Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
It’s back to school time here in Illinois, which means fall isn’t far behind! I’m so ready for the cooler weather and pumpkin everything, which is why I had to whip of some delicious pumpkin cupcakes. These yummy gluten free pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes combine two amazing desserts into one delicious bite. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click a link (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support!
These yummy gluten free cupcakes look complicated, but they’re actually pretty simple to make. And the results are delicious! It’s a wonderful combination of pumpkin cake, cheesecake, and pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting on top.
Start by making the cheesecake filling. To make the cheesecake section of these cupcakes, beat room temperature cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract with your hand mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set this mixture aside while you make the pumpkin cupcakes.
The secret ingredient in these yummy gluten free pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes isn’t the cheese cake — it’s Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour. If you’ve never baked with this flour, you have to start now! It makes everything you bake taste amazing, without the dryness and grittiness you find in other gluten free flours. Mix your flour with the rest of your dry ingredients (pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt).
Finish the batter by whisking the pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs in a separate bowl. Then, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Now it’s time to assemble the the gluten free pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes. First, fill the cupcake liners 1/3 of the way full with the pumpkin cake batter.
Add a spoonful of cheesecake batter to the top of each cupcake liner
Then finish by adding another small later of pumpkin cake batter and bake for 22 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
When the gluten free pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes are finished cooking, you’ll have a set of 12 beautiful cupcakes just waiting for some delicious cream cheese icing.
While you’re waiting for you cupcakes to come out of the oven, you can start making your pumpkin spice cream cheese icing. Start by beating your cold cream cheese with a hand mixer or the whisk attachment on your stand mixer until it’s smooth. Then, slowly add the butter to the cream cheese one table spoon at a time until both are completely combined.
Finally, add you powdered sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin spice and blend until smooth. Be careful not to over mix your cream cheese frosting — if you mix the frosting too long, the cream cheese will be too soft to pipe, making your cupcakes goopy and messy. Nobody wants a messy pumpkin cupcake!
If your cream cheese frosting does become too soft, just place it in the fridge for a little while until it firms up. To pipe your cupcakes, add the frosting to a gallon-size bag or piping bag, snip the end off, and pipe a dollop on the top of each cake.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes
These gluten free pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes are packed with fall flavor.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 cup gluten free baking flour
- 1 tsp of xanthan gum (if your flour mixture doesn’t already have it)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
For the Filling
- 4 ounces gluten free cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- ½ tsp gluten free pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar
For the Frosting
- 8 ounces gluten free cream cheese, cold
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp gluten free pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
To make the cheesecake filling
1. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until light and fluffy and set aside.
To make the cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
3. Combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs.
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula until just combined and moist.
6. Fill each cupcake liner with one tablespoon full of cake batter.
7. Top the cake batter with two teaspoons of cheesecake filling in the center of each cup.
8. Cover the cheesecake batter with remaining cake batter.
9. Bake 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
10. Cool completely before icing.
To make frosting
1. Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer or using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer until smooth.
2. Slowly add the butter to the cream cheese one to two tablespoons at a time until combined.
3. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth. Avoid overmixing the frosting or the cream cheese frosting will become too soft to pipe onto your cupcakes. If the frosting does become too soft to work with, place it in the refrigerator until it firms up.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 423Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 253mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g
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Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
Yay, it’s almost pumpkin season! These look delicious.
These look absolutely amazing! I am SO ready for cooler weather and pumpkin cupcakes. I have never used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour,, but I will now!
AH PUMPKIN + CHEESECAKE = the perfect fall dessert!! Thank you for sharing. I definitely need to try this!
Wow! There are so many levels of yumminess in this recipe. I will definitely have to give these a try. Thanks for sharing.
YUm!!! I am for sure trying this!! My sister is gluten free so this would be perfect for Thanksgiving this year!!
Made these at high altitude with no modifications and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
So glad you liked them!!