Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Hi there!

A few days ago my family and I went down to my grandmother's house for our family Christmas, and I wanted to bring a dessert that all the kids would like. I was originally planning on making red velvet cupcakes, but I realized that two bottles of red food dye still wasn't enough. I want to try making them with beet juice, I think that would be legit.

Anyways, here is a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with peppermint icing. The cupcakes are delicious, but I will admit that the frosting just depends on your taste preferences. Personally I thought it tasted a bit like sugary toothpaste, but other people told me that it was delicious. So it's really up to you!
Also, I wouldn't necessarily say these cupcakes are "healthy" like most of my other posts, but I mean...they're cupcakes, and they were for a party. 

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes {makes one dozen}

1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch pressed cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup almond, soy, or rice milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 granulated sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 to 1 cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Peppermint Frosting:

8 oz. Tofutti cream cheese {room temp}
8 oz. vegan butter or shortening {room temp}
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract
Red food coloring {optional}
1 bag of crushed peppermint 

Preheat the oven to 350.
Put the milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes until it "curdles."
Add the rest of the liquid ingredients and the sugar.
Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Then pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into cupcakes liners and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

For the icing, put the cream cheese and shortening into the electric mixer on low. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar. I basically just add a cup until I like the texture of the frosting. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, spread your frosting and sprinkle your peppermint pieces and viola!

Recipe was adapted from www.tofutti.com

Gingerbread Cookies & Homemade Icing

Now that finals are finally over, I'm glad to have some time to start baking again. I haven't posted a new recipe in awhile, and it's been driving me crazy. I plan on posting some delightful things over the Christmas break. 

One thing that I always wanted to do growing up was make gingerbread men. So as a spur of the moment, that's what I did. 

Gingerbread Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

2 2/3 gluten-free all purpose flour {Bob's Red Mill}

1 1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

1/2 t cloves

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar, or cane sugar

1/4 cup almond, soy, or rice milk

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 earth balance butter

1/3 cup almond, soy, or rice milk

1 t vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients into another.

Pour wet ingredients into dry.

Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes.

Dust a flat surface with flour and roll out the dough until it's about 1/4 in. thick.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes you want and place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 8 minutes, then set out to cool completely before applying icing.

For the icing, pulse the butter, milk, and vanilla extract in a food processor. Then add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until it reaches a consistency that you desire.

I added food coloring into the icing to add more variety to my cookies. Feel free to play around with it.