Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes really are the best ones I have ever had! They are light and fluffy but rich with chocolate flavor. They freeze really well and are great to have on hand to take to birthday parties. I love chocolate so my favorite icing for these cupcakes is of course, more chocolate! Vanilla icing also goes really well if you want to change it up.

A note on some of the ingredients

Gluten free flour: I have only ever made these cupcakes with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour (the blue bag). I always recommend weighing the flour to get the most accurate measurement possible. If using a different gluten free flour blend, that contains xanthan gum, I would strongly recommend weighing the flour as there can be a big discrepancy when measuring with measuring cups.

Ground flax seed: I buy Bob’s Red Mill flax seeds as they are gluten free. I keep them in the fridge to keep them fresh. Just before I need to use them I grind them up in a coffee grinder that I use specifically for flax seeds. This way the flax seeds stay fresh and don’t start to break down before I am ready to use them. The ground flax seed when mixed with hot water will turn into the consistency of an egg. This is a great substitute in vegan baking.

Unsalted Butter: I use Becel plant based butter sticks for baking. They are vegan and gluten free and work very well for baking. There is no need to soften the butter because it will be melted for this recipe.

Semi sweet chocolate chips: It may seem like over kill to melt chocolate for the cupcakes when we already are using cocoa powder but the melted chocolate adds so much. It adds more chocolate flavor obviously but chocolate is also acidic so it helps the cupcakes to rise. I use President’s Choice semi sweet chocolate chips which are accidently vegan, you can use your favorite brand of chocolate chips. I also like to use chips as opposed to bars or pieces of chocolate because they will melt faster.

Vegetable shortening: The icing is a take on my grandmother’s chocolate icing recipe and she has always used vegetable shortening in her icing. It adds a buttercream like consistency to the icing, making it smooth and spreadable. Vegan butter, softened could be substituted.

How the chocolate cupcakes are made:

Make the flax egg first. Allow it to sit for a few minutes while gathering the rest of the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and xanthan gum.

At this time, turn on the kettle to boil the water for later on.

Set up a double boiler by adding water to a small to medium sized pot and putting a large stainless steel bowl overtop of it. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Bring the water to a simmer and add the butter. Once the butter has almost completely melted add in the chocolate chips and stir well. When the chocolate chips have begun to melt carefully remove the bowl from the heat. Continue stirring until they have all melted. Add in the sugar, flax egg and mix well. Add in the vanilla and stir just until it’s incorporated.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the melted chocolate, butter and sugar mixture. Stir slowly as the batter will begin to get thick. When the batter begins to thicken up add in the hot water and continue to slowly mix until there are no patches of dry ingredients left. At this point we don’t want to add in too much air or the cupcakes will deflate after they come out of the oven.

Add the batter to a lined 12 cup muffin tin, filling each well 3/4 of the way.

Bake the chocolate cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once the cupcakes have cooled make the icing and decorate. A good tip if decorating cupcakes is not your strength, shave some chocolate and put it on top of the cupcake!

Enjoy!

Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe by Jessica

0.0 from 0 votes

Soft, delicate, chocolatey cupcakes that taste better than anything with gluten!

Course: DessertDifficulty: Intermediate

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Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

240

kcal

Total time

35

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1, blue bag) (220g)

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum

• 1 tbsp ground flax seed

• 1/2 cup unsalted vegan butter

• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup hot water

• Chocolate Icing

• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening

• 3 cups icing sugar

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 4 – 5 tbsp non dairy milk

Directions

• Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper or parchment liners.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F
• In a small dish mix together the ground flax with 3 tbsp hot water to make a flax egg. Let sit for a few minutes.
• In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum.
• In a large bowl over a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate chips. Once melted remove from heat and add the flax egg and sugar. Stir until everything is well incorporated. Add in the vanilla and stir again.
• Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and whisk everything together. Slowly add the hot water and whisk until everything has come together.
• Fill each muffin well 3/4 full with the chocolate batter. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let the cupcakes cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the pan and then carefully move them to a cooling rack, they will be delicate but will firm up as they cool.
• Once cool the cupcakes can be frosted.
• Chocolate Icing
• In the bowl of a stand mixer add in the shortening and mix it with a paddle attachment until soft.
• To the mixing bowl add in the icing sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt and 2 tbsp of non dairy milk. Mix the ingredients together, slowly at first. Add more milk if needed, 1 tbsp at a time. As the icing starts to come together turn up the speed of the mixer and mix on medium for 1 to 2 minutes until all of the ingredients are incorporated and the icing is light and fluffy.

Notes

• Nutritional information is a rough estimate.
• Nutritional information includes the icing.
• The cupcakes can be frozen with or without icing for up to 3 months. The icing can be frozen separately.
• Store the cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Nutrition Facts

• Total number of serves: 12
• Calories: 406kcal
• Carbohydrates: 64.8g
• Protein: 1.4g
• Fat: 16.6g
• Saturated Fat: 4.4g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.2g
• Monounsaturated Fat: 5.2g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 232.4mg
• Potassium: 30.7mg
• Fiber: 1.4g
• Sugar: 47.2g

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