Sweet Pea Baking Company's Vegan Pumpkin Bottoms

I hate pumpkin pie, but I don't hate pumpkin baked goods. Still not my favorite, but these are pretty tasty. So many people love pumpkin--especially in the fall--that I feel I must have something pumpkiny in my arsenal for festivities. I made the mini-muffin version of these, because people like little bites at parties (so they can try more desserts of course). The only thing I would change is to add something to the top. Maybe some vegan cream cheese frosting or drizzle some melted vegan chocolate on top. Yum.

Sweet Pea Baking Company's Vegan Pumpkin Bottoms

Cake batter:

1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
½ cup canned pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
4 ounces (½ tub) Tofutti cream cheese (non-hydrogenated)
¼ cup sugar
2½ teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (or 1½ teaspoons cornstarch)
¾ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate with fine pieces sifted out)

Make the batter: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, pie spice and ginger together in a large bowl. Add the water, oil, pumpkin and vanilla and whisk until the batter is smooth.

Make the filling: In a food processor (or with a mixer in a pinch), blend the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the egg replacer, vanilla, lemon zest and salt and let the food processor run for a minute, until the mixture is smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard-size muffin tin with muffin cups. Fill each cup with 2 tablespoons of pumpkin batter. Drop 1 to 1½ tablespoons of the filling into the center of each and then top with the remaining pumpkin batter (about 1 heaping tablespoon on each). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the pumpkin part of the cupcake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Note: You can also make these in a mini-cupcake tin, filling each cup with 1 tablespoon pumpkin batter and 1 teaspoon of the filling and topping with the remaining pumpkin batter. Bake them for 15 minutes, checking with toothpick for doneness.