I shared this epic cake last fall and I still think it might be the BEST dessert you could eve make this season. With all of the epic cake recipes I have on the site (hiii peanut butter banana cake) you know ya girl had to throw down.
This incredible healthy pumpkin cake is perfectly moist thanks to my fav siggi’s pumpkin & spice yogurt, filled with cozy pumpkin pie spices and just so happens to be gluten free and naturally sweetened.
Mind-blowing? I mean, just LOOK AT IT. Fluffy and delicious with a thick cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I tested this one for you quite a few times, so trust me when I say this one is pumpkin perfection. You know the drill: bake this beauty up, snap a photo and let me see your cake creations on social.
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What makes this pumpkin cake “healthier?”
I lightened up this pumpkin cake with a few ingredients you can feel good about. Don’t worry, it tastes just as indulgent as it looks!
- Gluten free. We’re using a mix of almond flour and oat flour to keep the pumpkin cake more nutritious and also gluten free (GF friends rejoice!). Please know I haven’t tested it with other flours.
- Naturally sweetened. This cake is naturally sweetened with unrefined sweeteners like coconut sugar and pure maple syrup to give it a wonderful flavor.
- Filled with vitamins. We’re using pure pumpkin right in the batter of this cake, which gives it a boost of vitamin A and C, fiber plus antioxidants.
Everything you’ll need to make this healthy pumpkin cake
Whenever I say “the best” I really mean it! Not only is this gluten free pumpkin cake loaded with pumpkin pie spices and flavor, but it’s also made with ingredients you can feel good about. Win-win-win. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Pumpkin puree: be sure to use 100% pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. It gives the cake plenty of moisture and wonderful pumpkin flavor, plus it’s easy to make yourself with our helpful tutorial here!
- Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs in this cake recipe.
- Sweetener: as I mentioned, we’re naturally sweetening the pumpkin cake with coconut sugar and some pure maple syrup. Don’t forget the vanilla extract, too.
- Yogurt: the key ingredient to super moist pumpkin cake is yogurt! I love it with siggi’s Pumpkin & Spice flavor. It’s SO delicious and adds a wonderful boost of protein. Their vanilla flavor would also be perfect!
- Coconut oil: for a little extra moisture you’ll also need some melted coconut oil.
- Flour: we’re keeping this healthy pumpkin cake gluten free with almond flour and oat flour. Best combo.
- Spices: get that true, cozy fall flavor with pumpkin pie spice! See below for tips on making your own.
- Baking staples: you’ll also need baking soda & salt.
- For the frosting: fall in love with this luscious cinnamon cream cheese frosting made with cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and a little milk to thin it out.
Make your own pumpkin pie spice
Don’t have any store-bought pumpkin pie spice? It’s so easy and fun to make on your own! Simply add the following to the dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice or ground cloves
Customize your pumpkin cake
As always, I recommend baking up the recipe as-written, but here are a few simple ingredient swaps that will still make this healthy pumpkin cake delicious:
- Swap your sweetener. Feel free to use brown sugar for the coconut sugar and honey for the maple syrup.
- Skip the coconut oil. You can also use melted butter or vegan butter instead of coconut oil in the cake.
- Keep it dairy free. I’ve actually tested this pumpkin cake using the siggi’s plant based cups and it worked amazingly well (vanilla and cinnamon was perfect). Then be sure to use dairy free cream cheese and vegan butter in the recipe.
- Try it vegan. I think that 2 flax eggs should work well in this cake but please note that I haven’t tested it. Let me know in the comments if you do, and then follow the instructions for keeping it dairy free, too!
A note on flours
I would not recommend substituting the almond flour or oat flour in this gluten free pumpkin cake as the texture will change. Good news: you can make your own oat flour right at home! Check out our full tutorial and measure out 1 cup.
The best healthy pumpkin cake made in one bowl
- Prep your pan. Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper and spray it with nonstop cooking spray.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl mix all of the wet ingredients together (except the melted coconut oil) until smooth. Mix in the melted and cooled coconut oil last.
- Add the dry. Mix in all of the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth and combined.
- Bake it up. Pour the pumpkin cake batter into your prepared pan and bake it up!
- Cool, frost & devour. After the cake has cooled, beat together all of the ingredients for the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Frost the cooled cake, sprinkle a little cinnamon on top, slice and enjoy!
