Gluten/Dairy/Soy Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

These were absolutely scrumptious!

So, last week was Valerie's b-day, and of course the privilege of providing the office with a refreshment was bestowed upon me (since no one else really wants to touch that with a ten-foot pole). So, the night before, I came home from work, frantic about finding an amazing recipe...and worrying because I didn't have any fave recipes coming to mind that I could recreate and share. So I was stuck starting from scratch.

Can I just say how much I love Collette! Seriously! You rock! And saved my butt! We at the office had been talking a few days prior to this event, and Valerie had mentioned how she loved pumpkin cookies.

So I did a search of the gluten free forum recipes for pumpkin, and found quite a few recipes. Except then I got to thinking about the fact that most cookies call for butter, no exceptions, and I wasn't really in the mood to be creative, and hope that butterless cookies would turn out perfect.

Enter Collette! I stumbled across her recipe for a pumpkin cake with a rum/maple glaze. Perfect, right? Except for the fact that I had no rum or maple...nor did I think the rum part would go down with the folks at work.

So I improvised a little. Omit the glaze, and add a bunch of delectable Enjoy Life chocolate chips! Definitely perfect! They all asked for seconds!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

adapted from recipe here.

2 c gluten free flour (I used 1 c white rice, 1/2 c tapioca, and 1/2 c sorghum)

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 c sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c pumpkin pie puree (I used the kind with spices already in it)

3 eggs

2/3 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake tins.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, vanilla, pumpkin, and eggs. Add dry ingredients to wet ones, mix well. Add chocolate chips.

Pour batter into cupcake tins (I filled them about 2/3 full), and bake for about 20 minutes. In my oven, this was perfect timing. Cupcakes do have a little spring in them when pushed on.

Let cool, then serve.

These totally rock when fresh from the oven as well! If you don't want to wait to enjoy them!