My baby, no scratch that, my big kid turned four this week! Four! Where has the time gone? It is one of those parenting mysteries that I can’t figure out, but also one that I am trying to enjoy as much as I can. To celebrate her birthday and the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday, we made mini-cupcakes together. Since a kid in her class is a vegan I was presented with the challenge to create a tasty cupcake that did not include any butter, milk or eggs as well as a dairy-free icing. I scoured the web and found various recipes that sounded good but I wasn’t sure how they would stack up and bake given that it was my first time making a cupcake of this nature. With my little (I mean big) kid helping me out we created a combination of a recipe from Chow.com and a variation of an icing recipe that I have used for years. The result was a delicious dairy-free cupcake that we loved making just as much as we loved eating. Enjoy!
Almond Chocolate Cupcakes
Yield: 12-15 cupcakes
Variation from Chow.com
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with muffin cups.
- Beat together the almond milk with the sugars, oil and extracts. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the mixture into the liners and bake for 20 minutes.
- Frost when the cupcakes are completely cooled down.
Vegan Frosting
Ingredients:
- 1 cup shortening – I used Earth’s Balance (I normally use regular butter)
- 3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted if clumpy
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup almond milk (I normally use whole milk)
- Rainbow sprinkles, optional
Directions:
- Add the shortening to a pot. Turn on the stove and let it melt.
- Remove the pot from the stove and add the shortening to a bowl. Add the sugar to the shortening and mix everything together. Add the almond milk and extracts and whip everything together until it is fluffy.
- Let the frosting set and slather it on the cooled cupcakes. (If the cupcakes are warm, then the frosting will melt on them!). Add décor such as sprinkles (optional).
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