Vegan Pumpkin Muffins! Topped with Cinnamon Buttercream and Gingerbread Skeletons! Yes, I had a lot of fun making these!
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Halloween Baking
I’ve always loved baking with my family for Halloween and every year I try to come up with something new to make us all smile.
In the past, we’ve had a go at spider cookies and cobweb cake.
We’ve made cinder toffee, sticky ginger cake and toffee apples and we have baked more bat, witch, skull and cat biscuits than I can count.
With no small children to bake with this year my idea began with vegan pumpkin muffins. Flavoured with warm, autumnal spices, they are perfect for this time of year.
I thought they’d be delicious topped with cinnamon buttercream (they are).
But I couldn’t help myself. They look too grown up, too boring for Halloween. What did they need? Gingerbread skeletons of course!
I popped them on top of the muffins, up to their knees in sweet, spiced icing and they looked pretty happy. There’s always one or two who go too far though.
This one decided a bath in the buttercream was a splendid idea.
And this one had so much fun splashing about!
It wasn’t long before the other grown-ups who share my life appeared and agreed that these fellas were, indeed, very amusing.
Then, dear reader, they ate them! Look how horrified my little guys are as their fate dawns upon them!
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
If you have read this far, thank you for indulging me! I hope my little gingerbread skeletons made you smile as much as I did.
Making vegan pumpkin muffins is super easy.
They are deliciously moist and fluffy, full of pumpkin spice flavour and taste just as good without their cinnamon icing topping as they do with it.
How To Make Pumpkin Puree
Canned pureed pumpkin makes this recipe really easy. It is readily available in supermarkets but, if you can’t find it, it can also be ordered online.
If you do draw a blank and can’t get hold of any you can make your own, it just takes a bit more time! Halve a butternut squash, scoop out the seeds and roast in the oven at 200C/400F until fork tender.
Spoon the flesh out of the skins and puree until smooth. You will need 425g of cooked squash for this recipe.
Boiled or steamed pumpkin won’t do for this recipe because it holds too much water and you will end up with soggy muffins!
Vegan Cinnamon Icing
If you want to top your pumpkin muffins with cinnamon buttercream use my recipe for vegan buttercream and sift 2 tsp cinnamon in with the icing sugar.
Gingerbread Skeletons
And if you too think gingerbread skeletons are an excellent idea use my recipe for gingerbread men and glace icing.
I piped their bones using a tiny piping nozzle. They are wibbly wobbly but I think that makes them rather cute!
My recipe for vegan gingerbread people will make more than you need so halve it if you want to. Or make all of it as I did and then cut out more Halloween-shaped biscuits!
Storing Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
These muffins will keep well for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
Pumpkin muffins also freeze very well. Store them in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. Defrost completely at room temperature.
More Recipes Using Pumpkin
If you are in a very autumnal mood you might also like:
- Baked Pumpkin Risotto with Chestnuts and Crispy Sage
- Pumpkin Lentil Curry with Coconut and Cinnamon
- Vegan Chocolate Brownies with Pumpkin and Pecans
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Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 200 g soft brown sugar
- 124 ml plant-based milk (oat or soya work well)
- 425 g can pumpkin puree
- 80 ml vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional Extras
- 1 quantity vegan buttercream
- 1 quantity vegan gingerbread dough
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F
- Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases
- Sift the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl.
- Whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, oil and vanilla.
- Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the pumpkin mixture.
- Fold in gently until combined. Don't over mix,
- Spoon evenly into the prepared cases.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate with vegan buttercream and gingerbread skeletons if desired.
