These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Nut Butter Cups are the second pumpkin and chocolate combo recipe I have made this year...so far!
You may have seen my Pumpkin Ice Cream and Brownie Parfait recipe that I recently posted and this is just a different version of the addictive combination.
They are like my Healthy Peanut Butter Cup recipe, but instead are filled with a creamy, sweet pumpkin center using homemade almond butter instead of peanut butter and then covered in chocolate.
I made them with a homemade chocolate that only needs 3 clean ingredients, but you could also use melted chocolate chips instead.
This healthy dessert recipe is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, no-cook, paleo-friendly and contains no refined sugar.
Want more healthy dessert recipes? Check out Pomegranate and Dried Blueberry Chocolate Bark, Almond Power Bars with Chocolate Topping, Healthy Holiday Fudge or my Clean Eating Cookbook with 3 entire chapters of healthy, clean eating dessert recipes just like this one that you will love!
5 Fast Facts About Pumpkin:
- high in beta-carotene
- full of iron, zinc and vitamin C
- rich in anti-oxidants
- 246% RDA of vitamin C
- good source of B complex vitamins
5 Fast Facts About Almonds (Almond Butter):
- helps to regulate cholesterol and blood pressure
- energy booster
- loaded with calcium and fiber
- 1/4 cup contains 8 grams of vegan protein
- high in anti-oxidants
5 Fast Facts About Maple Syrup:
- contains manganese and zinc
- super high in anti-oxidants
- helps with inflammation
- 1/4 cups contains more calcium than the same amount of milk
- 1/4 cup contains more potassium than a banana
5 Fast Facts About Coconut Oil:
- super high in lauric acid
- rich in antioxidants
- contains natural microbial and anti-bacterial agents
- helps to improve metabolism
- improves cholesterol levels
5 Fast Facts About Raw Cacao Powder:
- contains over 300 compounds including protein, calcium, copper, zinc and iron
- super high in anti-oxidants
- promotes cardiovascular health
- contains essential fats
- can help to decrease blood pressure
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Tip #1: The pumpkin center may be a little softer than the peanut butter center with the Healthy Peanut Butter Cups recipe because of the added pumpkin puree. The chocolate will get a little harder than the center, but just make sure you eat them or serve them straight from the freezer so they will be as hard as possible. If you leave them out at room temperature, not only will the center become softer, but the chocolate will too and you will have a big mess.
Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Nut Butter Cups
Prep
Inactive
Total
Yield 12 servings
Vegan / Gluten-Free / Dairy-Free / Egg-Free / Soy-Free / No-Cook / Paleo-Friendly / No Refined Sugar
Ingredients
For the pumpkin filling:
- 1 cup organic almond butter
- 1/4 cup organic pumpkin
- 1/4 cup organic maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons organic coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons organic pumpkin spice
- 1/4 teaspoon organic vanilla bean powder
For the chocolate topping:
- 1 cup organic raw cacao powder
- 1 cup organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
- 1/2 cup organic maple syrup
Instructions
For the pumpkin filling:
- Add all the ingredients for the pumpkin filling to a medium sized bowl and stir together until it is creamy and smooth.
- Adjust sweetener and/or spices to your preference.
- Set aside.
For the chocolate topping:
- Add all the ingredients for the chocolate topping to a medium sized bowl and stir until it's well combined and smooth.
Assembly:
- Place 12 standard size muffin cups on a baking pan or in a muffin pan.
- Add a spoonful of the chocolate topping to the bottom of each muffin cup. It should be enough to cover the bottom of each cup.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin filling to the center of the muffin cup, on top of the chocolate bottom.
- Add another spoonful of the chocolate topping on top of each muffin cup. It should be enough to cover the tops of the each cup.
- Place the baking pan in the refrigerator or freezer for approximately 30-60 minutes, or until they are hardened.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve because they will get soft if left out at room temperature.
- Enjoy!
Notes
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The recipe and photographs for "Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Nut Butter Cups" by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and cannot be used without my written permission.
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Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home™ website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based and Medical Medium® compliant recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.
Kerry folly says
I'm allergic to nuts.... I don't suppose you have any suggestions for a substitute? Many thanks k
Karielyn says
Hi there Kerry! I haven't tried this before but I bet sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) would be really good and that would work if you can have seeds (and like sunbutter).
