Oh wow, I kid you not – these little tasty Vegan chocolate cherry cupcakes are seriously good. And what’s more they are not only vegan, they are sugar free too!! Let’s hear it for these cupcakes!!!
So yes you’ve probably seen vegan cupcakes and also sugar free cupcakes, but to get both in one tastytreat is just too much, even for me!! I just have to share with you how I made it.
But first off, huge credit to Natalie at Feasting on Fruit who gave me the idea to even attempt these. My recipe is very similar to hers, with a few alterations, so I am immensely grateful. I’d never have known how to make vegan cupcakes before this, although I knew I needed to find a substitute for the eggs.
Any unusual vegan ingredients in these cupcakes?
So in terms of ingredients, well you can pretty much find everything you need at home. The only thing that was completely new to me was oat flour. I have used coconut flour before, but never oat flour. And you can’t substitute one for the other either as coconut flour is way more absorbent than oat flour.
Oh also you may need some non dairy milk – we do have that at home as Mr S likes almond milk. We also have a lot of nut butters at home (needed for the icing) so no need for an extra shop for anything else really!
So what do these Vegan, sugar free cupcakes really taste like?
Ok so if you were hoping for a light, spongy, über light cupcake, then no…I’ll be upfront here – that’s not what they taste like. They are definitely more dense. They don’t rise as much in the oven as regular cupcakes so that’s to be expected. The upside of that is that really one is enough. You won’t feel like you have to have another, then another to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Having said that, they are really good. So good that my teen and tween boys didn’t even realise they were vegan or sugar free. In fact I still haven’t told them – just in case they don’t want to have them anymore!
Recipe time!
Yes let’s get down to business. It’s time to unleash these Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes!!
Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 22 medjool dates, pitted
- 470 ml water
- 70 g cacao powder
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 250 g oat flour
- 120 ml non dairy milk I used almond milk
- 2-3 drops cherry essence
- pinch of salt
Chocolate Icing
- 14 medjool dates, pitted
- 200-240 ml non dairy milk
- 350 g nut butter I used cashew butter
- 45-50 g cacao powder
- 1 punnet fresh cherries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (170C fan)
- Soak the dates in the water for a few minutes and then pour into a blender/thermomix. Blend until the mixture is smooth
- Add the cocoa powder, baking powder, cherry essence and milk and blend again.
- Add the oat flour and fold in to 'add' air to the mixture.
- Divide the cake batter between 12 cupcake liners until they are 3/4 full and smooth the batter down. (otherwise the baked cupcakes will have peaks!)
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the middle of a cupcake.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the icing. Combine all the icing ingredients in a blender/thermomix until smooth. Don't add all the milk at once – add gradually until you get the consistency you require – you need to get it to piping consistency.
- Transfer the icing to a piping bag and leave in the fridge until needed (at least one hour)
- Pipe icing onto the cooled cupcakes and add a cherry/glacé cherry on for a cute touch! Add sprinkles if desired.Enjoy!!
Top tip
If you want, you can use lightly oiled cupcake tins rather than the paper liners. The baked cupcakes are rather sticky (as they don’t contain any oil) so they do stick to the paper. It didn’t bother me, but just a tip!
If you like these but would also like to compare to the regular version, why not try my Cherry Chilli Chocolate cupcakes which are also super delicious, but in a totally different way!
