Chocolate Vegan Spelt Cupcakes with Nut Butter Icing: Ancient Grain Goodness!

As I sank my teeth into my first moist bite of sweet, nutty chocolate bliss, I thought “these are so good, my children are going to slap me!” (get it, so good you wanna slap yo’ mama)  ooh okay, maybe jokes aren’t my strong suit, but today these treats are.  I love vegan chocolate cakes–they’re simple, always moist, and usually healthier with the add ins of fruit purees. refined sugar substitutes and ancient grains as opposed to plain white flour.  These cupcakes are moister than any boxed version (even with that sour cream trick–hmm-mmh!), healthier than your average cake recipe, and has a frosting that is all about the nuts!  If you don’t like chocolate, or nuts, please move on to another post (might I suggest my Almond Milk recipe–you nut hater).  I should be sleeping, or in the shower right now, but I can’t…I won’t…I have to finish one. more. cupcake!  I revamped the recipe I found here, which was already awesome, but I wanted to use ingredients of an even higher frequency!  So here is my recipe.  Oh by the way, don’t hate me over the icing, it’s actually a “recime” meaning, all measurements are approximate.  I just eyeballed and realized that there are no incorrect measurements when it comes to nuts and sugar.

Makes 1 Dozen Delicious Vegan Chocolate cupcakes

Wet Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetened or regular almond milk

1 tsp vinegar

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup of coffee (or just water, or more almond milk, but this is that oomph!)

1/3 cup safflower oil (coconut oil would probably be yummier)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup + 1Tbsp of Spelt Flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 cup coconut sugar

1/8 kosher salt (just a pinch!)

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Nutty Icing:

1/3 cup almond/walnut butter (or just plain almond butter, but I make a blend for the omega 3’s)

3 Tbsp Safflower Oil (again, coconut Oil would be yummier!)

1 cup or more of powdered sugar ( if you have regular organic sugar, or the raw kind, mill it with a little arrowroot or cornstarch to make your own powdered sugar)

2 tbsp or more almond milk

What we did:

Preheat oven to 375 C and line your cupcake tray with liners.

First, marry the almond milk and vinegar together to make a nice vegan buttermilk.  After a few minutes and it’s curdled a little, mix together this milk with your oil, vanilla, applesauce and coffee.  Mix well.

Sift all of your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Sifting is magic when it comes to baking.  After your dry ingredients are combined, gently add it to your wet mixture.  Mix until you have a beautiful, thick, chocolate liquid, without any lumps.  This doesn’t take long, just a minute or two.

Fill your lined cupcake tray about 3/4 full and bake for about 22-25 minutes.  My oven kind of stinks, so use your judgement on this one.  It seems i need to bake everything a little longer and on a higher heat.

Let them cool in the tray for about five minutes before you plop them out.  Then once removed, let them continue to cool while you whip up your icing.

For the icing: 

Mix together your nut butter, powdered sugar, oil and dash of almond milk.  Do a taste test.  The icing should take simply like sweet almond butter (or whatever nut you used).  If you want something more, try a dash of salt, some chocolate or cocoa powder, or cinnamon.  It’s your world, your taste buds and your creation!  I was in the mood for a simple, sweet nutty flavor on top of my chocolate mountain of bliss.  I’m glad I gave into my gut and went for this one.  The taste was so simple and perfect.

A professional Chef gave me the tip to add in the oil:  he explained it so educational and scientific (thank you David Ryals!), and unfortunately I’m not regurgitating his knowledge as eloquently.  Basically it helps with the moisture I think since the protein base sucks it out??  Not sure the exact baking chemistry, but it worked!  Coconut oil or even olive oil I think would have been even better, but safflower is what I had on hand today.

If you try this recipe, please make it your own and let your taste buds guide you…there is no right or wrong in the world of vegan treats.  But for the cake part, the measurements matter–chemistry people, yummy chemistry. 

Follow for more tips, recipes and veggie madness!  🙂

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