BlissfulBritt

When I first started to brainstorm what dessert I wanted to bring to this potluck, I knew I wanted to do something epic. Bigger and badder than the the rest. Something unique, something with an interesting ingredient, something with…beans. So that’s what I did. I made some black bean chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting, and they both failed so miserably. I salvaged the “cupcakes” and turned them into a brownie like mixture (waste NOT) but the frosting was toast. Into the garbage it went. Time to reevaluate.

I decided to go with a classic chocolate cake, and make a vanilla frosting. I’ve made vanilla frosting before with Earth Balance vegan butter and it was delicious. I didn’t have enough on hand and decided to test the Gods by using coconut oil instead. Mistake number two. I knew coconut oil with a vanilla frosting tasted like..well..coconut oil. I love coconut oil as much as the next vegan, but I don’t enjoy the flavor of it on it’s own. Frosting number two down the drain. I was starting to loose my patience, but I had to finish these.

Finally, I decided to top my classic chocolate cupcakes (which turned out GREAT) with a classic chocolate frosting. OH and a homemade PB cup. After a 9 mile run in the hot sun, and 3 hours of baking in a hot kitchen, I was more than willing to stick with a classic. I’ll get wild in my kitchen another time.

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

For the cake:

• 1 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. In a bowl whisk together the almond milk and the apple cider vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to allow to curdle. While you wait for the mixture to curdle, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.

Once your mixture is curdled, pour in the sugar, melted coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix together until foamy. Once foamy slowly pour (in two batches) the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until there are no visible lumps. Evenly distribute the mix into 12 cupcake liners. The liners should be about 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

I mentioned earlier that coconut oil does not work well with vanilla frosting. It does however work with the chocolate. The cocoa powder is strong enough to overtake the flavor of the coconut oil.

In a medium-large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, mix the powdered sugar with the coconut oil. Add the almond milk, cocoa powder and vanilla, and continue to mix until smooth.

For the PB cups I simply melted some chocolate chips and lined the bottom of a small cupcake liner. I stuck the base layer in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Then I put a layer of peanut butter (fresh ground works the best to bind the chocolate together) and put back into the freezer for 20 minutes. Lastly, I melted more chocolate chips and covered the top. No measurements with this, I just eyeballed. If you make too much…who am I kidding there could never be too much.

These cupcakes were shared by many, including Megan when we had our blogger meet up! Her birthday was two days after our meet up so I baked these for her to drown her sorrows in..she turned a quarter of a century! Kidding…

This post is one of many in a virtual potluck, to see more vegan treats visit the blogs before and after mine by clicking the buttons below.