This gluten free pumpkin cake is super moist and surprising light. It’s the perfect fall-inspired dessert and sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
photos updated October 2017
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
This is my favorite gluten free pumpkin cake recipe ever. The first time I had this cake was our first Thanksgiving in our new house (several years ago).
Adam really wanted to have Thanksgiving at our house with his family and my family. Yes. That’s a lot of family.
In my house.
A month after we moved in.
So when Adam’s dad offered to bring a dessert I said sure, go ahead. (I’m usually the type to want to do it all on my own unless it’s my mom is bringing something.) Well that dessert turned out to be this spectacular pumpkin cake.
I’m so glad I said yes because I (and you!) would have missed out on this gem of a cake. If you love pumpkin recipes like I do, especially ones that are easy, then make sure to read on!
We used to make this with regular flour before Adam started eating gluten-free and it was an easy recipe to convert. It’s great when things work out like that!
This cake is so moist but not so moist where it’s almost too heavy/dense. It’s got the perfect cake texture – nice and fluffy!
And the frosting? It’s cream cheese. The best cream cheese frosting everrr, it’s so good – sweet and not tangy. Yum, yum annnd yum.
Tips for making Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake:
- Make sure to use an ungreased baking pan.
- Use granulated sugar for this particular recipe- not confectioners sugar!
- Let the eggs come to room temperature before making this recipe.
- Be sure the cake tester is inserted into the center of the baking pan. You can use a toothpick inserted as well.
- To help the cake cool faster, use a wire rack.
Toppings for Pumpkin Cake
I topped some of my slices with the candy corn pumpkins and some sprinkles. They’re not essential but I had them and thought they would be fun to add on top because both of my kids LOVE them. The sprinkles I used are gluten free (check your labels) but I don’t think the pumpkins are. So if you’re serving this to someone with Celiac Disease, don’t use them.
Just pipe on a little extra frosting or just serve it plain like I usually do (when I’m not styling it for pictures). If you want enough frosting for piping, be sure to make double the frosting called for in this recipe. Enjoy!
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Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 4 large eggs
- 1 15- oz can pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup avocado oil can sub canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if using regular all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the Frosting
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until combined.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix together.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour batter into an UNGREASED 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when poked.
- Cool completely.
- To make the frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over the top of the cake and decorate with gluten free sprinkles (optional).
Notes
- If you want a thicker layer of frosting or enough to pipe onto individual pieces like in the pictures, double the frosting recipe.
- I've tested this recipe with my Nightshade Free Gluten Free Flour Mix, my White Rice Gluten Free Flour Blend, and my Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix with great results.
- For dairy free frosting, use dairy-free cream cheese and 2 tablespoons shortening + 2 tablespoons vegan butter.
- Feel free to add a teaspoon (or more to taste) of pumpkin pie spice if you're looking for a stronger spice flavor. I choose to keep the spices on the simpler side for a more pronounced pumpkin flavor.
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
I love anything pumpkin! And, since my daughter is gluten free, I like that I don’t have to worry about her eating it when she visits.
She’ll love to share this with you! And nobody else in the family will know it’s gluten free 🙂
Another successful bake. Oh yummy!
Thanks Shay
I’ve made this recipe at least 5 times now and every time it’s a crowd pleaser. I always top mine with a dairy-free cinnamon buttercream frosting.
This cake is outstanding. I have made it 5 times since you reposted it in November. Several times I made it for large gatherings and everyone raved about it and could not believe it was GF because of the light and moist texture. I used the nightshade free flour blend and it is perfect. Thank you for creating recipes for baked goods that not only taste great but have a great texture, something I have been missing since going GF and nightshade free 5 years ago.
Thank you Cindy, so glad to hear how much you and your guests enjoyed it!
I made this yesterday for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! My Husband even commented that he would never have known it was gluten free! I will admit I cheated and bought store bought whipped cream cheese icing because of time but was still amazing. Definitely the most moist gf cake I have had yet. Thanks for a great recipe:)
Thank you Marisa!
