Monday, April 21, 2014

Molasses Brown Sugar Chocolate Cupcakes


Happy late Easter!! Chocolate and Easter are two things that tend to go hand in hand, so how could I not make chocolate cupcakes for my family's Easter gathering? The dark richness of these cupcakes are complimented quite well by the very light meringue/marshmallow-y frosting, and I will say that I ate more than three :)



Molasses Brown Sugar Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields about 30

Cupcakes:

1 cup butter substitute

4 ounces semi-sweet dairy, soy, nut-free baking chocolate chips

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flower

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 overflowing tablespoon molasses

1 cup almond milk


Frosting:

{1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water}

1 cup brown sugar

4 egg whites

1 tablespoon vanilla extract



Directions:


Melt the butter substitute and chocolate together in the microwave.

In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and molasses together until smooth.

Add the cooled butter substitute/chocolate and whisk until smooth.

While still whisking, add half of the flour mixture, then half of the almond milk.

Repeat until everything is added. Stir until just combined

Bake on 350 for 18-22 minutes


Now for the frosting. This recipe for frosting was highly experimental, but why not, right? It can be hard to do a dairy-free frosting, so I'm always trying new things to see if I can make it better. This recipe is kind of a twist on a meringue, and it definitely sounds more complicated than it is, but give it a try!

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, whisk together the granulated sugar and water. Try to combine them as much as you can {whisk for about 3 minutes}.

Once they are fully combined, add the brown sugar to the pan and whisk it into the sugar water.  

Keep the sugar water at a medium heat {it will boil, and that's ok}, whisking occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes.

In the mean time in a large bowl with the electric mixer, beat the egg white until soft peaks are formed.  

Once the sugar water is done boiling {while still beating the egg whites}, slowly pour it into the meringue. 

*When the hot sugar hits the meringue, beat it in right away. If you don't, it will harden, and there will be sharp pieces of sugar in your frosting.*

Once all of the sugar is poured in, keep beating it for about a minute just to make sure you didn't miss any sugar.

Scoop the frosting into a piping bag, and pipe with a star tip.


I would love to pretend that the cocoa powder in the picture was a creative expression, but it's not. I was just being lazy. 

I left one cupcake un-frosted, crumbled it, and used it as a topping.



The frosting will feel like it got hard, but that is just the outside. Inside, the frosting will be light, fluffy, and wonderful, I promise. :)

Happy Easter everybody!!

Don't forget the real reason for Easter.


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Chocolate Avocado Cookies

...what?" (you may have just asked yourself), "avocado and chocolate and cookies? all together??? It's true, and they were actually quite delicious.



I've noticed this new thing where everyone tries to make everything as healthy as physically possible, so I thought I would jump on that bandwagon and give something different a try. Avocados are a really excellent substitute for things such as butter or any other paste (e.g. peanut butter, almond paste, etc.) because not only are they healthy, but they hardly have any taste. They also kept these cookies very chewy for as long as they stayed un-eaten, which was a huge bonus! 

Chocolate Avocado Cookies 

Yields 20+

2  avocados
½ cup dairy, soy free chocolate
1 tbsp coconut oil
¼ cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
3 eggs


In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, beat the avocados until smooth and whipped.

In a small bowl in the microwave, melt together the chocolate and coconut oil.

In another small bowl, sift together the cocoa powder and flour; make sure there aren’t any lumps!

Beat the chocolate mixture into the avocado. Once they are completely combined, add half of the cocoa powder and flour and beat in, then add one egg and beat it in. Add the other half and mix in, and then add another egg. 

Beat in the sugar, honey, and finally the last egg.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.


Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes


Honestly, these didn't spread half as much as I was expecting them to. The batter (dough? I don't even know), was very airy and not very solid, so I left a lot of space for them to spread out, but I was pleasantly surprised when they didn't. I guess that is just another beauty of baking with avocado.


Keep the cookies on the parchment paper but take them off of the baking sheet. Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment paper.

Remove the cookies from the parchment paper with a metal spatula and put them on a cooking rack. The cookies will be a little sticky, so it would be best to not stack them on top of each other...like I did in this picture here...



Haha I really didn't realize that this was my next picture when I wrote that you shouldn't stack the cookies. But when you stack them they stick together. Just so y'all know. 


These were definitely an experiment, but they were so good! I will definitely be making them again. I think next time I'll put dairy free chocolate chunks or chips in them too. 

Monday, April 7, 2014

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes


I think spring has officially sprung! It has here, anyway. It seemed for a while we would have one absolutely gorgeous day, and then the next morning out of no where we would get hit with a blizzard...silly New England weather! I made this recipe as a step of faith, praying that with these light, refreshing cupcakes would also come the warm days of spring. I'm pretty sure it worked {finger's crossed}, and I hope these cupcakes bring a little bit of spring into your kitchen, whatever season you happen to be in.



Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yields 24+


Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cup almond milk
4 egg whites
lemon zest from 2 lemons
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter substitute
1 tsp vanilla
lemon juice from half of a lemon


Frosting:

3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 tbsp vanilla
zest from half of a lemon
5 raspberries
2 tbsp almond milk


In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the almond milk and egg whites; set aside.

In a large bowl, use your {clean!!!} fingers to mix together the sugar and lemon zest. Mix until the sugar seems slightly damp and tinted a very very light yellow. 

Add the butter substitute and beat with an electric mixer until all of the sugar is combined, then add the vanilla and lemon juice.

While still beating, alternate adding half of the flour mixture, then half of the egg white/almond milk mixture until they are both completely combined. 

Fill cupcake cups halfway, and bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes.


For the frosting, sift the confectioner's sugar over the shortening a cup at a time, and beat until each cup is combined. 

Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and raspberries, and beat until the raspberries are split apart and evenly combined in the frosting. Add the almond milk to reach your desired consistency.

Pipe with a circle tip onto the cooled cupcakes.


The raspberries and lemon zest in the frosting give these cupcakes a really fun, interesting texture. Also, it makes them taste really good!!



Top with a raspberry, and enjoy your cupcakes!