Essential cake-baking tips
This gluten free pumpkin cake is easy to make right in one bowl, but I also have a few essential tips & tricks to ensure that it comes out perfectly every time:
- Use room temp ingredients. Be sure that your eggs are room temperature and your coconut oil is cooled before you mix the wet ingredients together otherwise the cold eggs will coagulate with the hot coconut oil. Simply run your eggs under warm water for a few minutes to bring them to room temp. This goes for the cream cheese and butter in the frosting, too, so that you can easily beat it together! Do not microwave the butter or cream cheese or it will ruin the frosting. Simply set out the ingredients before you begin baking your cake and by the time it’s done baking and cooling they’ll be ready to go!
- Pack your almond flour. That’s right, you’ll want to pack the almond flour just like you would with brown sugar, No need to pack the oat flour.
- Cool the cake. Before adding that fluffy cream cheese frosting, be sure that your cake is completely cooled otherwise the frosting will melt on top.
How to store & freeze this pumpkin cake
- To store: feel free to keep the healthy pumpkin cake at room temp for one day. After that, I recommend storing the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: feel free to freeze this cake either frosted or unfrosted for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing it unfrosted for best results. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and then place the pumpkin cake in a zip-top freezer bag. When you’re ready to serve it, simply thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, let the cake come to room temperature, frost it and serve it.
Tools you’ll need
Check out all of our favorite kitchen essentials here.
More fall treats you’ll love
- Brown Butter Apple Coffee Cake
- Salted Maple Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Best Healthy Apple Crisp Ever!
- Grain Free Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Get all of my dessert recipes here!
I hope you love this healthy pumpkin cake! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Blow Ya Mind Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (gluten free!)
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup (244g) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup (77g) coconut sugar (or sub brown sugar)
- ¼ cup (78g) pure maple syrup (or sub honey)
- 1 (5.3 oz) container yogurt (I like siggi's 2% pumpkin & spice or 0% vanilla)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (56g) virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled (or sub melted butter/vegan butter)
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (168g) packed fine blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (92g) oat flour, gluten free if desired
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
- 4 ounces (112g) cream cheese (or dairy free cream cheese), at room temperature
- ¼ cup butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (88g) powdered sugar (add an extra ¼ cup if you like a sweeter frosting)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2-3 teaspoons milk of choice, to make creamy and spreadable
- To garnish:
- Extra cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add pumpkin puree, eggs, coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, siggi’s yogurt, vanilla extract to a large bowl and whisk together until well combined. Finally stir in melted and cooled coconut oil until well combined.
- Next, add dry ingredients: almond flour, oat flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- To make cinnamon cream cheese frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk together on medium speed for a minute or until smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle a little dusting of cinnamon on top to make it extra pretty. Cut the cake into 12 slices and enjoy! Cake should be stored covered in the fridge after a day or so.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by The Mindful Hapa
I am wondering if I can use an all purpose GF baking flour like King Arthur’s measure to measure flour…for the whole recipe. I don’t have any almond flour in the house presently…let me know. Thank you!
I can’t recommend a flour swap in this cake – sorry! Almond flour has much different baking properties than a GF all-purpose flour.
Wow. Good news, I made it and everyone loved it so much. Bad news, it was all gone in 1 day so have to make more. I did swap out oat flour for regular plain flour and it was amazingly soft, fluffy, decadent, moist, beautifully satisfying. Just the right sweetness. The right amount of cream cheese frosting. Amazing 👏 one of my Fave cakes I ever made in my life. I also did plain yoghurt and did 1tsp of allspice, 1.5tsp Cinnamon, 1tsp Nutmeg and 1 tsp ground Ginger…. perfect amount of spices. I like some crunch so going to add maybe pecans in my next one.
So happy to hear that! Perfect treat for sharing 🙂
It definitely was a “blow your mind” cake! Delicious!
So glad you loved it!!
This recipe has been a fall/winter staple in my home since 2021. I make a few adjustments to the sugar just for preference. I cut the sugar in the cake down to 1/4 C (I keep the maple syrup as is) and I cut the sugar in the icing down to 3 TBSP. Yes… 3 TBSP. And it is perfectly sweet, My family agrees that any sweeter would not feel good. Everyone loves this cake! Try it less sweet, I bet it will do the trick! Thank you Mon, I love love love your site and your book.
Great tips – I’m glad it turns out beautifully with your adjustment! So happy to hear you’ve been loving the cookbook, too 🙂
Perfectly spiced, moist, and the kids can’t tell that it is healthy! Super quick and easy to make too. I’ll definitely be making it again.
Perfect treat for kiddos (and the whole family!)
I have been craving pumpkin cake, and this one is fantastic! Very moist and flavorful. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of the Siggi’s. It was still good. Loved the frosting too.
