Healthy Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Healthy Small Batch Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

©: Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 19 mini cupcakes

These are the best pumpkin cupcakes I’ve ever made! They’re incredibly moist and full of warm spice and sweet pumpkin flavors. The velvety cream cheese frosting is a sweet finishing touch! The cupcakes are best if served the same day that they’re frosted, but they’ll keep for at least four days (if not longer!), if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

1 cup + 2 tbsp (135g) Bob’s Red Mill® Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground ginger
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
2 tbsp (18g) confectioners’ style erythritol (see Notes!)
6 tbsp (92g) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix!)
2 tbsp (30g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
7 tbsp (105mL) nonfat milk, divided
cream cheese frosting, for topping (see Notes!)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 19 mini muffin cups with paper liners, and coat the liners with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg white, vanilla, and liquid stevia. Stir in the erythritol. Stir in the pumpkin purée and Greek yogurt, mixing until no lumps remain. Stir in ¼ cup of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.)
Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners. Bake at 350°F for 10-13 minutes or until the centers feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cupcakes have fully cooled, top with the cream cheese frosting.

Notes: I love Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour! It's a true staple in my pantry. You can use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!

For the gluten-free flour, use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour! Remember to measure it like this.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour or All-Purpose Flour may be substituted in place of the whole wheat pastry flour.

It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will dry out your cupcakes and give them a crumbly texture, instead of having them turn out moist and tender!

For a stronger spice flavor (I always prefer stronger spice flavors!), then increase the ginger, nutmeg, and cloves by ⅛ teaspoon each (for a total of ¼ teaspoon each).

I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my pantry staples (you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine!), and I buy it online here. If you prefer not to use stevia in the cupcakes, substitute 6 tablespoons (90mL) of agave, honey, or pure maple syrup for the liquid stevia. Reduce the milk to 1 tablespoon (15mL). (The batter should be fairly thick, similar to muffin batter.)

Coconut sugar, brown sugar, granulated sugar, or regular powdered sugar (24g is 2 tablespoons for these sweeteners!) may be substituted for the confectioners’ style erythritol.

Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.

For the cream cheese frosting, use this first recipe of mine if you’d like to pipe it on top of your cupcakes in swirls (like I did in the photos above this recipe!). This second recipe of mine is a clean eating version, but it works better when spread on top of the cupcakes with a knife (it doesn’t pipe very well).

This recipe is easily doubled to yield 12 standard size cupcakes! Remember to coat the cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray first. Bake the standard size cupcakes at 350°F for 20-23 minutes or until the centers feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Do not store your pumpkin cupcakes at room temperature, even if they’re unfrosted! Pumpkin baked treats tend to spoil very quickly, so always keep leftovers refrigerated.

{gluten-free, clean eating option, low fat, low sugar, sugar free}

Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2019/09/08/healthy-small-batch-mini-pumpkin-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting/