Vegan Pineapple Cupcakes
Lately I’ve been going down my foodie bucket list and all I can think is, why did I wait so long! If you had asked me what a pineapple flower was years ago, I would have been clueless. However, I came across this concept in a food magazine and was just instantly intrigued. Typically dehydrating fruit can be a long drawn out process and it seems to reduces the quantity by half. Needless to say, I haven’t explored dehydrated fruits a lot.
When I saw the concept for pineapple flowers, I thought to myself, I have to try this!
While the process is super easy, I’m going to create a video tutorial asap to make the experience even more seamless. (stay tuned). What I love about this cupcake, is everything! It’s a handful of ingredients, you could skip the icing altogether if you desire, has notes of banana, the most buttery soft texture, you can buy store bought icing to reduce the steps, the flowers are effortless, gorgeous and add a wonderful touch to a classic concept!
If you’re searching for an effortless recipe that will make you look like a true iron chef, you have to try this recipe for vegan Pineapple Cupcakes with dehydrated pineapple!!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Dehydrated pineapple adds to the decor!
Buttery soft!
Non vegan approved
Recipe Tutorial for Pineapple Flowers
Vegan Pineapple Cupcakes with dehydrated pineapple flowers
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 large, 6-8 small 1x
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 & 1/2 cups flour
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1 banana, mashed
- 1 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk
- 3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained well or fresh pineapple chopped into small pieces
- Garnish: 1 pineapple (optional)
Icing:
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsalted buttersoftened
- 5 cups confectioners’ sugarsifted
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4–6 tablespoons coconut milk or almond mil
Instructions
- Dehydrated Pineapple: Preheat the oven to 200. Remove the top and the outside of skin of the pineapple with a knife. Take a melon ball scooper and remove any of the eyes of the pineapple. The more you scoop out the greater the texture will be on the pineapple flowers.
- Place the pineapple sideways and make thin slices all the way through the core. Lay the slices on paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Once dried place into muffin tins and press into the cavities. This will give them a curve to resemble flowers.
- Dehydrate in the oven for 25 mins or more then set aside to cool. The thicker the slices the longer it will take to dehydrate them. You want them to be more on the yellow side, and they will firm up once removed from the oven. (Mine became a little more golden lol)
- Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degresss. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl combine the mashed banana, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk, mix until combined. Add in the drained crushed pineapple, and mix well.
- Slowly add half of the flour mixture to the liquid, stirring to combine. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture.
- Divide the batter among a muffin pan lined with muffin liners, fill the muffin cups to be about 1/2 full. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Icing: Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, beat on medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened. Gradually add in the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- And the salt and the coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time, beating on medium speed until fully incorporated. You may need more or less of the coconut milk depending on how strong you’d like the flavor.
- Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Notes
You could swap the coconut milk for pineapple juice for more of a pineapple flavor in cupcakes or icing
You can always buy store bought vegan icing to reduce the amount of steps!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
I think you may have a typo in your recipe as to the quantity of cupcakes. My sister and I both made this recipe and we both ended up with 15 cupcakes using a standard/regular muffin tin and filling up the cupcake liners a standard 2/3 full. Not sure where you’re getting 4 large or 6-8 small cupcakes. The cupcakes in the photos (both in the pan and finished) appear to be your basic/standard sized cupcakes. I found them to be a little oily with the 1 up of coconut oil. And they didn’t quite rise with a little domed top; they’re rather flat-ish. Overall taste and texture is pretty nice, but not as pineapple-y as I would like. I’ll definitely try using the pineapple juice in the batter instead of the coconut milk. Also, did you use coconut milk (full-fat or lite) from the can–like for cooking; or did you use a coconut milk that’s usually used as a dairy milk substitute–just ready-to-drink from a carton?
Hi Michelle, Thanks for letting me know the quantity! I make my cupcakes on the larger size using a large muffin tin as it captures better in images. In terms of the cupcakes having a flat top, that’s due to overfilling them with batter. You have to fill them less to create the dome top. With the coconut milk you have to use the full fat canned option.