Vegan Low-Fat Chocolate CupCakes

Since it is New Years Eve and I am in the mood for something decadent, I whipped up a quick batch of Low-Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes this morning from a recipe I have been dying to try. The recipe is from a bakery in Boston that I love called Flour.  The owner, Joanne Chang, recently released a cookbook with a collection of recipes from the bakery that are pretty phenomenal (although not all Vegan-friendly).

While the original recipe I followed is for a 6 inch cake, I made 8 cupcakes from the batter instead and just adjusted the cooking time.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup unbleached cane sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. instant espresso powder

1 cup water
¼ cup Canola oil
1 t. vanilla
2 T unsulfured light or dark molasses

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (if desired)

Directions:

Line a muffin pan with 8 liners and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk well to combine. Pour batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

And because I just couldn’t help myself, I made a quick batch of Kim Barnouin’s Peanut Butter Frosting to top them off. 

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
2 cups (200g) confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup (65g) organic creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk

Directions:
Using an electric mixer, beat together the confectioner's sugar and the peanut butter in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the vanilla and almond milk, and beat an additional two minutes.