Gingerbread Pumpkin Cupcakes

You will LOVE these tasty and festive Gingerbread Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting. The molasses, pumpkin and wintery spices all combine to make a moist, light, fluffy and delicious holiday treat!

Brace yourselves, people! I’ve brought you a recipe for tasty, fragrant and thoroughly festive homemade gingerbread pumpkin cupcakes from scratch.

You are going to absolutely love this recipe. We all certainly do!

Molasses, pumpkin and wintery spices all combine with a vanilla frosting to make cupcakes that are moist and delicious.

And they taste of Christmas.

Blissful, spiced Christmas.

Molasses and gingerbread spices combine with pumpkin puree in these festive cupcakes.

The pumpkin brings moisture and a subtle flavour, which is perfect with the rich vanilla frosting. A mini gingerbread man is the perfect topping.

The easy recipe results in light and fluffy, tasty cupcakes!

Ingredients

Butter
Sugar
Molasses
Eggs
Pumpkin puree
Vanilla
Flour 
Baking Powder
Milk
Ginger
Nutmeg

For the vanilla frosting
Butter
Powdered icing sugar
Vanilla
Milk

Pumpkin Puree

You can find cans of pumpkin puree in the stores this time of year, but you can also make your own really easily!

Simply steam chunks of pumpkin or butternut squash, then puree with a hand blender. Add it to a pan over a medium/low heat and cook, stirring, to reduce it slightly and evaporate some of the moisture.

Voila - homemade pumpkin puree!

Tips

As with all cakes, once you add the dry ingredients, you need to mix gently so you don’t beat out all the air.

Feel free to swap the spices for pumpkin spice (or make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice)

Chai spice is great too!

These cupcakes are also tasty with mulled wine drizzle.

Substitutions to make this pumpkin cupcake recipe work for your diet.

This recipe is very versatile and can be tweaked to fit a number of different diets:

Gluten-free: simply sub the wheat flour for a gluten-free flour blend of choice. Be sure to check that your baking powder is gluten-free too!

Dairy-free: Substitute your dairy-free milk and butter or dairy free margarine of choice.

Vegan: as above sub the milk and heavy cream for non-dairy milk of choice. Sub the butter for some coconut oil or olive oil.

Egg-free: Swap the eggs in this recipe for 'flax eggs'. To make a flax egg, mix one tablespoon ground flaxseed (aka flaxmeal) with three tablespoons of water. Mix together, and let sit for five minutes.  

Oil-free: This recipe is naturally oil-free.

Soy-free: This recipe is naturally soy-free, but check all of your ingredients to ensure they don't contain any soy or soy products.

STORAGE AND FREEZING

These cupcakes are freezable: you can freeze the un-frosted cupcakes for up to 1 month. Wrap them well and freeze them. Then let them defrost and add your favorite frosting. 

The frosted cupcakes are best stored on the kitchen counter for up to 5 days. You don’t need to tightly wrap them, but a cake tin will ensure the cut edges don’t dry out and keep them clean.

You can store un-frosted cupcakes, well wrapped, on the kitchen counter for up to 5 days. If you need to keep them longer than that, freeze them.

Cupcake Recipes

Looking for more fun and creative cupcake recipes? Try these vegetable cupcake recipes!

Orange and Kale Cupcakes
Lemon Cucumber Cupcakes with Pimm's Frosting
Beet Chocolate Cupcakes
Cavolo Nero Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Orange Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Frosting
Easy Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate almond frosting

Use up any leftover ingredients

Do you have more pumpkin to use up?

If you’re anything like me then you’re also always on the lookout for ways to reduce food waste (and save money!).
So here are some recipe ideas on how to use up pumpkin puree from this recipe.

Vegan Pumpkin Cake
Iced Pumpkin Cookies  
Baked Pumpkin Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
Pumpkin Bark
Gingerbread Brownies

Get the recipe

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

Molasses and gingerbread spices combine with pumpkin puree in these festive cupcakes. The pumpkin brings moisture and a subtle flavour, which is perfect with the rich vanilla frosting.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12

336 kcal

Author: Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts

Ingredients

• ½ cup (125g) butter softened
• 1 cup (120g) sugar
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 2 large free range eggs
• ½ cup (150g) pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour (plain flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (100ml) milk

For the vanilla frosting

• ⅓ cup (75g) butter softened
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (250g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk

To decorate

• Mini gingerbread men

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 170C/325F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cases.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the molasses, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the pumpkin puree and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, ginger and nutmeg and salt.
• Alternating, add one-third of the flour to the egg mixture and stir to combine, then one-third of the milk. Repeat until all the ingredients are combined.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin cases until nearly full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.

For the frosting:

• In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth, then beat in the vanilla. Sift in the icing sugar and add the milk, then beat until thick and smooth. If necessary, add a little milk or icing sugar to get the right consistency.
• Spoon into a piping bag and swirl onto the completely cooled cupcakes. Add a mini gingerbread man to decorate.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 336kcal Carbohydrates: 49g Protein: 3g Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 9g Cholesterol: 64mg Sodium: 161mg Potassium: 227mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 36g Vitamin A: 2415IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 66mg Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts!

The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.