Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

I am such a sucker for sweets, but did not want to overly indulge. I was also in an adventurous mood, so I took it upon myself to make something vegan! You will definitely not miss the eggs or milk! This cupcake is surprisingly light and fluffy and so easy to make. Brewed coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor, so I encourage you to stick with brewed coffee for this recipe. If you are not a huge fan of coffee, water it down or just use water. The chocolate flavor just will not be as prominent. Happy baking!

Yields: A dozen cupcakes and enough frosting to pipe onto the cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup coconut oil (make sure to heat it up so that you do not use any solids)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

1 cup brewed coffee

Frosting

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners, set aside.

2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar, and coffee. Using a whisk, mix the ingredients together until smooth.

3. Fill each liner 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.

4. Frosting: In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and flour. Beat until smooth and pipe onto cupcakes! So easy! :)

*I actually ended up cutting the frosting recipe in half since I did not feel like getting fancy and piping the frosting onto the cupcakes! I just used a butter knife to spread a little frosting on top! Happy eating!