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Soft, moist pumpkin spiced cupcakes topped with super creamy, sweet and lightly salted maple frosting. You would never guess in a million years that they are vegan!
These Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Maple Frosting are the essence of fall in dessert form. Jeff and I both agree; these cupcakes are one of the best recipes ever created in this kitchen!
Why This Recipe Works:
- First off, I love creating cupcake recipes. After all, it makes everyone feel like they have their own personal little cake! So these handheld pumpkin treats are great to share…If you must.
- The abundance of pumpkin pie spice in this autumn recipe is everything. Your tastebuds will be so happy!
- These moist pumpkin cupcakes, combined with the ultra creamy maple frosting, makes for one of the most decadent pumpkin spiced treats you will ever experience.
Wait, you can use maple syrup in frosting?
One word: YES.
Adding maple syrup along with maple extract to the frosting provides that rich and delightful maple flavor.
How To Make Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes With Maple Frosting:
1. First, pre-heat your oven to 350°F/177°C. Then, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Next, in a small mixing bowl, combine the “dry” ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon and ground cloves. Set this aside.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the “wet” ingredients: Canned pumpkin, vanilla extract, oil, sugar, maple syrup, vinegar, and milk.
4 Now, carefully add your flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until smooth and all flour is incorporated.
5. Divide this batter evenly amongst the cupcake liners. NOTE: To ensure the cupcakes do not overflow while baking, only fill each cup about 2/3 full with batter. Use a second cupcake pan with extra liners, if needed.
6. Bake the cupcakes in your pre-heated oven for 20 – 24 minutes. Once you remove them from the oven, insert a toothpick down the center of several of the cupcakes. If the toothpick comes out clean and free of cake batter, the cupcakes are done!
Once cool enough to handle, place pumpkin spiced cupcakes on a cooling rack.
Meanwhile, whip up your frosting….
How To Make The Best Vegan Salted Maple Frosting:
- Using a handheld or stand mixer, whip just the shortening on high speed for about 30 seconds.
- Next, add the maple syrup, maple extract, vanilla extract, salt, and approximately half the powdered sugar. Mix on medium-high for another 30 seconds.
- Lastly, add the second half of the powdered sugar and then mix again for about 1 – 2 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Now that your cupcakes are completely cooled, it’s time to frost! Go the old school route and frost your cupcakes with a butter knife, or, get fancy and place the frosting in a piping bag (with or without a fitted tip) and pipe the frosting on your cupcakes that way. Both methods will get the job done.
Lastly, carefully dust each pumpkin spiced cupcake with ground cinnamon, if you like. This is optional, of course, but I like doing this because it looks pretty, and because it lets your family and friends know that they have a cinnamon-y delight headed straight for their tastebuds.
I hope you love, love, love this recipe as much as we do!!
Looking For Other Healthy Dessert Recipes? Then You Have To Try My:
- Perfectly Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Champagne Cupcakes
- Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Double Chocolate Chip Frosting
Top Tips For Making The Perfect Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes With Salted Maple Frosting:
- For a gluten free version, use gluten free all-purpose flour in place of regular all purpose flour. For this recipe, I prefer the type that lists garbanzo/chickpea flour as the first ingredient, such as THIS brand. No need to add xanthan gum.
- Only fill your cupcake cups about 2/3 full to avoid overflowing while baking. This is very important!
- Wait until your cupcakes are completely cool before frosting.
- For frosting, try using pastry piping bags and tips for perfect presentation!
Frequently Asked Questions
Most grocery stores carry maple extract or flavoring in the baking aisle near the spices and vanilla extract. But if you can’t find it there, HERE is a link to buy it online.
It’s easy! Simply swap regular all-purpose flour with your favorite GF-friendly all-purpose flour. For this recipe, I prefer the type that lists garbanzo/chickpea flour as the first ingredient. I like THIS brand. No need to add xanthan gum this time.
