Vegan Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes
- Yield: 12 pieces
Ingredients
- 1 1/2cups gluten-free flour mix
- 1/2cup granulated sugar
- 1/4cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2teaspoon salt
- 1/3cup coconut oil, melted
- 2teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4cups almond or rice milk
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- Frosting
- 1/4cup dairy-free margarine, softened
- 1 1/2cups powdered sugar
- 1-4tablespoons almond or rice milk, as needed
- 1/2teaspoon vanilla extract
- Gel food coloring (optional)
- 4ounces vegan chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
Method
- Preheat oven to 350f., and line one cupcake pan.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and stir in the ground flax.
- Mix the wet into the dry, stirring until the batter is smooth – because these cupcakes are gluten-free, you don’t have to worry about over-mixing the batter.
- Scoop into the lined cupcake pan, filling each liner almost all the way to the top. Tap the pan firmly against the counter 2-3 times to knock out any air-bubbles, and bake on the center rack for 22-26 minutes, or until just firm on top.
- Remove from oven, and let cool 3-5 minutes before removing from the pan, and allowing to cool the rest of the way.
Frosting
- While the cupcakes cool, cream together the margarine and 1 TBSP of almond or rice milk. At low speed, ad the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Adjust the consistency of the frosting by adding more milk, or more powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla, or other flavoring.
- For my cupcakes, I separated my frosting into two bowls and colored one orange using gel food coloring.
- For decorating, melt 4oz. vegan chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. To make my chocolate darker, I added a small amount of black gel food coloring (be sure to use gel, or paste, coloring – not regular liquid food coloring, as it may cause the chocolate to seize up). I then poured the melted chocolate into a piping bag (or you could use a zip-top bag with a small corner snipped off) and piped my designs onto the cupcakes. Get creative and make your cupcakes your own!
Recipe and photo courtesy of Willow Arlen, photographer and food-blogger behind the site Will Cook For Friends – a blog dedicated to creating and sharing delicious from-scratch recipes made with whole, healthful ingredients. Find more at www.willcookforfriends.com
