Happy October 1st and Happy World Vegetarian Day!
October is one of my favourite months! We have the start of hockey season, Thanksgiving, my mother in law’s birthday, my mom’s birthday, all topped off by Halloween and my 2nd blogiversary (Oct 31).
I thought what better way to kick-off such a fun month than to make a fun and vegan twist on the traditional pumpkin pie and brownie.
Meet…
Pumpkin Pie Brownie ‘Cupcakes’
Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes.
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Brownie Layer:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 3/4 cup white kamut flour (or white)
- 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
- 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Pumpkin Pie Layer:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp almond milk
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
- Shaved chocolate, for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a muffin tin.
2. For brownie layer: In a stand mixer or by hand, mix together the coconut oil, pumpkin, vanilla, and sugar until blended well. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking, soda, sea salt and mix until incorporated. Take about 2 tbsp of the mixture and place in muffin tin. Wet fingers and spread around evenly so it is smooth. I made 8 large cupcakes and 2 small ones.
3. For pumpkin layer: In a large bowl mix together the pumpkin, vanilla, and milk. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well until all clumps are gone. Now add approx 1.5-2 tbsp of the pumpkin pie mixture on top of each brownie in the pan. Garnish with grated chocolate (I used a lemon zester to grate the chocolate).
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Remove from oven and cool for 20-30 minutes and then move to the fridge to chill for 1.5 hours.
5. Serves approx 8-10. I made 8 large cupcakes and 2 small ones (for kids). Enjoy with vegan vanilla ice cream.
This brownie batter is UNBELIEVABLE. Quite possibly the best brownie batter I’ve ever tasted.
You could serve this batter to your guests in a small bowl and they would be happy as clams. Or maybe that’s just me?
Add about 2 tbsp of the batter into each greased muffin tin.
Now make the pumpkin pie filling, which is super easy and fast.
Add a layer of the pumpkin filling and then add grated chocolate to finish it off.
Finally the sun rose and I got my photography station back!
Yay for natural light!
After baking for 30 minutes and letting it cool for another 30…
Do not touch them for at least 30 minutes…as they need to firm up.
Success.
Serve with my favourite vegan ice cream…
Dare I say this stuff tastes better than vanilla ice cream!? I do, I do. :)
It is just super expensive which is why we only buy it a couple times a year.
These bad boys taste just like you would hope..a delicious moist brownie with a layer of pumpkin pie!
Small changes I would make next time:
- Add more pumpkin pie filling on top (maybe another tbsp?) as I found myself wanting more of it.
- Add chopped pecans for crunch!
Serve with a Pumpkin Pie Monster of course.
Now I’m off to do bakery work. Going to get out for a lunchtime run in this wonderful sunshine. I am almost caught up on 500 Glo Bars since I have been back. Feeling like things are back in control again. :)
Have a wonderful start to October!
I am very excited to make these for my family’s thanksgiving! I just wanted to know if I could use Earth Balance instead of coconut oil? Thanks (:
did anyone ever get back to you? i have the same Q since my friend is deathly allergic to coconut :(
I actually just made these to bring to Thanksgiving dinner but I used chopped walnuts on top because that’s all I really had on hand. My brother and I were also in love with the brownie batter! Thank you for this :)
Quick question – I’m allergic to wheat. Do you think GF oat flour would work for this recipe?
I just made these and they are as delicious as they look and very easy to make. Can you freeze them?
Just made these and followed the recipe to the T. I bought all of the expensive ingredients and everything. I spent $30 for a batch of brownies and these are by far not the best cupcakes as advertised they were. Very taste less, gummy, and in my opinion un edible. I made one batch will have to find a different recipe to salvage the rest of the ingredient’s.
i really love this recipe but my friend is deathly allergic to coconut, is there another oil I could substitute in here for my holiday baking?
These are great. Just one critique if I may…
Most recipes list ingredients in the order they are to be used. I found this one a bit harder to follow because I would refer to the list to confirm quantity, and it wouldn’t be as easy to find the next ingredient.
Other than that, I thought these were wonderful – especially because they are healthfully made and not too sweet.
Hi.
I’d like to know he much I need to out if I’m boiling the pumpkin and putting it instead of canned ones.
Thanks!
Put*
I tried this out and made 24 bite-sized servings and 10 medium-sized servings. Everyone who tried it really liked them.
You were right about there not being enough pumpkin on top – maybe there should be less pumpkin in the brownie part?
I substituted wheat flour for gluten-free flour and xanthan gum, chocolate shavings for semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pumpkin spice with cinnamon sugar. The bite-sized ones had just on chip on top, while the medium ones had 3.
Hey Rickie, Thank you so much for your feedback! So glad you tried the recipe out. I’ll have to revisit it sometime as its been a while.
What flour/flours/flour blend would you sub if you want to make this Gluten Free?
Hey Heather, I’m sorry but I’m not sure…often it takes a lot of experimentation with GF flours so I wouldn’t know what to recommend without testing it multiple times. I have heard that some blog readers like Bob’s Red Mill GF blends. Might be worth a shot?