Apple Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a double duty recipe. I originally made these cupcakes for a friend and tattoo artist’s birthday. But while I was trying to come up with ideas for the cupcakes, I kinda went totally fall. Since halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, I figured this would be a great halloween recipe as well.

I had a recipe fail when trying to make the cupcakes the first time. They came out way too greasy and the middles of the cupcakes sank in. So it was back to the drawing board. I ended up finding an apple cupcake recipe thanks to The Sweetest Vegan. These cupcakes are moist and full of warm apple flavor. A perfect compliment to the creamy pumpkin cream cheese frosting. I could seriously bathe in that frosting. Delicious!

So happy birthday Wade! And I hope you have an amazing trip to New Zealand and I will miss ya!

Apple Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe based on recipes by The Sweetest Vegan and About.com

Apple Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup applesauce
¾ cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup apple, peeled and finely diced

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients together.

Mix wet into dry ingredients and pour into a lined cupcake pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cold dairy-free cream cheese, like Tofutti
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) dairy-free soy margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 1/4- 4 1/4 cups powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the dairy-free cream cheese and dairy-free soy margarine with an electric hand mixer on medium speed.

Add the pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger, and beat until combined.

Gradually add the powdered sugar, starting with a low-speed setting and increasing until all of the powdered sugar has been added and the mixture is creamy.