Fall baking is my favorite. I know pumpkin spice is all the rage, but I’m not super into it, to be honest. I like a little cinnamon with my pumpkin, but the cloves and nutmeg can stay home. Most of the time, anyway.
One combo I have always loved, however, is that of pumpkin and chocolate chip. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were a staple of my childhood come the last quarter of the year, and pumpkin chocolate muffins are loved as well.
I’m taking the pumpkin chocolate chip love over to cakes this year. And who can resist a mini cake? Not me, peeps. That’s for sure.
These little mini cakes are extra special – browned butter gives them depth of flavor and cinnamon and vanilla keep them warm and cozy. I’ve made them gluten free as I prefer (or at least, my stomach prefers) cakes that are made so. Oh! and these are refined sugar free as well, using maple syrup and coconut palm sugar to sweeten. I like to mix those two sweeteners in my baked goods because I find that the balance of liquid and solid sweeteners keeps the texture of the final product nice and soft. Using solely coconut palm sugar to sweeten causes the batter to not spread as it should and using only a liquid sweetener can throw off the balance of liquids in the cake. For me, this mix is juuuust right.
I would highly recommend using a homemade pumpkin puree for your cakes – I know if you live outside the US you probably wouldn’t have to even think about this, but canned pumpkin puree is a serious thing over here. Make it yourselves if you can find the time (make a huge batch and freeze it in small portions to have it readily available all through the cold months!), it really does taste so much better. Here’s a tutorial on how to make it yourself if you’re new to the game.
Enjoy your pumpkin cakes, friends!
- ½ cup (1 stick) Salted Grass-fed Butter (coconut oil can be substituted to make the cakes dairy free)
- ⅓ cup Oat Flour (use gluten free if necessary)
- ½ cup Coconut Milk
- ½ cup Millet Flour
- ⅓ cup Sweet Rice Flour
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ tablespoon Xanthan Gum
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- ½ cup Pumpkin Puree
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup
- 2 large Eggs
- ¾ cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease and flour a pan for mini bundts (mine has 12 bundt wells in one pan). Set aside.
- Place the oat flour and coconut milk in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes (letting the flour soak into the milk helps it to soften and the end result is less gritty as gluten free flours tend to be so).
- While the flour mixture sits, place the butter in a saute pan and set over medium/high heat. The butter will melt and begin to foam - continue cooking until it turns a golden brown color and gives off a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Add the millet flour, sweet rice flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and eggs to the flour mixture and mix until a smooth batter forms. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Fill the prepared bundt wells ⅔ full of batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for one minute, then invert cakes. Let cakes cool. Continue to bake more cakes until batter has been used up.
- Dust cooled cakes with powdered sugar and serve!
- Can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.
