Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that you had (or are having) an awesome day. We celebrated Thanksgiving last night, with some good friends, and good food. There was turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, more potatoes and much more. It was all delicious, and *almost* all GF, save for a pie and some brownies, and the gravy. That didn’t matter though, because I’d made cupcakes. Pumpkin cupcakes. Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Maple Cream Cheese icing. Yup. They were good. Really good. So, I’m here to share them with you =D. These are also my entry into this week’s Slightly Indulgent Mondays, because well they’re yummy! (and GF, and have pumpkin in them…) Also, being a Pumpkin treat, they will be my entry into this month’s Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free event =D hosted by Life, Gluten Free. {Edit} And, because I forgot, its also my entry into this week’s What Can I Eat Thats Gluten Free?

Before we get to that, I just wanted to say what I am thankful for, it being Thanksgiving Monday and all. I’m thankful for you, my family, my friends, my health, school, being able to bake and cook, knowing the status of all of my health issues, internet access, cameras, art, positive energy, this blog, you, and so much more that I can’t even put into words.

So, with that said, What are you Thankful for?

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.

2. In a stand mixer (I used a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars on medium until fluffy. Meanwhile, sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt into a medium bowl. (I sifted all except the almond meal, its not necessary for it).

3. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides after each addition.

4. Alternate between adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners, about 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles.

5. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

cinnamon (how much you add is up to you)

Beat all ingredients until fluffy. Deb’s frosting was fairly firm, but mine wasn’t. For me, it was more of an icing, with lots of leftovers. Next time, I would half this recipe, when used with these cupcakes =D.

Note: Instead of the last 6 cupcakes, I used my muffin top pan, and made 6 little cakes. Then, I stacked them up, and had mini cakes!

Enjoy these, and have an amazing Thanksgiving!

xoxo

Lauren