If you’re looking for a delicious autumn treat, try these pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting! These are so delicious with a cup of tea on a cool fall day.

Is there anything better than autumn baking? The urge to bake hit me the other day, and I decided on these cupcakes.
I love all of the delicious desserts that we get to enjoy in the fall. Apple crisp, pumpkin donuts, oatmeal cookies, and of course, these pumpkin spice cupcakes.
These cupcakes are really easy to make, and they work well with gluten free flour and regular flour. The texture of these treats is just right – not gummy or dry.
A little bit of cinnamon and ground ginger makes the frosting on top of these cupcakes extra special. These are the perfect dessert to make for a fall party or bake sale!
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend for these cupcakes, and it worked very well.
- Certified Gluten Free Oat Flour – The addition of oat flour lightens up the texture of these cupcakes. You can make your own oat flour with certified gluten free oats if you like.
- Pumpkin Puree – I used Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin. You need to make sure that you use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which has a lot of other ingredients aside from pumpkin.
- Vegan Buttery Spread – I like Earth Balance Soy Free Vegan Buttery Spread, but you could also use the baking sticks. Another option is to use organic canola oil or another neutral tasting oil.
Step by Step Instructions
- Place the pumpkin puree, melted vegan buttery spread, and sugar in a bowl and stir well.
- Add the dry ingredients as well as the vanilla, vinegar, and water.
- Stir well until smooth.
- Spoon the batter into a muffin pan that is lined with parchment paper liners.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 22-25 minutes.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool, then make the frosting.
- If you’d like to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, spoon it into a piping bag that has been fitted with a 1M tip.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, or spread it on with a knife or offset spatula. Enjoy!
Tips for Success
- I recommend using parchment paper cupcake liners for gluten free baking. They’re awesome – they never stick to the cupcakes like other liners do, and they don’t get all transparent looking on the cupcake.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them.
- A 1M piping tip is a great way to make your cupcakes look fancy even if you don’t have a lot of experience with cake decorating. You can find this tip in most craft stores.
Storage
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If you’d like to keep them for longer, store them in the refrigerator.
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Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream (Gluten Free, Vegan).
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend All purpose flour is fine if you aren't gluten free
- ½ cup certified gluten free oat flour
- ¾ cups organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch cloves
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup melted vegan buttery spread or organic canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅔ cup water
For the frosting:
- 3 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with parchment paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, melted vegan buttery spread, and sugar.
- Add the gluten free flour blend, oat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, vinegar, and water. Stir well until smooth and combined.
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ⅔ full.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting.
- Beat the buttery spread until fluffy, then add one cup of powdered sugar. and drizzle in a little water. Mix on medium speed, alternating between adding more sugar and water until the frosting is thick and creamy. Add the spices and mix again.
- Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M icing tip to pipe the frosting on.
Claire Winson
These are my absolute staple fall recipe! Love, love, love!
Lori Carcova
Do you think this recipe would be enough to make in a tube pan instead of cupcakes?
Kelly Roenicke
I’m not sure about that if you try it, let me know!
Renee Anderson
How many cupcakes does this recipe tend to make?
Kelly Roenicke
It makes 12 cupcakes.
yumi toei
Hi! I love your recipe :D
Do you think I can use applesauce instead of pumpkin?
Thanx a lot for your beautiful work
Kelly Roenicke
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure! If you try it, let me know!
marion kelley
Hello I made the cupcakes and we love them
Kelly
Great! THank you so much for letting me know! :)
Roxanne Laneuville
HI
do they freeze well ?
Kelly
I have not tried freezing these…they don’t last very long around here! ;) If you do freeze them, I would not freeze the frosting, just the cupcakes.
Jessica Levinson (@jlevinsonrd)
These look amazing and given my success with my last baking recipe from you, i have a feeling we’ll be loving these too!
Kelly
Thanks Jessica! If you try these, please let me know! :)
ankey15
My dad’s birthday is coming up and I’m thinking these will be perfect for celebrating. That frosting looks incredible.
Kelly
Thank you! Let me know if you try them!
athleticavocado
mmm these look amazing, espeically with that cinnamon frosting! yum :)
Kelly
Thank you!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
These cupcakes look gorgeous, Kelly! That cinnamon buttercream is just calling my name. What a perfect sweet treat!
Kristine | Kristine's Kitchen
I have so many pumpkin recipes to share this year too, and can’t decide which to share first either! None of them are cupcakes, though, so I can’t go with that. ;) These cupcakes look delicious, and so pretty, too!
Kelly
Thanks, Kristine! I know, I really have been all about pumpkin so far! I hope I don’t burn out on it. :)
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely
So happy that fall is HERE! This cupcakes are the perfect way to kick off my favorite season : )
Strength and Sunshine
Haha, yes! I have a backlog of pumpkin recipe too! It is a struggle which on to share first since everything pumpkin is GOOD!
whiskandshout
These cupcakes look so delicious! Loving that frosting :)