The yummiest pumpkin spice cupcakes filled with chocolate whipped cream and topped with decadent dairy-free ganache. The chocoholic’s autumn dessert dream!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY HU
Look, I love a fluffy swirling tower of buttercream atop a soft tender cupcake just as much as the next person.
But you know what I love even more? The flavor combination of chocolate and pumpkin. The contrast of fluffy cake to silky rich ganache. The always happy surprise of biting into a cream center, even if you’re the one who did the cupcake filling.
This recipe has a lot of parts and pieces (okay three), but I promise I made it as easy as possible for you. And I double promise every component is worth it because altogether…MAGIC. This is a stop what you’re doing, make now, eat them all in two days, maybe share some of the second batch (maybe), very good recipe, friends.
Let’s start at the beginning: The Cupcake.
This cupcake is vegan and paleo, but so moist and fluffy I couldn’t possibly love the texture any more. Adapted from my grain-free tahini cake, we’re using:
- Canned pumpkin. I do actually try to buy organic here, I find the flavor and color much nicer.
- Almond butter. Or another nut/seed butter, but neutral flavor is best so as to not overpower the pumpkin.
- Coconut sugar.
- Apple cider vinegar. Or lemon juice, something acidic.
- Vanilla.
- Coconut flour. Without eggs. And they’re this fluffy. I KNOW.
- Tapioca starch. Don’t skip it or you will have a sad pile of crumbs. Arrowroot would work too.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Pumpkin pie spice. Which is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice (or sometimes cloves).
I know that looks like a lot. But one bowl. One whisk. Twelve perfect cupcakes. We got this.
Next: The Ganache.
Now this is where it gets fun. Not that the cupcakes are not fun…but CHOCOLATE.
You probably already know about my low key obsession with Hu chocolate. I received a DM recently from someone recently who had tried Hu Gems and it’s ruined her for all other chocolate chips…same girl, SAME.
Every month I order 3 (sometimes 4) bags of Gems for recipe creation purposes, and every month I use one for the recipe and eat the other two within the following week. Straight from the bag. No shame.
Anyways! Besides being irresistible, Gems are highly skilled at making a perfect dairy-fire ganache. All you need is 1 cup Hu Gems and 1/3 cup coconut milk. Melt, stir, cool, drizzle on top of your entire life.
Or these cupcakes. Preferably.
And if you haven’t tried Gems – hukitchen.com > code: FEASTINGONFRUIT > 20% off > getchyaself some already.
And finally: The Filling.
This is the little sneaky part that makes this recipe a whole lot easier than it looks. Because that filling is actually just coconut yogurt (or cream if you can’t find the full fat coconut yogurt) with a couple of spoonfuls of ganache swirled in.
You can either hollow out the middle of your cupcakes with a knife, or use a cupcake coring gadget like this. Mine is currently in storage or I would’ve put it to use.
Some recipe leftovers I share with friends. Some I hoard all to myself. This one was definitely a hoarding kinda recipe.
Happy baking, ganache-ing, and not sharing to you!
Chocolate-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
- Category: cupcakes
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
The yummiest pumpkin spice cupcakes filled with chocolate whipped cream and topped with decadent dairy-free ganache. The chocoholic’s autumn dessert dream!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cup (360g) pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cup (360g) almond butter
- 3/4 cup (105g) coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (60g) coconut flour
- 1/2 cup (60g) tapioca starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cups (160g) Hu Gems
- 1/3 cup (160g) coconut milk
- 1 cup (240g) coconut whipped cream or full-fat coconut yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk together the pumpkin, almond butter, coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.
- Add the flours, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Scoop into a cupcake pan lined with paper liners, filling each at least 3/4 of the way.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cool completely. Then use a knife to gently carve out a hole in the center of each (or use a cupcake corer, these things work great!)
- Melt the Gems with the coconut milk. Stir until combined and smooth.
- Remove 2 tbsp and stir into the coconut whipped cream or yogurt.
