My First Time: Gluten Free Baking

Well, I have made things without flour before that were gluten free, but this time I used gluten free flour, so it was that much more intentional. This is also almost vegan. I used butter in the frosting. So the cupcakes themselves are gluten free AND vegan and the frosting is gluten free.

The whole thing about these cupcakes started because I read that book, Eating Right For Your Baby about blood type and healthy eating. It suggested that I should lay off the gluten and dairy products a little more, and so I thought that dessert might be a great place to apply this concept. I have been eating a little more gluten free lately, and I never drink milk, so I'm well on my way. These cupcakes were an effort to explore that concept more.

I adapted THIS RECIPE and sort of made it my own.

Overall, I was really happy with how they came out. My first dive into gluten free flour was two-fold. The woman at the health food store suggested I go half and half and mix the flours so I chose rice flour and garbanzo bean flour. In hindsight, I feel like the garbanzo bean flour brought a bitter quality that I didn't entirely appreciate. But I also used my canned figs which also added to the bitterness....so in the end, I threw in a half a cup of organic sugar and I think it really saved the day. Next time I'd probably opt to just use the rice flour.

These cupcakes are nice and moist, which is one of the most important cupcake qualities for me. I fell down a little on the frosting. It's a bit embarrassing, but long story short, I didn't have powdered sugar, so I used this trick to make my own and it was still too grainy. So I ended up with grainy frosting. Still sweet, but grainy. It made me a little sad...lesson learned. Only powdered sugar. I'm not making my own again. Now, because there are twenty million awesome recipes for chocolate frosting for cupcakes, I'm leaving that up to you. You can make vanilla frosting or chocolate frosting or any old frosting you like. Just be sure to use that dang powered sugar.

Or, if you wanna, use the frosting recipe from the Our Four Forks recipe, which is where I adapted this sucker from.

It made a dozen cupcakes 

And they are looking pretty cupcakes, right?! 

Mmmmm. This goes great with tea or a big glass of almond milk. Even if the frosting was a little grainy. 

Chocolate Gluten Free, Vegan Cupcakes 

{Adapted from Our Four Forks}

You Will Need:

2/3 cup canned figs (or chopped figs could do as well)
3/4 cup spiced applesauce (I make my own with cinnamon and nutmeg)
1 1/4 cups almond milk
2 teaspoons of coffee grounds
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I used half rice flour, half garbanzo bean flour)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 ounces good chocolate, I used Kallari Organic chocolate 
1/2 cup sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your muffin pan with liners or grease with butter. I did both because I had a shortage of liners.

In a food processor or blender add your figs, applesauce, almond milk, coffee, and vanilla. Blend well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking power, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a double boiler, melt your chocolate.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients, combine and then add melted chocolate and sugar.

Combine fully and pour into prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow them to cool when they come out of the oven and then frost with your choice of frosting.

To store: I learned the hard way that these moist suckers need to be refrigerator for a longer shelf life. So...you might want to refrigerate them after a day or two.