I never leave comments or write reviews. But I just had to tell you how much I appreciate this recipe. I have made it several times since I became gluten free. Not only do I love it, but so does anyone that tastes it, whether they need to eat gluten free or not. It is moist, fluffy, and so tasty. The directions are perfect. Making it (again) for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and I can’t wait.
Thank you so much for the feedback Susana!
I made this for dessert tonight, I read all the comments and decided to use the Bob’s Red Mill flour blend it worked so well, cook time was exact, it came out lookin6 and smelling like a pumpkin cake, and oh my gosh did taste soooooo good, and moist.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you Erin!
I just made the cake with Bob’s Red Mill 1 -1 and it is super moist and the only pumpkin cake I will make from now on. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Could you make this with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour? I would need to purchase all the other ingredients and would like to use up the Bob’s first. Thank you
Yes you can, just omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe 🙂
Thanks so much for your quick reply. Happy baking!
Excellent recipe! I used your gluten free flour blend, and because we try to avoid sugar as well as dairy here I subbed in swerve (granular in the cake and powdered in the frosting) and did the dairy free version of the cream cheese frosting. Turned out fantastic!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Deb!
12/3/18 I made this cake a few days ago and just had to post a comment. It is so delicious, nice and fluffy and moist, a real nice treat with a cup of tea or coffee. I omitted the frosting, but added some mini dark chocolate chips in the dough, and I am very pleased with the taste..I made this for myself, and it is a lot of cake but I froze a lot of it. Next time I need to bring cake to an event I have a go to recipe that I’ve tried and tested. Thank you for creating this wonderful gluten-free treat!
Just baked this cake and it is DELICIOUS! I used Namaste Gluten-Free flour blend and it worked perfectly. I also substituted Xylitol to make this cake sugar free. This did not affect the results at all. The cake was very light & moist. YUM! Thank you for posting and sharing this recipe!
Thanks Shelley! How much Xylitol did you use?
I would like to try this in a sheet pan. Do you know if there is enough batter and won’t dry out?
Thanks!
Hi Kara, I haven’t tried it in a sheet pan so I can’t tell you for sure.
Made this cake for a party as a gluten free option and it was wonderful. Maybe even liked more than the other regular cake! I found that the baking time was much longer – around 50 minutes to be fully cooked. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it Laura! Baking time can definitely vary by oven 🙂
This was the easiest, most forgiving gluten free recipe ever. I love recipes formulated with all purpose flour, because then there aren’t five or ten bags of expensive flours sitting around in my pantry getting ancient. Don’t let the longish list of ingredients intimidate you. They are all logical and work as expected. It took perhaps five minutes tops to put this recipe together, and pop it into the pan. I do not have a state of the art mixer, just a fairly inexpensive stand mixer, but it works well and made short order of this recipe. The batter didn’t quite come to the halfway mark so I didn’t think it would rise that much, but it did! It was the highest, fluffiest gluten free cake ever! Maybe it was even the highest fluffiest homemade cake of any kind ever! It was like eating a cloud of cake. It was light but it held together perfectly. It didn’t fall apart as has happened with some expensive cake mixes and recipes. The texture is perfect. I have never in my life had such a moist delicious cake. It had a soft tender consistency. It holds up perfectly. This is day three and it is just as good as it was on day one. This recipe passed the family test. I made the cream cheese frosting too, because we love that. It added another dimension to an already amazing cake. We all had a big piece for dessert that night. My oven tends to run hot, so I baked it for thirty minutes and it was perfect. If you want a delicious super easy cake make this one. My husband and son who are not gluten free, eat gluten free at home, because I can’t have it in the house, or I have real problems. They loved this cake and they can eat any cake from anywhere, but I had to promise to make this one again. I didn’t decorate it with candies, but it looked really cute. I thought it was fabulous as is. The only thing I didn’t follow was a non greased pan. I am so used to having to grease pans that I did it reflexively. Since it already was a nonstick pan, that was nutty! I will say this was easy cleanup though. The cake slides right out of the pan. Perfect taste, perfect texture, perfect consistency. I love pumpkin and I will make this cake year round. It is that good.
Thanks for the great review of this recipe Marianne!
