laundry (so, you know, fancy-schmancy).  However, I just recently found it at my local Sprouts, which was a huge win.  It is a little on the pricey side, but definitely worth it if you are aiming for perfection.   I’ve also used Trader Joe’s all-purpose gluten free flour, which is pretty darn tasty, but definitely doesn’t hold up in all preparations.  I didn’t use it in this recipe, but historically I have found that it does well in cakey type recipes, so I assume it would do well here.  It does crumble in crust applications, such as pies or tarts.

Bob’s Red Mill is the other all-purpose gluten free flour I’ve used, and I definitely am not a huge fan.  I love most of their other products, but the gluten free flour has a super funky bean flavor that makes the entire recipe taste wretched.  Not recommended.So!  Moving on!

Using the Cup 4 Cup flour I managed to whip up these perfectly moist spiced and pumpkin-y cupcakes.  And then, of course, topped them with my favorite cream cheese frosting.  I used natural food coloring to dye a little bit of the frosting orange and green and piped little pumpkins onto the cupcakes.

(Aren’t they so cute?)Needless to say, these were a huge hit at book club.  (Just bringing the basic-ness of this post full circle).

And finally, I wanted to just acknowledge that yes.  I have been absent from the blogosphere for the past 2 weeks.  I hope to not repeat that too often, but I was desperately in need of a break and was completely out of back-logged recipes without any hope of finding time for cooking, photographing, and editing.

So here we are.I’m back now.  And, as ever, your support is SO appreciated.  🙂

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes

Adapted from Taste of Home

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 22 mins

Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 can 15 oz pumpkin puree
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour I recommend Cup 4 Cup brand, see below for link
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

_For the Cream Cheese Frosting_

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 3 tablespoons salted butter softened
• 3 1/2-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Orange and green food colorings optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 350 degree. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or grease well.
• In a large bowl add sugar, oil, pumpkin, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until completely incorporated.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and spices.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, beating on low speed until all ingredients are moistened.
• Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each baking cup. The batter should be almost to the top of the muffin liner.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes (mine took exactly 22 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted into the center of your cupcakes comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

Meanwhile make the frosting

• In a medium bowl beat together softened cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
• Gradually add the powdered sugar intermittently until smooth.
• Stir in the vanilla extract.
• If using food coloring, separate two fourths of the frosting into two separate bowls. Add food coloring, respectively, and stir well.
• Add the colored frostings into separate plastic bags for piping. Cut a very small corner out of each bag and set aside.
• When the cupcakes are cooled spread the white frosting evenly over each cupcake.
• Then, pipe pumpkin shapes (see illustrations above) onto each cupcake.
• Then, using the green frosting pipe a small stem and vine off the side of each pumpkin.

Notes

Link for Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour.

Did you make this recipe? Head on over to Instagram and tag me @thegourmetgourmand or share on the hashtag #thegourmetgourmand. Happy cooking!