Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe
These pumpkin cupcakes are made with whole grain flour and no processed sugar, and you know what? They still taste delicious! (gasp!)
For those of you who read my blog regularly or follow me on Facebook, you probably know that I do not feed my son any sugar. In fact, he eats really, really clean, and I’m really really proud of that.
So as I’m sure you can imagine, Halloween proves to be somewhat of a challenge every year. The older he gets, the harder it is to deal with.
But I’m a clever girl, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve. One of which is this recipe. While other kids are chowing down on sugar galore, my little guy will be happy to eat these cupcakes. And frankly, so will I!
More Halloween Cupcake Recipes
Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe Card
Healthy Pumpkin Cupcakes With Chocolate Pumpkin Frosting
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup oil (light flavored)
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
Frosting Ingredients
- ½ cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line your cupcake tins with cupcake papers or grease the tin itself.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your pumpkin, almond milk, egg whites, safflower oil, honey and vanilla extract.
- In a second mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
- Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture and blend well. If your batter is too thick, add a little extra almond milk (about ¼ cup at a time until you reach a thick, yet runny consistency.)
- Pour into tins, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
- For the frosting, place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl, and whisk until well blended.
- Remove cupcakes from oven, allow to cool and spread frosting over the tops.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally published on 10/25/2010.
Awesome! I was looking for a sugar-free cupcake recipe for my daughter’s 1 year birthday in October, and thought pumpkin would be cool, and found this! Cannot WAIT to try it!!!
Sara – Oh good! I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Sara – You can use regular, but you will end up with a much coarser and denser cupcake. You might try white whole wheat. It’ll get you a little closer to the right consistency and it can be a little easier to find in the stores.
I just made these and they didnt rise very well and are extreamly dense, any thoughts?
Kelly – did you change anything? Use a different flour maybe?
BeShrable – There is a difference in how the flours cook. But you should be able to get away with it. White whole wheat is typically and easy substitute.
Sherelyn – I’m so happy you enjoyed them! And you’re right, when you ingest that much sugar daily, you won’t enjoy something like this because your taste buds have been “altered”. Good for you for eating clean! Go girl!
My husband made these for me today for my bday. SO yummy!!! I started my weight loss journey and working with my trainer in March 2011. I have been eating clean ever since. I feel fantastic! I have already decided to continue eating clean, even after I reach my goal weight. I cannot even imagine eating any other way at this point. Thank you!!!
Enj5 – Yes! That’s exactly how it should be. Good for you, and happy birthday!
Stephanie – Yay!!! Glad you enjoyed them!
Yeay, finally made them for my 1 year old’s birthday party yesterday, they were a hit! Already passing out the recipe to others! THANKS!
Sara – Fantastic!! Glad everyone liked them!
Melissak – Wonderful! I hope the kids enjoy them!
KitKat – That’s wonderful!!! Good for you! You’ll make memories that last a lifetime that way!
I would love to try making these with some protein powder. Any suggestions as to how much I should use? Thanks for putting together such a wonderful site!
April – Oh boy. I’m not really sure. I think protein powder soaks up more liquid than flour. So you’d have to replace some of the flour with protein powder and then adjust the liquid to get the right consistency. Of course, this all depends on how much you want to use. If it’s only a couple tablespoons, then I doubt you’d have to make any adjustments at all. Just add it. Let me know how it turns out!
Talisha – Oh yum! I never would have thought to use that! Thanks for the tip!
Marybeth – I’m sure it would work just fine!
The muffins were great. The icing was a litte bitter and over sweet at the same time if that makes sense at all. I think I prefer them without the icing, although my daughter things that everything smothered in chocolate is delicious. I might try to tweek the icing a little next time. Thanks for the recipe.
Sure! You can always add more honey…
I’m sorry, but I know nothing about gluten free living. Try Elana’s Pantry. I believe all of her recipes are based on those same allergies, and many if not most of them are clean.
Try using butternut squash instead. It’s a good substitute. 🙂
Sure.
Very addicting. These were absolutely amazing!
If I use whole wheat flour do I need to adjust anything in the cupcake recipe? Also, is there any substitute for the pumpkin in the frosting recipe to make it more of a plain chocolate flavor?
Jill – You can use equal amounts of regular whole wheat, but the muffins will be more dense and coarse. I have a frosting recipes listed under my dessert category on my category page if that helps. I have 3 chocolate frostings.
I might just be slow..lol but what are ground cloves? what do they look like? Where can I find them?
Samantha – I looks similar to cinnamon, only a little darker. You’ll find it in the spice aisle with all the other spices.