Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
Lately we’ve been expanding each recipe category and cupcakes were on my list! I don’t do a lot of cupcakes as I like to save them for special occasions and honestly, I’m not the best at icing lol.
During undergrad at NYU there was perhaps only 1 workshop where we focused on icing, and that’s it! Needless to say, the lack of experience coupled with vegan icing being more difficult to work with, I didn’t feature icing much on EDS! However, you can easily pick up a ready made dairy free option today and infuse it with whatever extract and more you’d like. Icing with it is also a breeze!
In exploring modern cupcake variations I thought it would be wonderful to work in beets somehow. While it can be a struggle to recreate a Red Velvet using beets (the color isn’t vibrant), you can seamlessly create the perfect chocolate cupcake and a gorgeous texture!!
Since everyone loves chocolate, I knew this would be a winner! So we paired it with mint to create a vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcake! Typically this variety is colored with pedestrian food coloring, but you can skip all that and just reach for a lil matcha to create that gorgeous green hue!
What’s great about this recipe, is just everything! It’s quick, easy, has less sugar and oil that most cupcakes, packs beets, a rich chocolate flavor, are buttery soft, features natural dye for the icing, are perfect for any season, perfect for St. Patricks Day, and are just a win all around!
If you’re looking for more ways to use beets or simply love all things mint chocolate, you have to try these new vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes!!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Affordable
Packs beets
Has less sugar
Has less oil
Naturally dyed
Vegan Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 1/4 white flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup beet puree
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/4 cup vinegar, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 1 tub ready made vegan frosting
- 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
- 1 tsp matcha
Instructions
- Boil the beets in water. Remove the skin, blend in a food processor or blender, adding a little water if needed.
- In a large mixing bowl sift the all purpose flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Now add the salt and sugar, whisk everything together.
- In a separate bowl, add all the wet ingredients: oil, lemon juice, vanilla, and beets, whisk to combine. If the beets are not pureed enough you can strain the puree.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Line a cupcake tray with liners. With a spoon or ice cream scoop, fill the liners 3/4. Lightly tap the muffin tray to ensure there are no gaps.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake these cupcakes for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then place on a cooling rack. One cooled, frost the cupcakes.
- Frosting: I used a ready made vegan frosting and added the matcha and extract. Whisk until smooth and then pipe onto the cupcakes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
