Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I f you had to pick your favorite foods, what would they be?

Let's say... top ten. Top five favorite foods would be too difficult, I think. If you could only have these ten food items for the rest of your life, what would they be?

I recently thought about this question myself.

10. Baja Chicken Gorditas with Fire Sauce
9. Croissants with Nutella
8. Peanut-Butter-Banana Oatmeal
7. Avocado
6. Cornbread
5. Sweet Potato Fries
4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
3. Mocha Lattes with Whipped Cream
2. Fried Okra
1. Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Hmm plenty of fried stuff and sugar on that list. I'm glad I don't really have to only eat those items, because I'm pretty sure I'd get the diabetes.

Let's see if I can get Eric and Hannah's top five favorite foods... maybe they'll comment and we'll see if I am correct.

Eric
5. Cornbread/Baked Beans
4. Burgers
3. Ribs
2. Pepperoni Pizza
1. Orange Chicken

Hannah
5. Ramen Noodles
4. Flamin' Hot Cheetos
3. Fries
2. Cashew Chicken
1. Sushi

Have I wasted enough of your time today? Okay then.



Two of my favorite foods are chocolate cake and avocado. I've seen various chocolate-avocado cake recipes around the web in the past. Joy's comes to mind. Her cake even has an avocado buttercream. Coooool.

Using avocado in a recipe to make it vegan is kind of brilliant. It has a neutral, buttery flavor that blends perfectly into a chocolate cake batter. No eggs or butter necessary.



Into my cupcake batter went flour, flax, avocado, brown sugar, oil, unsweetened chocolate and coconut milk. The frosting is made with Earth Balance, confectioners' sugar and unsweetened chocolate.

I put sprinkles on top. It just occurred to me that sprinkles may not be vegan. Whoops. But they might be. Who knows! It's one of the great mysteries of life.



These cupcakes are really good and rich, but not light and airy like a regular chocolate cake. These are more like soft brownie-cakes.

So here they are: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes for all you smokin' hawt vegans out there! You're fabulous! Keep doin what you're doin!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (By Me)
Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
3/4 cup mashed ripe avocado
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/3 cups coconut milk (or almond, rice, soy)

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup dairy free margarine spread (such as Earth Balance)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 muffin cups with liners.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; whisk in flax until combined. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together avocado, brown sugar, oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla until creamy - about 1-2 minutes; beat in 4 ounces melted chocolate until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with coconut milk, until well combined.

Divide batter into muffins cups. Bake 15-20 minutes or until well risen and slightly crackled on top. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a medium mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together margarine spread and confectioners' sugar until well combined - about 1-2 minutes; beat in 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and 2 ounces melted chocolate until well combined. Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes.

Makes 16 cupcakes