Spiced pumpkin Halloween cupcakes

Serves:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup coconut oil (softened)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup pumpkin (cooked)

Icing

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 drops red food colouring (liquid)
• 8 drops orange food colouring (liquid)
• 12 chocolate licorice bullet

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a 12-hole muffin tray with dark brown or orange patty cases.

Cream coconut oil, butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix through.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add flour and fold through, then add cinnamon and mix.

Mash well, or puree cooked pumpkin with a stick blender then mix through batter.

Fill patty cases with the batter (they sink a bit upon cooling so you can fill them). And bake for 25 minutes, or until ready when tested with a skewer.

To make icing: Whisk butter and icing sugar, then add vanilla and milk. Add food colouring and mix well to colour evenly.

Once cakes are cooled, pipe icing on top of each cake. I used a 7mm piping nozzle to ice these, but you can use a flat knife if you prefer. Pop a licorice bullet into the centre of each cupcake, and enjoy!

Find more related Halloween recipes:

• Watermelon fangs
• Band-Aid biscuits
• Halloween severed fingers
• Tombstone cupcakes
• Halloween jelly worms
• Red Back spider biscuits
• Halloween witches’ hats
• Vampire cupcakes

Serving Suggestions

Note

• Coconut oil should be softened to a point where it’s sufficient to blend but not liquid.
• You can use all butter in the batter if you like, I just use a mixture of coconut oil/butter for a healthier option.
• This recipe was created by Katie Rainbird for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.