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Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes (V/GF)

The perfect holiday cupcake topped with a peppermint flavored frosting that's made with natural homemade food dye! 

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12 -16 cupcakes
Author Bunny

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 cup beet sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil (cooled down to room temperature)
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered beet sugar *see notes
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 small-medium sized beet, skins removed (for pink coloring)

Instructions

Cupcakes

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake tins with paper liners (enough for 12 cupcakes). Set aside.

  2. In a bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside.

  3. In a separate large bowl, beat together with an electric mixer all of the wet ingredients until smooth. 

  4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix together until combined. Don't over mix! 

  5. Scoop batter evenly between the individual cupcake liners. Fill them 2/3 of the way full, leaving enough room for them to rise while baking. You may have extra batter to make a few extra cupcakes. 

  6. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and they're firm, yet bounce back when you touch them. Mine are perfect at 22 minutes. 

  7. Let cool slightly before transferring cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.

  8. Store leftover cupcakes at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Frosting

  1. With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth, then add in the almond milk and both of the extracts. Beat until smooth and creamy. 

  2. Set aside at room tempature until ready for use. 

  3. If you want to make the pink frosting, roast the beet in the oven at 400 degrees F until tender, about 40 minutes. Let cool slightly and then transfer to a food processor along with some water (enough to thin) and process until smooth and runny. Add a few drops of the beet liquid to the prepared frosting and mix until combined. 

  4. Frost cupcakes once they've cooled completely. Enjoy! 

  5. **This frosting is great fresh but best after a day of making it. I recommend making it the day before if you can!**

Recipe Notes

Notes: For the powder beet sugar, simply process or blend beet sugar until it becomes a powder-like texture. This will only take a few minutes at most. You can also use regular beet sugar for this recipe and it will still be great!