They’ll keep well for up to 2 days at room temperature, but are best when served the same day they are baked and frosted. You can also bake the cupcakes in the evening and frost the next morning. Pumpkin spiced cupcakes will stay tasty for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Yes! If you have extra cupcakes that you’d like to enjoy at a later time, wrap each cupcake individually in a layer of plastic wrap before placing them together in the sealed container or large resealable bag. They can be kept in the freezer like this for 2 to 3 months. Defrost the pumpkin spiced cupcakes overnight in the fridge, for an hour or two at room temperature, or use the defrost setting on the microwave!
Did you try this recipe? Give it a star rating and let me know what you think in the comments below. Your feedback is very helpful.
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @AudreyDunham or hashtag #AudreyDunham so I can see your creations!
Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Maple Frosting (Gluten Free Option)
Ingredients
DRY
- 1 c. + 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (166 g) or Bob's Red Mill gluten free all-purpose flour (190 g)
- 3/4 c. granulated sugar (173 g)
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
WET
- 3/4 c. canned pumpkin
- 1/3 c. + 1 Tbsp. non-dairy milk (94 ml)
- 1/3 c. + 1 Tb. canola oil (94 ml) organic, if possible, to avoid GMO's
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup (45 ml)
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (15 ml)
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Maple Frosting
- 1 c. non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (153 g)
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup (45 ml)
- 1 1/2 tsp. maple flavoring or extract
- 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (195 g)
Before You Begin! I recommend measuring out all ingredients called for in this recipe so they are ready to go the moment you need them.
Instructions
Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes:
- First, some minor prep work: pre-heat your oven to 350°F/177°C. Then, line your cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners, but have a second tin with a few extra liners on stand-by in case you need it.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the "wet" ingredients. Set aside.
- Next, in a small mixing bowl, stir together the "dry" ingredients.
- Carefully add your flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until smooth and all flour is incorporated.
- Divide this batter evenly amongst the cupcake liners so each one is only 2/3 full. It's very important not to overfill them, so use the second cupcake tin if needed. Bake cupcakes in your pre-heated oven for 20 – 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted down the center comes out batter-free. Test a few cupcakes to be sure.
- Once cool enough to handle, place cupcakes on a cooling rack.
Maple Frosting
- Using a handheld or stand mixer, whip just the shortening on high speed for 30 seconds.
- Next, add the maple syrup, maple extract, vanilla extract, approx. half the powdered sugar, and salt. Mix on medium-high for another 30 seconds.
- Lastly, add the second half of the powdered sugar and then mix on medium-high again for about 1 – 2 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, it's time to frost! Go the old school route and frost your cupcakes with a butter knife, or, get fancy and place the frosting in a piping bag and pipe the frosting on your cupcakes that way (with or without a piping tip!) Both methods will get the job done.
- Lastly, carefully dust each cupcake with ground cinnamon. This is optional, of course, but I like doing this because it looks pretty, and because it let's your family and friends know that they have a cinnamon-y delight headed straight for their tastebuds.
Video
Pro Tips From Audrey
- For a gluten free version, use gluten free all-purpose flour in place of regular all purpose flour. For this recipe, I prefer the type that lists garbanzo/chickpea flour as the first ingredient, such as THIS brand. No need to add xanthan gum.
- Only fill your cupcake cups about 2/3 full to avoid overflowing while baking. This is very important!
- Wait until your cupcakes are completely cool before frosting.
- For frosting, try using pastry piping bags and tips for perfect presentation!
- Leftover pumpkin spiced cupcakes will keep well at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Yes, you can freeze cupcakes! If you have extra cupcakes that you’d like to enjoy at a later time, wrap each cupcake individually in a layer of plastic wrap before placing them together in the sealed container or large resealable bag. They can be kept in the freezer like this for 2 to 3 months. Defrost the cupcakes overnight in the fridge, for an hour or two at room temperature, or use the defrost setting on the microwave.
Nutrition Information
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