- Fill each cupcake with the chocolate whipped cream using a spoon or piping bag.
- Top with a layer of ganache and chill until the ganache is set.
- Eat! Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container, or freeze the unfrosted cupcakes for longer storage.
Notes
For an oat flour pumpkin cake/cupcake, try THIS RECIPE instead!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 459
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 221mg
- Fat: 32g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 9g
Keywords: vegan, gluten free, fall, autumn, halloween, ganache, dairy free, healthy, spice
I love your recipes! I so appreciate your attention to not using refined sugars and using fruit to sweeten things as much as possible.
I also appreciate that you are able to generate income but sharing these recipes. That is a great thing. However, I just have to say that when I go to the print function, it is a major irritation to have ads in the middle of my printed recipe. I wish there was something that could be done about that one element 🙂
Good to know, thank you for telling me since I never print things I didn’t know! I will talk to my ad network about that 🙂
I really want to try this! I have a random question. What muffin pan do you use? I’d like to find a high quality one that doesn’t have the non-stock nasties in it. Any direction you can give I’d appreciate!
This one is from Nordic Ware, who I love, and I actually just found it at Walmart for like $8! I also have one from Wilton that is nonstick and good too 🙂
These look so good Natalie! Can you post a link to the cookie scoop you used? Thanks!
This is the one I used: http://bit.ly/2ndCOnm
Can we first acknowledge (and applaud) your wizardry with another vegan BAKED treat using COCONUT FLOUR?!? 😍 I’m impressed because while I still keep it on hand, it remains my most intimidating flour 😂😂 I mostly save it for other people’s creations! But moving on…I would definitely take this over a cupcake topped with an abundant swirl of buttercream. Ganache AND a chocolate filling???? I’d be hoarding these babies too! Willow and I were just talking a couple weeks ago about how much we LOVE the pumpkin + chocolate combo so these need to be bumped up on our list of recipes to make soon ❤️ I’m laughing at the DM your received regarding those HU gems….last week we checked out a little local market here in Bend and they carry them!!!! I literally stood there for a good three minutes debating about buying a bag and had to walk away because I feared they would ruin any other chocolate chip. Their chocolate bars pretty much can’t compare with anything else out there! I will eventually grab some of those gems because I know they will make any creation taste 100 times better ❤️ Happy weekend to you! xo
YOU FOUND GEMS IN REAL LIFE?!?! I am so jealous, ugh I need to come visit and make snowmen with your guys and buy all the gems☃️🍫🤗 Ha but yes, I do respect your play it safe decision to not purchase and remain open to other kinds of chocolate chips still for the time being lol. Ugh I know, I can’t but any other bars when I go to whole foods, if/when my local grocery store ever starts carrying them I’m in trouble😂 Isn’t the pumpkin + chocolate combo amazing!! Highly underrated, but I love anything chocolate + warming spices so it just works😋 It’s funny with coconut flour because most of the time I hate it but when it works it is MAGIC✨ Hope you guys are enjoying a cozy weekend with lots of fun and kitty cuddles and at least some chocolate too❤️
What can I use to replace the coconut flour?:)
Hmm there really is not a great substitute here, but if you want a non coconut flour pumpkin cake recipe try this one: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/vegan-pumpkin-cake/ You can make it as cupcakes too!
Thank you for this great recipe! I made these cupcakes yesterday and they turned out awesome!
★★★★★
I am so happy you tried and liked them!! Thanks for the feedback Joshua🤗
Ahh these were divine (note past tense i.e. already scoffed)! Each of the three elements alone would have been enough to convince me to make these but together = irresistible! Possibly the best part was getting to eat the cupcake cores so I could fill the holes. Bonus munching!! Another added bonus was that I had just enough pumpkin left over after making this to try out your vegan pumpkin mousse recipe that has been making eyes at me for a while now 👀
★★★★★
Haha yes those little scooped out cores that you obviously “have to” eat while continuing to core and fill are a nice little perk😉 I am so happy you guys enjoyed these, Aleks!