Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cupcakes for Fall Birthdays!

Pumpkin cupcake filled with caramel and topped with cream cheese buttercream (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With summer leaving and fall beginning we are excited about fall flavored cupcakes! Today we have a recipe for gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting—yum! Enjoy these at your next fall birthday bash, or just because it’s fall!

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 2 cups Red Mill’s gluten-free flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk you can make it by combining 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it stand for 10 minutes before mixing in)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup raisins (your favorite variety—we love golden raisins here)

Frosting Ingredients

• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven.
2. In a mixer (or using a large bowl and a hand mixer), beat the butter, molasses, brown sugar, and honey together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. (Start on low-speed and increase to high-speed to get the mixture light and fluffy.)
3. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and pumpkin purée. Beat until well mixed.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients—the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
5. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the pecans and raisins.
6. Arrange paper cupcake holders in a muffin tin. Spoon the batter into the cupcake paper cups, filling them close to the top of the cups. Bake about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven to a rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese, butter or margarine, orange peel, and orange juice until creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar until blended and smooth.
2. Spread icing on cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with walnuts!

What is your favorite fall flavor?

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