Pumpkin and spice...make cupcakes taste nice!

Last Sunday I sat at home all day wondering what to do with myself and I had this realization, well maybe not a realization, but a fact that I have this amazing cupcake book and I have not utilized it enough. It is pretty to look at, but I find it much more useful when I utilize it's recipes.

So I was looking through it wondering which one to bake. Vanilla, chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint, lemon, peanut butter, and this isn't even including the type of frosting I had to pair with the cupcake. What is a girl to do? So I went to the next best option...what do I have in the kitchen now and what's the least amount of additional ingredients I have to purchase. And it came up pumpkin. My roommate Michelle had a bunch of the spices needed, I had confectioner's sugar, regular sugar, flour, eggs, that kind of stuff. But I realized that it wouldn't be fair to use regular flour or butter for there is a certain sister, whom I live with, who couldn't partake in the pumpkin spice goodness if I didn't convert them. So in addition to pumpkin I needed gluten-free, dairy-free substitions.

Crazy About Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter; at room temperature*

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/3 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour*

2 teaspooons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk*

1-1/4 cups pumpkin puree, canned or fresh

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*I substituted soy margarine sticks for regular butter sticks. Gluten-free all-purpose baking mix for all-purpose flour. And I substituted plain soy milk for regular milk.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Insert liners into medium cupcake pan.

2. In large bowl cream together the buttter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs to the creamed mixture one at a time, mixing afer each addition. Beat well.

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with milk. Mix until completely integrated.

5. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and beat until smooth.
6. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

While they were cooling I whipped up a gluten-free, dairy-free, vanilla buttercream frosting. And it was just as good as a it sounds.

Ingredients and directions:

1/2 cup (1 stick) soy margarine

1/4 cup plain soy milk

3 cups confectioner's sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat until smooth.

The end result....pumpkin-licious.

Don't take my word for it or the word of others that have tried them...bake them yourself.