Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream and Pumpkin Syrup

I love all things Pumpkin Pie and I love Soy Lattes. So I created a cupcake in tribute to one of my favourite desserts and my favourite coffee drink. :)

Yes, these are 100% Vegan!!

I love Chloe Coscarelli's cupcake recipes and is my go to recipe every time.  Her cupcakes always turn out amazing and moist. Put's a smile on my face just thinking about them. This time I adapted her chocolate cake recipe. :)

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp espresso coffee grounds, very finely ground

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water (or cold coffee)

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 muffin pans with paper cups.
2. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a second bowl mix together water, vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, vinegar and vanilla extract.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix well, making sure there are no lumps, but do not over mix. Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes.
5. Fill lined cupcake pan to ¾ full and bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, transfer cupcakes to cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream, drizzle with pumpkin spice syrup and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Oh, and promise you won't eat them all in one sitting! :)

Vegan Cream Cheese Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) Vegan cream cheese, softened (Tofutti brand)

½ cup Vegan Margarine, softened (Earth Balance)

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3 cups icing sugar

Directions:

1. In a bowl, beat with an electric mixer, cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in vanilla.
2. Add in icing sugar a little at a time; continue to beat until you have the desired consistency for your frosting.  Place in fridge until ready to use. 

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

(from Cook Like a Champion)

Ingredients:

1½ cups water

1½ cups sugar

4 cinnamon sticks or 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 tbsp canned pumpkin

Directions:

1. Place sugar and water in a small pot over medium high heat, cook until all of the sugar has dissolved.
2. Whisk in the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, over a very slow simmer. Do not allow mixture to come to a boil.
3. Allow mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove cinnamon sticks and pour into a large jar or squeeze bottle.  Keep syrup in the fridge.

These are soo...good! We ate through them in one night. Yes, we felt bad after and all needed a huge glass of almond milk, but it was so worth it. :) YUM!!

Happy Baking!! :)