Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting
These delicious pumpkin cupcakes are sweetened with dates only, which makes them refined sugar-free and extremely moist. Top them with a thick layer of chai cream cheese frosting for a real holiday treat.
Servings 9
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree, canned
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup oil of choice (olive, canola, melted coconut or avocado)
- 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 large egg (or 2 additional tablespoons of water)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground
- 1/4 teapsoon nutmeg, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- Pinch ground clove
Chai Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 block (250g) original cream cheese
- 1/4 cup Medjool dates, pitted (or maple syrup to taste)
- 1/4 cup soft margarine or butter
- 2 tablespoons milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch each of nutmeg, all spice, clove and cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin pan or use cupcake liners.
- In a food processor, add all the wet ingredients, except the egg. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Stir in the wet mixture from the food processor and the egg. Stir until combined.
- Spoon the mixture equally into 9 cupcake liners or muffin tins.
- Bake for 20 minutes of until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.
For the Frosting
- In a food processor, add all the frosting ingredients and process until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Try the frosting and adjust to taste, adding more dates or maple syrup as needed.
- Using a knife, spread the desired amount of frosting on each cupcake. Alternatively, use a piping bag to add the frosting.
Notes
The frosting in the recipe is very lightly sweetened. If you're use to sweeter recipes, you may need to increase the amount of dates or add maple syrup to taste. Make the frosting, taste it and adjust before adding it to the cupcakes!
To make this recipe vegan, use vegan cream cheese and substitute the egg with 2 additional tablespoons of water.
To make it gluten-free, you can try substituting the flour for equal amounts of buckwheat flour.
Unused frosting can be kept in the refrigerator for up to one week in an airtight container.
Keep the decorated cupcakes in the refrigerator. They can also be stored in the freezer.