Whoever said that healthy has to be boring?! Ok, well maybe these muffins aren’t actually “healthy”, but they are dairy and gluten free, and only contain real, natural ingredients. Plus, life is all about balance and with these muffins [or cupcakes if you prefer to call them], you won’t feel guilty for eating more than one!
[These are the “cupcakes” that I served at my daughter’s 1st birthday party. Nobody knew that they were dairy-free, let alone gluten-free, and that they didn’t contain anything artificial! Plus, the tasted – and looked – amazing!]
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Yield: 24 mini muffins or 1 dozen regular
INGREDIENTS*:
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour
- ¾ Cup Organic Coconut Sugar (or Pure Cane Sugar)**
- 1 Tb. Baking Powder
- ½ tsp. Salt
- 2 Large Eggs (You Can Use 2 Tb. Flaxmeal + ¼ cup of water if you want to make this recipe Vegan)
- 1 cup Almond Milk (Soymilk works too)
- ⅓ cup Organic Canola Oil (or Coconut Oil)
- 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Vegan Chocolate Chips (I used Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips, which are the best sugar-free chips ever! Enjoy Life’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips work great too)
Recipe for “Butter” Cream Frosting
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease or line your muffin pan. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Sift the ingredients 3 times. ~ This is the secret to making these muffins so light and airy. You can skip this step if you are pressed for time, but trust me, the extra couple minutes are definitely worth it! ~
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract with a hand-mixer (or if you’re fancy and have a stand-up mixer, that will work too).
- Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. You do not want to over mix because the dough will become rubbery.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and fill each muffin cup ? of the way. (I used an ice cream scoop to help get the batter evenly distributed, but a good old-fashioned spoon works too.)
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes [if using a mini-tin pan], or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. If there’s chocolate on the toothpick that’s okay! (If you are using a larger tin, it will take closer to 20-25 minutes).
- Place the muffins on a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes before adding the icing. (Click here for my vegan frosting recipe).
*I bought all of my ingredients through Vitacost.com http://bit.ly/1lI5W9C (where you can receive $10 off your first $30 purchase). Most items are also available at your local Whole Foods, Central Market, or specialty retailer.
**If you are avoiding sugar or prefer to make these even “healthier”, then feel free to substitute the sugar for your favorite sugar-free option. Personally, I like the NuNaturals MoreFiber™ Stevia Baking Blend™; 2/3 cup replaces the sugar in this recipe. Plus, you’ll be getting a healthy dose of fiber to boot! (Use code BLG1216 for an additional 15% OFF your Entire order.)
