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These Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes are the perfect bake for spooky season! Gluten free chocolate cupcakes are topped with buttercream pumpkins. The perfect Halloween cupcake idea and a really easy recipe to make with kids. Create your own mini pumpkin patch with these cute Halloween pumpkin cupcakes!
If you’re after a spooky bake which is fun and easy to make, you need to give these gluten free Halloween pumpkin cupcakes a try.
These yummy chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate chips have a cute, orange-flavoured buttercream piped on top which is actually surprisingly easy.
With the right piping tips you can wow your friends and make these super-impressive buttercream pumpkins for all to enjoy.
If you’re already a fan of my chocolate cupcakes or my chocolate orange cupcakes then these will be perfect for you.
Kids will love creating these and will learn some new skills with the baking and frosting. Plus this cupcake recipe is gluten free with an easy dairy free option too.
For more spooky Halloween baking give my cute monster Halloween Cupcakes or my scary Broken Glass Cupcakes a go too.
And if you want to bake with actual pumpkin, check out my Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll or Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread recipes to try after these!
Ingredients
There’s a printable recipe card for these Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes below. But for the shopping list you will need…
- Caster Sugar: In the US look for baker’s sugar or superfine sugar.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter for the cupcakes and frosting. Substitute for a vegan margarine to make this cupcake recipe dairy free.
- Eggs: I use large UK eggs which equate to XL eggs in the US.
- Gluten Free Self Raising Flour: If you can’t find a suitable gluten free self rising flour, look for a plain or all purpose gluten free flour blend and mix 1 tsp gluten free baking powder per 100g gluten free flour to make your own.
- Cocoa Powder: Most cocoa powder is gluten free but always double check.
- Xanthan Gum: You can omit this if your gluten free flour blend contains it. This just helps recreate the texture of the gluten and make cakes less crumbly.
- Milk: This helps to loosen the cake mixture and frosting. Sub for a dairy free milk if needed.
- White Chocolate Chips: Always double check these are gluten free as some brands have ‘may contain’ warnings.
- Icing Sugar: Or confectioner’s sugar in the US, to make the buttercream frosting.
- Gel Food Colouring: Some food colourings have a may contain warning for gluten, so pick one like these Sugarflair colourings which are gluten free. Use a good quality colouring for vibrant colours – the cheap ones tend to be quite dull.
- Chocolate Orange Matchmakers: I use these for the pumpkin stalks as they are gluten free. You could also use broken up bits of gluten free pretzels too.
How to make Halloween cupcakes
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy these Halloween pumpkin cupcakes are to make:
Preheat the oven to 180’C / Fan 160’C / Gas Mark 4. Fill a 12-hole baking tin with cupcake cases and set aside while you make the cake batter.
Add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy.
Crack the eggs into the mixing bowl and beat again for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
Sift in the self-raising gluten free flour, cocoa powder and xantham gum, then add the milk and beat together with the electric whisk until everything is fully combined.
Pour in the white chocolate chips and fold them into the mixture so they’re evenly distributed. .
Spoon the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases and then place in the centre of an oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool in the tray for 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the tray to cool completely.
To make the buttercream pumpkin frosting:
Add the butter, icing sugar and milk to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk on a low speed until it becomes a smooth, fluffy buttercream.
Spoon a small amount of the buttercream into a separate bowl and add green food colouring. Once mixed, spoon this into a piping bag fitted with a 352 piping tip – this is for the leaves.
Add orange food colouring to the remaining buttercream, mix together and then spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a 4B piping nozzle.
Take the orange icing and pipe a small mound in the centre of the cupcake. Then, working from the outside edge of the mound, pipe up to the centre, working around the mound.
Once you have gone the whole way around the mound, break a Matchmaker into thirds and place one third in the centre as the stalk.
Finally, pipe a couple of leaves around the stalk with the green icing. You could also use a fine line icing tip to create some vines if you like.
Storing and Freezing
Once baked and decorated, these gluten free pumpkin cupcakes will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To make these ahead of a decorating session, you can bake the cupcakes and cool them completely, then store them for a couple of days or freeze for up to 6 months.
You can also freeze the cupcakes once decorated. Simply defrost at room temperature before tucking in to a spooky treat!
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 125 g caster sugar
- 125 g unsalted butter, (softened)
- 2 large eggs
- 100 g self raising gluten free flour
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tbsp milk
- 75 g white chocolate chips
For the buttercream frosting:
- 300 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature)
- 600 g icing sugar
- 4 tbsp milk
- Orange and Green food colouring
- Chocolate orange Matchmakers
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180’C / Fan 160’C / Gas Mark 4. Fill a 12-hole baking tin with cupcake cases and set aside while you make the cake batter.
- Add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. (TIP: If the butter is hard, zap it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before adding it to the mixing bowl to make it easier!)
- Crack the eggs into the mixing bowl and beat again for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
- Sift in the self-raising gluten free flour, cocoa powder and xantham gum, then add the milk and beat together with the electric whisk until everything is fully combined. Pour in the white chocolate chips and fold them into the mixture so they’re evenly distributed. You want a fairly thick batter which looks light and fluffy.
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases and then place in the centre of an oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. The cupcakes are done when they are well-risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool in the tray for 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the tray to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- Add the butter, icing sugar and milk to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk on a low speed until it becomes a smooth, fluffy buttercream. (TIP: To avoid an icing-sugar dust cloud I tend to ‘mash’ the mixture with a fork until it starts to come together, then use the electric whisk).
- Spoon a small amount of the buttercream into a separate bowl and add green food colouring. Once mixed, spoon this into a piping bag fitted with a 352 tip – this is for the leaves.
- Add orange food colouring to the remaining buttercream, mix together and then spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a 4B piping tip.
To decorate:
- Take the orange icing and pipe a small mound in the centre of the cupcake. Then, working from the outside edge of the mound, pipe up to the centre, working around the mound.
- Once you have gone the whole way around the mound, break a Matchmaker into thirds and place one third in the centre as the stalk.
- Finally, pipe a couple of leaves around the stalk with the green icing. You could also use a fine line icing tip to create some vines if you like.
Video
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this pumpkin cupcakes recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing and Freezing: Find tips on storing these cupcakes in the post above.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes!
Nutrition
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