Perfect! So happy you loved it!
Just tried a piece of this cake that my daughter made and it’s one of the best pumpkin cakes ever! She used Kite Hill cream cheese which made the frosting so creamy and light and the texture of the cake was so dreamy. Will be making it very soon…like maybe tomorrow! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
So happy to hear that! One of our favorites for fall 🙂
First, I love a lot of the recipes I find here. I’m an experienced baker, and I’ve run my own catering business for 10yrs. I personally follow a very restricted diet. I bent the rules a bit on this, allowing myself a little oat flour. The cake is moist. I’m surprising myself by admitting it’s not quite sweet enough—I’m a 90% chocolate girl, so I’m not used to much sugar. I also am used to baking with only unrefined sugars, so that’s not the issue here. We also found this to be bland. I would recommend at least a teaspoon more pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon. I made my own powdered sugar with date sugar and tapioca starch, and that worked beautifully. Some salt in the icing is helpful. With some tweaks, I think this could be very good, but as-is, it’s missing the mark.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t love this one! I’ve always found that the mix of coconut sugar and maple syrup gives this plenty of sweetness.
Hi Monique! Do you think this would work as muffins?
Hi! Yes, it should!
would I be able to just use AP flour?
I wouldn’t recommend it – sorry! The texture will be much different.
Hello,
Can i make this without the sugar and increase the maple syurp from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup. Siggi’s pumpkin yogurt is not available where i live.
What would you recommend Siggi’s 3.25 MF% vanilla cinnamon (non-plant based) yogurt or 0%MF Oikios sugar free high protein yogurt?
Could i add chopped pecans instead of chocolate chips?
Also could this be pour into 4 loaf tins (my loaf tins are deeper than the usual mini loafs), and if so should the baking time be adjusted.
Thank you
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend omitting the sugar completely as I’m afraid the texture might change. Feel free to use any yogurt you’d like, and yes, pecans will work! What are the dimensions of your loaf tins?
Hi, just noticed you have a cup of pumpkin puree weighted at 61 g. I don’t think this is accurate!
Thank you for the catch! We’ve updated the recipe.
Hey there, just a quick note to say I believe there is a typo: 1 cup of pumpkin puree is more like 250 grams not 61. thanks for a yummy recipe!
Wow! Soooooo good! The cream cheese frosting makes this cake next level. I left it out frosted last night, is it safe to leave it out frosted for 1 day?
So glad you love this! I’ve done that before and it was fine, but with the cream cheese you should technically refrigerate and not keep it out for more than 2 hours!
this is amazing- moist and tasty! didn’t make the frosting because i didn’t have the ingredients but really enjoyed it without. Used vanilla silk ND greek yogurt, gluten free oats that i ground up and brown sugar. Thank you!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
SO GOOD! This will truly blow ya’ mind. I typically don’t like anything pumpkin, but I am so glad I gave this a try. (I added a scoop of protein to the batter and subbed the butter in the frosting for Greek yogurt to make this more of a breakfast cake)
So happy you tried this one, too! A breakfast cake sounds perfect 🙂
YUM! The cake didn’t have time to cool. Everyone enjoyed it including the youngsters. I pressure cooked a butternut squash, cooled it and measured out 1 cup. With Gluten free baking I tend to measure by weight but the suggested weight for the pumkpin pulp didn’t seem quite right so I used the volume measurement (1 cup). This recipe is a winner! Love it. Will be making again and again! Thank you!
Amazing! Glad everyone loved it!
Hi! Is there an easy substitution for the oat flour?
Hi! Unfortunately, no, I can’t recommend a sub for the oat flour.
I had a very specific hankering for a moist but light pumpkin snack with a cream cheese swirl that could utilize oats and protein powder in the ingredients. No recipe I found was really hitting the mark…until now. This recipe was a god send and an absolute perfect base for the frankenstein creation I ended up making. I am sure the recipe as written is fantastic, I wanted to make note of the substitutions I made because I did see several folks asking about almond flour alternatives.
1. Did not have almond flour, ended up subbing 1.5c almond flour with 1c whole wheat and 1/2c whey protein powder (oatmeal cookie flavor from Aldi). This of course does not make it GF anymore.
2. Subbed maple syrup for 1/4c molasses (I did not want much sweetness)
3. Made my own spice mix to taste (I like pumpkin SPICE). Added turmeric for color.
4. 4oz cream cheese + 1/4c protein powder + 4tbsp water for c cheese swirl, added in 2 layers pre bake.
