Chase is my best friend’s son. He’s five and my BFF – Stephanie – says her son doesn’t like chocolate. I’ve been besties with Stephanie since the first day we walked into kindergarten and we’ve always loved chocolate. I still fondly remember – which Steph when you read this am sure it will trigger fond memories – when we were 10 years old, we used you eat a slice of cold cheese pizza and a Little Debbie fudge brownie for breakfast….ah, to be a child of the 80s, when our metabolisms were as fast as Road Runner (see the 80s cartoon reference there…) and we knew so damn little about nutrition.
Any who… I was DETERMINED to win Chase over with our vegan + nut free double chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. And you know what …I did!
These are easy, delicious and don’t have any dairy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts or soy. With a little help from Enjoy Life’s mini chocolate chips and Hersey’s cocoa powder, these cupcakes are rich in a sophisticated way, while also light and airy. So, without any further ado, here’s the recipe.
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Chase’s Double Chocolate Nut Free Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cup cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (Unsweetened, we use Hersey’s)
- 1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini-chocolate chips we use mini chips over chunks, so the gooey chocolate flavor is nice and delicate and not overpowering
- 1/3 cup organic cane sugar
- 1/3 cup organic brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tsp tsp pure vanilla extract we use Trader Joe’s as it's allergy-friendly
- 1/3 cup cup canola oil or avocado oil
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
Vegan + Nut Free Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese we use Daiya plain cream cheese
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups organix powdered sugar I add in one cup at a time and taste test until it’s as sweet as needed
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a cupcake tin (I personally use a squirt bottle found here).
- In mixing bowl #1, mix all of your wet ingredients including the coconut milk, applesauce, canola / avocado oil, vanilla extract and white vinegar. Give it a good mix with your handheld mixer for about 1-2 minutes until there are no visible clumps.
- In mixing bowl #2, mix all of your dry ingredients, including flour, cocoa powder, cane sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix nicely with your handheld mixer – about a minute – so everything is nicely sifted together.
- What about the chocolate chunks – yes, I know, almost there.
- Combine bowl #1 with bowl #2 using your mixer, blend for about 2 minutes until nice and creamy…and now you may add in the cholate chunks. Just fold them in – you can use a whisk, fork – for 1 min.
- Take out your cupcake pan, scoop the batter into it – I like filling them up about ¾ of the way to the top so they are nice and flat. If you fill them to the top, they will round out making it harder to nicely smooth on the frosting.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes. To check if they are done, do the toothpick test. Take a toothpick and drop it into the cupcake; if it comes out clean with no batter then they are fully cooked.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, add the vegan cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract. Using your hand mixer, cream away until nice and smooth. Add in powdered sugar, cup by cup until it’s sweet enough for your liking (I tend to use 2 – 2.5 cups). Once your cupcakes, spread the frosting atop!
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