I don’t know if it’s because it’s getting colder and darker outside now that I’m finding myself venturing back in to the kitchen more. Or perhaps I’ve just got my baking mojo back. But I’m really enjoying baking lately. The other day I made my super delicious (if I do say so myself) raw carrot energy balls. Today I decided to make these scrummy vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes. Actually, todays bakes were meant for my mum’s birthday this weekend but I’m not sure how many will be left by then!

These cupcakes are so easy to make and although are vegan, all you have to change is the flax egg to one normal egg if you aren’t bothered it being vegan or not. One thing to mention is that the mixture is very thick, more like dough actually so don’t be worried if it doesn’t look like normal cake batter. This is what it’s meant to be like and tastes even better than ‘normal’ cakes!

This mixture will make 12 cupcakes so feel free to add/remove quantities as you see fit. You could also add crushed pecan nuts or walnuts to the icing to give it another dimension but thats totally up to you.

Ingredients

• 125 grams Plain Flour
• 125 grams Coconut Flour
• 150 grams Coconut Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt
• 3 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 tin of Pumpkin Puree
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 50mls Oil
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Egg (or Flax egg to make it vegan)

For the Icing

• 375g Icing Sugar
• 75g Vegan Butter (Make sure it is at room temperature)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 2 Tbsp Almond Milk

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and line your cupcake tray with cupcake cases.
2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and then add sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and your pumpkin pie spices.
3. If you are using the flax egg, prepare it by mixing 1 tbsp of ground flax seed meal with 3 tbsp hot water and allow it to sit for a few minutes or until has become thicker.
4. Then add the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and flax egg or normal egg to your mixing bowl and start to mix it all together. Your batter should be very thick at this point.
5. Divide your batter evenly between the cupcake cases (it should make 12) and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean.
6. Transfer your cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing.
7. Once the cupcakes have cooled, you can begin to prepare your icing by adding the icing sugar, butter, vanilla extract and almond milk to a bowl and start mixing. It is best to use an electric whisk but make sure you start on a slow speed and gradually increase the speed as the icing sugar gets combined. If not, you will have icing dust all over your kitchen.
8. Whisk until smooth and you are happy with the consistency. If your icing is too thin, add in more icing sugar, if it’s too thick, add in more of your milk.
9. Once you’re happy with the consistency, add in the pumpkin pie spice and mix in with a wooden spoon. Then simply pipe the icing on to your cupcakes as you wish. It’s best if you leave them to set in the fridge for maybe an hour before eating so the icing has time to set on your cakes.

I hope you love this recipe as much as we do!