Easy Gluten-Free Cupcake Recipe

Hey guys,

The other day, Jason posted a picture of some Gluten-Free Cupcakes we made the other day, and said we would post the recipe soon.  And then, well, we forgot.  Some people have been asking for the recipe, so we are finally giving it to you.  These cupcakes are super easy, and a great introduction to the world of vegan, gluten-free baking.  You do need a couple of things you may not have laying around (like rice flour, chickpea flour, and xanthan gum), but you should be able to find them at any health food store.  Now, I’m not gonna lie, these ingredients are pretty expensive.  But they will last you a long time, and the flavor/texture you will achieve with these ingredients make the price totally worth it!

Ian and Jason’s Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes

You’re gonna need:
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup vegan white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

So then, you:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line your muffin tin with cute liners.  Ours came from here.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Sift in the cocoa.  And you know I wouldn’t tell you to sift unless it was important.  Which it is.  So sift.   Now whisk this mixture together for about thirty seconds, to make sure it’s evenly mixed.
3. Pour the almond milk into a glass measuring cup and add the vinegar to it. Let this mixture sit a few minutes, until the almond milk looks slightly curdled.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until very well combined. Add the vanilla. Now beat in the curdled almond milk.
5. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and beat with a whisk until the batter looks very smooth. Don’t worry about over-mixing; it’s better to beat it until there are no lumps left.
6. Fill your baking cups two-thirds of the way full with batter (usually about a scant quarter cup of batter per cupcake).
7. Bake at 350ºF for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the biggest cupcake comes out totally clean.  With regular cupcakes, a few moist crumbs on the toothpick are absolutely fine.  But with gluten-free, you want the cupcakes totally done before removing from the oven.  This occasionally means baking up to five minutes longer than directed.
8.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

Now let’s make frosting!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

You need:
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
2 cups vegan powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons almond milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

So you’re going to:
1.  With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the margarine and shortening until thoroughly combined and fluffy.
2.  Sift in 1/3 of the total powdered sugar.  Add 1/2 tablespoon of milk, and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
3.  Repeat this process twice more, until all of the sugar and milk are combined.
4.  Add the extract, and beat for 2-3 minutes until thoroughly combined and fluffy.  The longer you beat the frosting at this point, the softer it will become.  So, if you really like fluffy frosting, you can beat it for up to six minutes.  If you want it to be more structural and able to hold its shape, stop after two minutes.

Now go serve these to someone gluten-free, and sit back and receive major praise!  Repeat as necessary.

Love,

Ian