It's Not Easy Being a Green Cupcake

Ok, keep an open mind about this recipe, and it will not disappoint.

Gluten-free zucchini cupcakes with avocado icing. Whaaaaaaat.

My mother had made a batch of gluten-free vanilla cupcakes the other day, which was somewhat of a bummer for those of us who can't eat / don't eat eggs and milk. So I decided to make some as well. Except I didn't want to just make a normal cupcake, how boring would that be? So I scanned the internet and my pantry to see what I could come up with. 

I've always wanted to make some sort of dessert involving the creaminess of an avocado, and zucchini muffins were something I wanted to tackle eventually also. So I combined forces and decided on zucchini cupcakes with avocado icing.

What came as a shock was the fact that there was actually a recipe online for this little monster. However, there were a few ingredients that I didn't approve of (canola oil, sugar,  wheat, fake butter, white vinegar etc) so I just made some simple replacements in order to make it a bit "healthier." –Don't worry, it definitely tastes like dessert.

If you want the original recipe you can click here

Or you can keep reading for my version.

What you need (makes a dozen):

1 3/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil (measured as liquid)
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup grated zucchini

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and powder, salt) in one bowl.
Mix the liquids (maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, vinegar + the coconut sugar) in another.
Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry and whisk. Then stir in the zucchini.
Fill cupcake liners and bake in the oven about 18-20 min. Tap the top of the cupcakes to see if it slightly bounces back.

Set out to cool completely before covering in icing.

For the icing:

Basically it is ripe avocados + a ton of powdered sugar. (Not so healthy, but hey, it's icing!)
Also add a pinch of salt and some vanilla extract.
Just keep adding powdered sugar until it's sweet enough for you.
Blend, blend blend.

I made 18 of these babies, and they were gone in an instant. I barely got one for myself!
It was a bit of a challenge to get some of the kids to taste it at first, I mean, a green cupcake is pretty different. But they loved it.

I even think you could add more zucchini and also other vegetables like carrots etc.

These cupcakes would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day!