Thanks for your question and I hope that will work out 😉
Teneko says
Hello there!
I used the 1 cup each cocoa / fat chocolate topping, so it looks like that's the post Nov 10th version.
After looking over your cups (both the original peanut butter and these pumpkin ones) vs. my results, I'm now almost sure that the issue is with the cup size. I loves me some good chocolate, but I ended up with basically thick chocolate "cookies" with pumpkin filling squishing out as soon as I took a bite. I think the ratio would have been fine if I'd used about 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate for the base and spread them out over 18-24 muffin cups instead, and execution would have worked better if the coconut oil was melted to mix in.
Those silicone cups you use are ever so cute! I'll have to get some. It'll be better than the horrid foil muffin tins I picked up in a hurry at the store.
Spice and sweetener substitutions were necessary because of what I had on hand, basically. I had no idea maple syrup would go bad. Eww.
Thanks!
Karielyn says
Hi Teneko! Thanks a bunch for updating me. Yes, those silicone cups are really handy and I like that they are reusable. They are fairly inexpensive too (about $8.00 or so for a set).
After making the pumpkin ones again (after I revised the recipe), I realized that they need to stay in the freezer much longer than I had originally listed for the pumpkin center to freeze completely.
The first couple of times I made them, the center was soft like you described, but I just couldn't wait any longer to take them out and eat them and they were fine to me.
But the last time I made them, I left them in for much longer and the centers got hard/solid so they just need to be left in longer.
After a little tweeking, I think they will be perfect.
Thanks again 😉
Teneko says
I recently found your site and have been enjoying a variant on your creamy jalapeno dressing. Looked for some pumpkin desserts and found these.
I just made them and have a couple observations.
First, I think my muffin cups are smaller than yours. I made a dozen, and had a bunch of pumpkin filling left over.
Second, I think the chocolate top part would have worked better if I warmed up the sauce just until melty. The chocolate solidified almost immediately when I started trying to spread it on top of my cold pumpkin cups, and I ended up with odd-shaped chocolate lumps on top instead of the smooth chocolate in your pictures. Maybe it's the coconut oil I'm using, or maybe it's the technique. 🙁 I haven't really used coconut oil much, but had some on hand for cooking "paleo pancakes" for my sweetie.
Ah Well. They look terrible, but taste great!
Substitution side note: I used light agave syrup for my sweetener, 1:1 ratio. Seemed to work a treat.
I also ended up using 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice + 1/8 teaspoon of cloves.
Karielyn says
Hi Teneko! Thanks so much for trying them out and for sharing your observations.
I had edited the recipe on November 10 and doubled the amount of chocolate topping ingredients because the recipe was making more pumpkin filling. If you pulled the recipe prior to November 10, that would be the reason you had extra pumpkin. But...if you pulled the recipe after November 10 and used the updated/doubled chocolate topping ingredients, please let me know. That would mean there is still some adjusting that is necessary.
I'm glad you pointed out the fact that the chocolate topping freezes immediately when you put it on the frozen pumpkin filling. It's because it solidifies as soon as it hits the cold pumpkin filling. I will update/edit the recipe to reflect that. You didn't do anything wrong here, I just failed to mention that part in the instructions.
I'm also glad to see you adjusted the sweetener and pumpkin spices to your preference...everyone's tastes are a little different so that's great you made the adjustments so you would enjoy them more.
Thanks again for taking the time to leave feedback, I really appreciate it 😉
tijya says
These look delicious. I think I have figured out my Thanksgiving contribution. Thanks!
Karielyn says
Hi Tijya! Yay! I'm glad you will give them a try.
I don't know if you'd printed the recipe yet, but I just made a correction for the amount of pumpkin to use. It should be 1 CUP of pumpkin, not 1 CAN.
Thanks and I hope you enjoy them 😉
Meg says
What size can of pumpkin did you use? We have several different sizes available here.
Karielyn says
Hi Meg! I'm ~so~ glad you asked that question because I went back and looked at my notes and it should be 1/4 cup of pumpkin. I used a 15 ounce can and had some leftover to use in another recipe.
I have corrected the recipe...thanks for letting me know 🙂