FINALLY sharing the recipe for my Mom’s Famous Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake! One of my absolute favorite desserts in the entire world— I am so excited for you guys to be able to try it!
We have tried tons and tons of gluten-free recipes over the years as both of my little brotherse were diagnosed with celiac disease at a very young age and I have to say, this one triumphs ALL. No one will ever guess it’s gluten-free and made with only a few simple ingredients.
My best tip— do NOT skip the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. You can easily make it dairy-free if needed.
Yes, this recipe contains some good old fashioned sugar… but it is made with real food ingredients that you can pronounce and understand— which is my biggest concern when it comes to health. I mainly just focus on doing my best to avoid chemicals, artifical flavors, etc.
What you need for my Mom’s Famous Pumpkin Cake:
- pumpkin puree— look for 100% pumpkin puree, organic if possible
- 1 egg
- brown sugar— I like using organic sugar to avoid pesticides
- oil— we like using avocado oil but feel free to use
- gluten-free flour— my favorite flour is Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour
- vanilla extract
- pumpkin pie spice
- sea salt
For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
- cream cheese— you can use dairy-free cream cheese if needed
- butter— I like using good quality grass-fed butter like Kerrygold. You can also use vegan butter if needed
- maple syrup
- powdered sugar
- pumpkin pie spice
Mom’s Famous Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup gluten free 1:1 flour
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
For the maple cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 cup cream cheese (softened, vegan if needed)
- 2 tbsp butter (softened, vegan if needed)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking dish with parchment paper (I used an 8×8 baking dish).
- Beat egg and brown sugar until it’s nice and fluffy.
- Add in pumpkin, oil, and vanilla and beat until fully combined.
- Add in flour, pumpkin pie spice, sea salt, and baking soda and mix until fully combined.
- Pour batter into baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean(ish).
- Let cool completely. While the cake cools, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add in maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add in powdered sugar as you mix until smooth. Spread frosting over cake and sprinkle cinnamon if you wish!
This recipe is ABSOLTULY AMAZING! Please don’t skip out on the cream cheese frosting as it is perfect! A huge THANK YOU to your mother Calla as I LOVED THIS! To anyone reading these comments, you will NOT BE disappointed in this recipe!! I had it for breakfast this morning! LOL Thank you AGAIN!!!!
I am so happy you loved it! Thank you so much for the comment 🙂 I LOVE having it for breakfast with coffee too 😉
This turned out absolutely perfect! My whole family loved it.
I am so glad you and your family loved it! It is definitely a fam fave around here too 🙂
This recipe is awesome ! made it and brought to a halloween party and they devoured it , so so good!
I am so happy you loved! It is definitely one of my all-time favorite fall recipes 🙂
Tastes great! Reminds me of a pumpkin roll. I will make this again.
INSANELY GOOD. I substituted gluten-free flour for regular flour and it came out perfectly. It was so simple to make and is seriously delicious. Will be making this forever!!!!
Aw yay!!! I am so glad to hear that you loved it 🙂 it’s one of my all-time favorites!
I’ve made your recipe 3 times in the last two weeks and it is positively wonderful! Without the frosting the cake is perfectly moist and makes a delicious treat alongside a cup of chai, and with the frosting…we’ll, it’s on another level! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!
I am so glad you love it!! Such a great idea to have it unfrosted with coffee or tea 🙂 sound delicious! Thank you for the sweet comment!!
Can you sub brown sugar for maple syrup
Hi! I haven’t tried using maple syrup as a sub in this recipe but I feel like it would work! Let me know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
I subbed maple sugar for the brown sugar and only used a 1/3 cup. Turned out perfect!
So glad to know that worked well! I’ll have to try it next time 🙂 thank you!!!!
Am I able to sub out the oil for butter?
Yes!
Would butter work instead of oil?
Yes! 🙂
Have you ever tried subbing applesauce or DF yogurt in place of the egg? We have a lot of food allergies in our house, by doing a sub on the egg (and some others on the frosting), this would be safe for my family.
Hi there! I haven’t tried applesauce or yogurt but I bet a flax egg will work well. Let me know if you give it a try!
SOO GOOD! it did take a little longer to bake then expected. We only used 1/2 pumpkin purée and it still was really good
So glad you enjoyed!! xx
This turned out incredible and the icing truly makes it ❤️
I am so happy you loved! The frosting is my FAVE 🙂
This is sosososo delicious! For those wondering, I made it with normal flour and it was awesome!!
Yay! I’m so glad you loved!
hi! do you think this could be easily made into cupcakes? 🙂
Hi! Yes!! 🙂
Oh my – this was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
I am so glad you loved!! Thank you so much!
Can I substitute oat flour for this recipe? Thank you!
I haven’t tried this recipe with oat flour yet— let me know how it goes if you give it a try!! xx