It came out light and moist, spiced and soft, thank you for this recipe!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great treat 🙂
My mind is blown! I made this as cupcakes and they are delicious. You would never know in a million years that they are gluten free. They are so moist and flavorful. I will definitely be adding this recipe to my rotation.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed!
Loved that this was a gluten free and not overly sweet. I had leftover pumpkin puree and cream cheese and this recipe was perfect since I had almost all of the ingredients already minus the yogurt and oat flour which I subbed for sour cream and bobs gluten free flour. Still came out tasting great with and without the frosting! Excited to try this recipe again with the siggi yogurt.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
This is my new favorite cake!! The flavor is amazing and I love the texture too.
This is delicious! Very easy to make and disappears quickly!! Tinned pumpkin can be tricky to find in the UK but I’ve managed to made this cake twice in one week – once for Thanksgiving with the yummy frosting and once without the frosting as a cake with a cuppa. Gorgeous!!
I’m so happy you’re loving this cake, Michele! Thank you!!
I make a different pumpkin bread / cookie / muffin pretty much every weekend from September through November, and have to say that this one really did blow my mind. It is terrifically moist and nicely spiced. Delicious. This will be put into the permanent rotation!
I’ve made this recipe several times already! I have been cutting the sugar back and then baking in muffin trays for 23 minutes. No frosting needed for a breakfast muffin 👍 delicious on their own. So moist!
Perfect! So glad to hear you’re loving this recipe and it turned out amazing for you!
Can I use truvia instead of other sweeteners?
It might alter the flavor but it should work. Just make sure the swap is equal parts, i.e don’t swap granulated sugar for liquid. Let me know how it turns out.
I made this the other day and followed the recipe exactly, except I only had plain lowfat yogurt. It was fabulous! Just as delicious and moist on day three as on day one and I will make it again. I had some toasted pepitas and I put them right on top of the frosting for the “extra health.” Thanks!
YUM! Glad you loved this cake an it turned out amazing of you!
If I doubled this recipe, do you think I could make it into a triple or double layer birthday cake?
I don’t see why not! Can’t wait to hear how it works out for you 🙂 Enjoy!
I was very disappointed with this cake. First, I had to bake it for 45 minutes and it was still a little raw. Second, the cake was very grainy and didn’t look like the picture. I feel like I wasted my ingredients.
Oh no – I am so sorry to hear this recipe did not turn out for you. Did you change anything about the recipe? What type of pan did you bake it in?
Thanks for this recipe! This was amazing! We literally ate the whole thing in a day. Even my 16 month old baby enjoyed it a lot.
Aw yay! I am glad this recipe is a hit, Mina. Thanks so much for sharing your review, I appreciate it!
I’ve tried this recipe before and I loved it .Could I use dare syrup in place of the maple?
This looks delicious and I will likely give it a go when I get some yogurt. I have enjoyed other recipes from your site, but I would really like to see measurements for all flours and sugars (other than white granulated sugar) in grams or ounces. When I see ‘packed almond flour’ it makes me reluctant to try a recipe. I realize not everyone has or wants to use a scale, but there are many of us who would like to have the option. Thanks for a your site which has many delicious items!
This cake is truly amazing! It has the perfect amount of spice and is so moist and delicious. I found that the cake took much longer than 40 mins to bake in the center- I lost track of the total time but it was over an hour. And for frosting I made the frosting from Monique’s gingerbread cake recipe, but made it dairy free by swapping out the cream cheese for two spoonfuls of dairy free yogurt (only because I made it recently and it turned out so perfectly). Thank you for a wonderful recipe! Will definitely be making again!
Absolutely! SO glad you found this one and are loving it ❤️🙂
I LOVE this post. Very interesting info! Perfect just what I was looking. Nice PICS. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank You !!!
Thank you so much!
What would you recommend using in place of the eggs to make this vegan?
I think that 2 flax eggs should work well in this cake but please note that I haven’t tested it.
I think it is an amazing recipe to share with my kids! They usually don’t like pumpkin,, but they will sure love it this time…
Thanks so much! Hope you all enjoy! 😊
Just make this cake!! It is so good, I’ll be making it for all my fall gatherings and friendsgiving
YAY! SO happy to hear you are loving this recipe ❤️
I just made this cake last night. I can’t wait to try it later today! I loved that it was easy to make and cleanup was a breeze since it was pretty much all made in one bowl.
YAY! Can’t wait to hear how much you love this recipe, Toni. It is SO good! ❤️