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Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting with a Striped Napkin
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Soak time
4 hrs
Total Time
40 mins
 

These vegan pumpkin muffins are rich, moist, and packed with spices. Top them off with rich cashew cream cheese frosting for an indulgent fall treat!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12
Calories: 287 kcal
Author: Alissa
Ingredients
For the Muffins
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
  • ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin puree
  • ¾ cup unflavored soy or almond milk
  • cup canola oil, or your favorite baking oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Frosting
  • 1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 2-4 tablespoons unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
To Make the Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

  2. Line 12 muffin cups with papers.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
  4. In a separate, smaller bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, milk, oil and vanilla.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until blended.

  6. Divide the mixture among the muffin cups.

  7. Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until the tops spring up when touched lightly.

  8. Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

To Make the Frosting
  1. While the muffins cool, place the cashews, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of milk, lemon juice, vanilla and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade.

  2. Blend until smooth, adding additional milk to thin the mixture to the desired consistency.

Frost the Muffins
  1. When the muffins are cool, remove them from the tins and spread with frosting. Optionally, garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

  2. Serve.

Recipe Notes

This post was updated in 2018 to include a new (and improved) frosting recipe and to make larger muffins. If you prefer smaller muffins, cut down on the recipe by ⅓ (or make 18 muffins instead of 12) and only bake them for 16 to 18 minutes. The old frosting recipe called for 1 cup of soaked raw cashews, juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 4 cups of powdered sugar and about ¼ cup of non-dairy milk (as needed to get the right consistency).

Nutrition Facts
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting
Amount Per Serving (1 muffin with frosting)
Calories 287 Calories from Fat 131
% Daily Value*
Fat 14.5g22%
Saturated Fat 2.1g11%
Sodium 342mg14%
Potassium 201mg6%
Carbohydrates 36.7g12%
Fiber 1.7g7%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 4.5g9%
Calcium 70mg7%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.