Rich and moist vegan pumpkin cupcakes topped with a velvety pumpkin spice frosting and crushed pecans. Perfect for fall baking.
So as you can probably tell, we’re big into the pumpkin stuff right now!
And since I made a vegan pumpkin cake, I thought why not make some vegan pumpkin cupcakes too!
And so happy I did. These pumpkin cupcakes are super awesome, they’re easy, crazy delicious, and topped with a pumpkin spice frosting, a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and crushed pecans!
The pairing of pecans with pumpkin things is a winner by the way.
Some nuts just go best with things, like walnuts go perfectly with banana bread muffins and carrot cake cupcakes, pecans go best with pumpkin cupcakes and vegan pumpkin muffins.
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- Prepare a flax egg by mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of hot water and letting it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, pumpkin purée, canola oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix it into a thick batter. Don’t overmix.
- Line a cupcake tray with muffin liners and divide the batter evenly between them.
- Place into the oven and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely frost them with pumpkin spice frosting.
Pumpkin Spice Frosting
The pumpkin spice frosting is too easy, it’s just a case of adding some pumpkin pie spice to your buttercream frosting. It creates a beautiful flavor and the velvety smooth frosting pipes beautifully onto these cupcakes.
You can make your own pumpkin pie spice to use in this recipe. Or use a store-bought option, but if you have any difficulty buying it where you are, then just use our recipe for a homemade version.
Recipe Tips
Muffin liners. These cupcakes rise very high! They’re beautifully tall. So for this reason I prefer to use muffin liners rather than cupcake liners because they tend to be higher on the sides and support these extra tall cupcakes best.
Weigh your flour for the most accurate results. If you have a food scale then weigh your flour for the best, most accurate results. If you don’t have a food scale then use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
Canned or fresh pumpkin. You can use canned or fresh pumpkin purée. Canned is easiest, but if you want to use fresh pumpkin purée, that works great too! To make your own you just bake peeled and cubed pumpkin in the oven for around 30 minutes at 350°F (I’ve also done it at 390°F). Don’t add any oil or spices, just bake it plain. When it’s soft and cooked, then either mash it with a potato masher or put it into the food processor and purée it. If it’s a little ‘wet’ then stand it in a strainer so any excess water can drain off.
Storing and Freezing
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will last for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cupcakes:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 ½ tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed + 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- 1 ½ cups Pumpkin Purée (337g)
- ¼ cup Canola Oil (60ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Pumpkin Spice Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar (360g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1-2 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
For Decorating:
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Crushed Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cupcake tray with 12 muffin liners.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp of ground flax seed meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water and allowing to sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, pumpkin purée, oil, vinegar and vanilla to the mixing bowl and mix into a thick batter. Don't overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin liners in the cupcake tray.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and soy milk to the bowl of an electric mixer. Start on slow speed and gradually increase the speed until thick and smooth. When you reach the right consistency add in the pumpkin pie spice and mix in on slow until just mixed.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorate with pumpkin pie spice and crushed pecan nuts.
Notes
- Weigh your flour for the most accurate results. If you have a food scale then weigh your flour for the best, most accurate results. If you don’t have a food scale then use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Canned or fresh pumpkin. You can use canned or fresh pumpkin purée. Canned is easiest, but if you want to use fresh pumpkin purée, that works great too! To make your own you just bake peeled and cubed pumpkin in the oven for around 30 minutes at 350°F (I’ve also done it at 390°F). Don’t add any oil or spices, just bake it plain. When it’s soft and cooked, then either mash it with a potato masher or put it into the food processor and purée it. If it’s a little ‘wet’ then stand it in a strainer so any excess water can drain off.
- Muffin liners. These cupcakes rise very high! They’re beautifully tall. So for this reason I prefer to use muffin liners rather than cupcake liners because they tend to be higher on the sides and support these tall cupcakes best.
- Storing and Freezing: Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will last for up to a week. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
Tasty! Not too sweet, but the frosting adds a delicious touch. The cake is moist, doesn’t crumble or fall apart. Would also be great with some raisins and nuts inside the batter. I’ll definitely make these again. The recipe actually made 19 muffins for me. I filled the tins just 1/2 full, and as they baked they expanded up over the top slightly, with enough space to add a good amount of frosting.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the great review. 🙂
is it absolutely critical to add apple cider vinegar? can i sub for regular vinegar or omit entirely? thoughts appreciated.
Hi Elena, it reacts with the baking soda and gives the cupcakes rise, so it is very important to use it. You can use a different vinegar though.
I made these to bring to dinner with my sister in-law who is vegan, and she loved them! My husband loved them too, they’re probably one of the best cupcakes (vegan or not) that I’ve made. Thanks so much for your recipe!
Wonderful! So happy to hear that Heather. Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Made these for my daughter’s fall dance. They never have vegan treats so I wanted to make sure to bring something she could eat. AMAZING ! Perfectly sweet ! I doubled the recipe and piped the frosting. I didn’t double the icing recipe, only the cupcake recipe, and it was enough frosting to cover 38 cupcakes (which is what I got after doubling the recipe).
