Chocolate Pumpkin Cakes

This is one of those recipes that you have to really try before you can believe it.  If you aren’t one to buy the almond flour or coconut flours online then this is a recipe made just for you! I enjoy these little cakes because it’s the one treat that my son actually really loves.  We can eat it together whenever we want.

Also, it’s made with pumpkin so it’s a fantastic source of magnesium.

It has insoluble SOLUBLE fiber (I always get those mixed up!) which is great, especially on a low-carb diet. Pumpkins might be my favourite vegetable in the world.  

Even before committing totally to low-carb eating I would use pumpkin like this for chocolate cupcakes.  This way is MUCH healthier though.  Previously I would use a box cake mix and pumpkin, a recipe by Hungry Girl, actually!

I was probably really hungry all the time too!  So adding in pumpkin doesn’t make it taste crazy weird or anything.  However we’re going to add peanut butter to this! And cocoa powder!

And it’s going to be so good and make you believe in magic again.  How can this possibly work??  Is it going to be gross?

No way! It’s so exciting.  A flourless chocolate cake that doesn’t require major baking skills with ingredients you can buy at any store that has an actual vegetable in it.  Unbelievable! I will make you a believer today.

The batter is so fluffy and very light in color. You can use any nut butter you want with this.  The original recipe (the link is no longer available) called for almond butter instead of peanut butter.  If you are going to make this for your kids though, or any picky eater, I would make it with the sort of nut butter they are familiar with.  My son does not like the no sugar added peanut butter I buy so I have to use Skippy All Natural.   You can make this in a square baking pan, in donut baking pans, as mini muffins, silicone baking trays…. any way you want!

I prefer them as donuts for the same reason I like using the donut pan for my pizza bagels.  It gives the cakes a nice crisp bottom.  It’s such a soft,  moist, delicate cake that the crisp bottom adds nice textural contrast.  Today I’m going to do them in a mini donut pan.  Chocolate baby donuts, I love you!

I had enough to make 24 mini doughnuts and 6 thin regular-sized doughnuts.  I think with mini donuts I could get 36 servings max.  Mini muffins would get 24 servings.  I will do the nutritional information based on 24 mini muffins and then leave the stats for the whole recipe so you can divide by the numbers you get. 

I have tried this so many ways but this basic recipe is truly the best.  I have tried subbing baking powder for baking soda and it 100% changed it.  I don’t know if I just didn’t add enough baking powder or what went wrong but it was not good!  This goes from a rich milk brown color to a darker chocolate cake brown while it’s baking and with baking powder that didn’t happen.  The texture was different and it tasted weird.

So be sure to use baking soda in the orange box and not the can stuff.  I melted some sugar free chocolate chips and added a tsp of coconut oil to make the drizzle.  That’s completely optional but it does add some nice flavor on top.  These are very moist the day of making but will become even more so the next day.