Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes

I simply cannot believe I haven't blogged about these cupcakes yet. They are the very first vegan item I made...we were still out in Japan and I decided to give them a try. Once I made them and realized how amazing they were, I realized living a vegan lifestyle and still eating delicious food can go together!

These cupcakes are not too sweet, super moist, dense, and topped with a crazy icing. You're probably going to make a face at the list of ingredients, but I promise you, these might just be some of the best cupcakes you've ever had. *I know I say that about all the cupcakes I make, but it's true. Trust me.



Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Cupcake:
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Special Dark cocoa powder. Yum.)
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
1 cup pure maple syrup
¾ cup plain soymilk
¹⁄3 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
¼-14 ounce block soft silken tofu, drained and patted dry
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
¹⁄8 tsp salt
4 ounces semisweet vegan chocolate, melted

1. To make Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Purée avocado in food processor until smooth. Add maple syrup, soymilk, oil, and vanilla, and blend until creamy. Whisk avocado mixture into flour mixture.

2. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake cups. Bake 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached. Cool.

3. To make Glaze: Blend tofu, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt in food processor until smooth. Add chocolate to tofu mixture and blend until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Dip tops of cupcakes into glaze, pulling straight up from glaze to form peaks.



So I usually don't put up the nutritional value for desserts because they're desserts! It's an indulgence! I'm just going to show you a little somethin-somethin: Here is the same recipe, only using eggs, milk, and frosting made with powdered sugar:



Note the difference here:

Calories +111
Fat +1.9
Saturated Fat +2.4
Cholesterol +42
Sodium +28
Carbohydrates +23.7
Dietary Fiber -1.2
Sugars +27.4

So you can see that almost everything goes up when you add your eggs and milk and sugar...except for your dietary fiber, which isn't a good thing, and although there is more vitamin A in your traditional cupcakes, there is more Calcium, vitamin C, and Iron in the vegan cupcakes. Just thought I would point those things out and give you a little something to ponder.

If you have any ripe avocados around and you're not sure what to do with them, I double-dog dare you to give these cupcakes a try. You will be amazed. Happy Thursday!