So happy to hear they were a success! Thanks for the great review Narissa! 🙂
These cupcakes were a big hit with my company and my 2 little granddaughters!
Wonderful! Thanks for the review Kim! 🙂
mine came out more like muffins, not so much cakey. Do you happen to know why that would be? But honestly they taste great so no complaints 🙂
Do you mean a little dense? If so, be sure to weigh the flour and the pumpkin next time, it could be a case of a little too much flour or too little pumpkin.
I just made these and they were so easy and so delicious!! I was worried at first about the thickness of the batter (as it originally felt like cookie dough), but it came together nicely after adding the water/flax. I added some chocolate chips into this as well. Yum!
This is more of a question rather than a comment. I’m not vegan, but I bake for groups of people, including vegans, some are stricter than others when it comes to sugar. I was wondering if for the brown sugar you used was the usual vegan brown sugar or the brown sugar that non vegans use, like the regular domino sugar?
Thank you so much!
We don’t have a sugar issue in the country we’re in, our sugar is totally vegan and has been for 30 years. I believe it is just in the USA where some sugar companies still use outdated methods to refine the sugar. In that case of course it would be best to find a company that is more up to date in their methods, but that is of course a personal choice and not one that we would dictate to anyone.
Hi! Would shortening work for the frosting? I usually use Spectrum Organic non-hydrogenated. For some reason my vegan butter usually doesn’t hold up well on the cupcakes, even though I use Earth Balance, which it seems like everyone else does!
Hi Dana, I don’t know about shortening, I haven’t ever used it, so I can’t advise about whether or not it would work. As far as the frosting not usually holding up with Earth Balance, a good thing to try would be to use less non-dairy milk, add it in VERY slowly and you might be able to use less of it. I’m not using Earth Balance at the moment and didn’t with these cupcakes (though I have used Earth Balance before) and there can be variance of water content between different vegan buttery spreads which could cause it to be too runny. All the best! 🙂
These are awesome. My family enjoyed them
Fantastic! So glad to hear! 🙂
Delicious!!!! I used Neat Egg, followed recipe exactly. Except sprinkled pumpkin spice on top of frosting since I wasn’t using pecans due to nut allergy. These are really moist and the frosting is perfect. I had to bake them 5 extra minutes to total 30 minutes. They are tall, put heaping 1/4 cup in each muffin cup. Had a little dough left over and some icing left over. My house smells amazing! Learned how to make pumpkin pie spice easily on another recipe. Didn’t have ginger so I used 3 drops ginger essential oil which is digestible to cake mixture.. I’m giving them to my students after their Midterm exam tomorrow. Do you think these would freeze well?
Hi Christine! That sounds awesome, so happy they were a success! Yes, I think they will freeze well! 🙂
Thanks! I made double batch, cake batter fit in my largest mixing bowl and I mixed it by hand. Only made single batches of frosting, no way 6 cups of confectioners sugar wouldn’t fly out of my stand up mixer. ? I’ve been vegetarian for many years, converted to vegan l1 yr and half ago, still honing my vegan baking thank you so much for this recipe ! ? I’m going to make more and freeze for holidays.
Just made these and they are yummy. Although I made my own pumpkin puree by roasting the pumpkin and the puree was quite thick so the cake mix was so dry I added some almond milk…have you ever needed to add more liquid? What consistency should the mix be? Thank you
The batter is supposed to be thick. I haven’t needed to add extra liquid, but if you did and your end result cupcakes weren’t overly moist then you probably got it exactly right!
Innovative, creative and delicious
Hello there!
I recently found your blog by doing a search on dairy free foods.
I signed up for your newsletter and this popped in my email account today! My son wanted me to make it immediately! I have a question though, do you think it would be okay to use a regular chicken egg in this? I ask because my son isn’t actually vegan, but he is dairy free, as he has a severe allergies to dairy. If not, I’ll make it exactly as the recipe calls. Thank you for your time and posting this recipe! My son is crazy for pumpkin!
Hi Tammy! In theory it should be fine! A Flax egg is a 1:1 replacement for a chicken egg in cakes – however I haven’t tested it that way as I have only made this as vegan. All the best!
Hello Again!
I made the cupcakes and frosting and it was so delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Also, I did use an egg, but it was a lot thicker than what your photos show yours came out like, but the taste was divine!
Great Tammy! So happy to hear it came out well! 🙂
I just realized that I used my real name. OOPS. I don’t do that online. I go by Tammy Chrzan on the net. I’m sorry for the confusion! If it’s okay, I would like to add your recipe to my blog. I will give you credit.
Sure, that would be awesome – look forward to seeing it! We have guidelines on our contact page for how to do this. 🙂
Can I use another type of flour? Maybe almond flour?
Hi Cindy, not almond flour no, but if you want them gluten-free you could try a gluten free all purpose flour blend. 🙂
Yeah! Once again these look perfect! I really wish I wasn’t an awful baker! LOL