Vegan Cupcakes

My friend Karen came over for lunch and decided to contribute to this week’s Vegan Week by making her own cupcakes. She said she made many varieties and then tweeked them to come up with this.

Now when I hear vegan cupcakes, I don’t get excited. I think of a dry, hard, crumbly, unsweetened blob of something resembling cake. But then you think vegan cupcakes are just dairy free. And that doesn’t sound nearly as scary. A lot of people eat dairy free cakes and such and a lot are really good. The recipe Karen used here was not resembling a chocolate cupcake, it was a chocolate cupcake.

Aya came home and gobbled one up and said, “What’s vegan about these? These are awesome!”

We loved them. I’ve had four today and have my eye on another one.

RECIPES:

Vegan Cupcakes

The dry:
1 1/2c flour
1/2c cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

The wet:
1 c sugar
1/2 c oil
1 c almond milk (vanilla)
1/4 c choc syrup (hersheys dark)
2 tsp vanilla

The activator:
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (do not sub regular vinegar)

375 oven
Prep pans/cupcake cups
Sift the dry
Whisk the wet
Slowly whisk the dry into the wet until thoroughly mixed
Mix in the activator
Bake immediately for best rising

Frosting:
Natural peanut butter
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
Almond milk
Dark chocolate chips, melted (Ghirardelli)