Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

R’member how I asked in my giveaway (I’ll be contacting the winner shortly!): what would you make in these cups? Looks like a lot of you read my mind! One of the things I decided to make with these were pumpkin spice cupcakes! :]

Cupcakes tend to be the bane of my existence because I’m not a big fan of frosting. I tend to scrape 98% of it off (I’m blaspheming, I know) because it’s usually way too sweet for my liking. Making it is usually even worse (for me). I envy you awesomely talented cake/cupcake-decorators out there, because I lack such skills!

I know Halloween is over and all, but fall is all about all things pumpkin, so it’s not too late yet! I scored the candy corn and candy pumpkins at the after-Halloween sale since I thought they’d be super cute for decorations. You can omit them if you want them to be supersuper healthy. That being said, however, these are made with whole wheat flour and I’m not sure the sugar was even necessary, because the 3-ingredient protein-packed “frosting” takes care of your sweet tooth rather well! Assuming you use a vegan hot chocolate mix, the recipe for the cupcake itself is actually also vegan, and you can sub in your favorite vegan frosting if you’d like!

What’s especially awesome about the “frosting” is that you can use the leftovers to mix with some granola and bam! You have a nutritious and delicious snack. :]!

If you purchase a set of Venice Kitchen Silicone Baking Cups (affiliate link), this recipe, along with 49 others, will be available to you for free in the form of a super awesome ebook! :] (This is what I spent the bulk of my 2-week vacation back at home doing. The work never ends!)

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients:
(Cupcakes)

• 1 1/4 tbsp white whole wheat flour
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp organic coconut palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup applesauce or vegan butter, softened
• 1 tbsp flax seed meal, mixed with 2-3 tbsp water
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 pack hot chocolate mix, with 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger

(Frosting)

• 2 tbsp honey
• 6 oz. plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

(Garnish)

• candy corn pieces
• candy pumpkin pieces

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl, then set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. The mixture should become lighter in color. (If using applesauce, just mix with sugar until just combined.) Add the flax seed and water mixture.
4. Stir in hot chocolate mixture, pumpkin puree, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ground ginger. Stir in flour mixture from the first bowl, then mix until just combined.
5. Pour batter into baking cups and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test.
6. Let cool in a pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting!

(Frosting)

1. In a small bowl, mix the honey, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract together until well combined.
2. Spread about 1 tablespoon (more if desired) onto each pumpkin spice cupcake.
3. Garnish with candy corn and pumpkins, if desired.