This looks like a keeper. There can never be too much pumpkin cake. It looks so moist and delicious. I still have some pumpkin in my cupboard, but am looking forward to stockpiling a lot more. This really makes me look forward to fall even more. I am going to bake one of these tomorrow, just because.
Mari, I guess there’s been a pumpkin shortage this year?! Hope you have enough in your cupboard in case the store doesn’t have any! And if you can find it, buy it all!
Thank you so much for being a part of our #PureBlogLove link parties in 2014 – We plan on seeing in the new year with a BANG this Thursday evening and hope that all our favorite bloggers will join us! No worries if you cannot make it that night, remember the party runs weekly, Thursday-Monday morning!!
made this a few weeks ago and it was delicious!!! 🙂
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it!
This looks delicious, I love the look of the icing. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
This looks so, so amazing. I can’t wait to give it a try! Thanks so much for sharing it at Savoring Saturdays! Hope to see you again this weekend!
It is an amazing cake! And it stays moist for daaays!
Your recipes are excellent and I have tried many of them. They are all great.
Thanks so much Evelyn, I’m so glad you enjoy them!! I love hearing from people after they try my recipes 🙂
Thank you for sharing your wonderful blog post with us at the #PureBlogLove recipe and DIY craft Link Party. I enjoyed dropping by and checking your blog post out and look forward to seeing you next week on Thursday at 8pm est- Sunday at midnight! Thanks again!
XoXo
Heidy L. McCallum
http://www.themccallumsshamrockpatch.com
Looks so yummy! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Thanks for pinning Stephanie!
It looks so fluffy and tasty! Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. All posts get pinned in our pinterest board! Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on culinaryflavors.gr ! I hope to see you there!
It’s very fluffy and moist! Thanks for pinning 🙂
Visiting from the Weekend Recipe Link Party… and OH MY GOODNESS, does this cake look mouthwatering! There’s something about pumpkin this time of year, and I’m crazy for any pumpkin dessert I can get my hands on. Pinned and hoping to make this soon!
Once October hits I’m crazy for pumpkin… I’ll be posting my third pumpkin recipe (this month!) soon lol
Oooh la la. That’s temptation right there. Ha ha.
It’s so worth it 😉
Pumpkin cake is something I’ve missed having to go GF for my son. This looks SO good! I’ll have to try this recipe soon. Thanks so much for linking up to SNF. 😀
Thanks Laura!
This looks really good! I put a link on my blog and plan to make this tomorrow. Thanks for posting.
Moe
http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/2014/10/pumpkin-fall-baking.html
Thanks Moe, let me know how you like it!
This looks so good and I LOVE cream cheese frosting. And the sixlets are such an inventive topping! I really appreciate how you make the recipes gluten free but tell us how to use regular flour, too. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks so much for the sweet words Jamie!
Your Pumpkin cake looks so moist and delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Hope to see you again real soon,
Miz Helen
Thank you!
I love how moist and delicious this cake looks! Aaanndd, I happen to have a jar of fall sixlets that will work perfectly with this cake!! 🙂
Thanks Renee! The sixlets are completely optional but are so fun!
This cake looks lovely! It’s so fluffy, and I love the bright little candies on top, they look so cute!
Thanks Stacey! We’re big fans of Sixlets 🙂
Nothing pairs better with pumpkin cake than cream cheese frosting! This cake looks so good!
I agree, it’s a fabulous combination!
This pumpkin cake looks totally so delicious, soft and moist. Wish I had a slice to devour right now.. it looks so good!
Looks so cute AND so delicious, Sharon! Thanks for sharing it on Gluten-Free Wednesdays! I always look forward to your submissions. 🙂
Shirley
Thanks so much Shirley!
ahhh this is SO cute! 😉 love it, sounds delicious!
haha thanks Michele!
OMGosh so yummy, have to make this 🙂
Thanks Alexis, you’ll have to let me know what you think!
This looks amazing!! Found your recipe at Tasty Tuesdays at the New Mrs. Adventures. I am one of the hostesses of Tickle My Tastebuds and would love you to stop by and link up this recipe if you have not yet already.
Lori
Thanks Lori, I linked up 🙂