Vivid Vanilla Cupcakes

I have been holding onto a wonderful secret the past week or so. I received an amazing cookbook from an even more amazing woman/mother. Debbie Adler is the owner of a popular allergen-free, vegan bakery , Sweet Debbie's Organic Cupcakes located in Los Angeles. And she now has her own cookbook filled to the brim with great recipes that are allergy-free and vegan! 

She began this method of baking when she found out her son was allergic to "every food in the USDA pyramid" and soon realized that your basic grocery store doesn't supply the foods with ingredients that her son could safely eat. That is when she decided to take matters into her own hands and developed recipes her son could enjoy without fear. 

Now, I am no vegan and I am blessed to have no allergies either. But, I admire vegans and their way of life whether through their own beliefs or health related reasons. And for those with allergies, my heart truly goes out to you. I can only imagine how hard it must be to live in a world where most things are processed and the endless reading of ingredients on nutrition labels only to be disappointed. My youngest brother had health issues when he was very young and for a long time we thought his issues were nutrition related and we had to go on a strict diet of allergy-free food and I remember searching and searching every where for dairy free cheese, rice milk, and other such foods. It was frustrating.

But, after thumbing through this book and doggy eared basically all the pages of recipes I wanted to try I decided on one after the book's namesake: cupcakes. I knew it when I saw it: Vivid Vanilla Cupcakes. I swear, these are the cleanest cupcakes you will ever eat and SO GOOD! All fresh ingredients and I was thrilled to see that I could use fresh vanilla beans as I have never had the opportunity to play with them before in my baking! 

Another thing I absolutely LOVED about this book is how informative it is. I mean she includes great tips on working with all the ingredients she uses in this book, nutritional information, and even includes great resources to where to find some of these ingredients! 

Click below if you are interested in having this book on your own shelf! 

Now without further ado, CUPCAKES!!!

I am seriously craving another one right now!

Yields: 12

"Nutrition Information per serving ( 1 cupcake): 190 calories, 9g of total fat, 0.0mg cholesterol, 22g carbohydrates, 130mg sodium, 2g fiber, 2g protein, 6g sugars" 

You Need:

12 standard baking cups

¾ cup unsweetened plain rice milk

1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

2 cups of all- purpose gluten-free flour

1 ¼ teaspoon of sodium free baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

 ½ teaspoon of guar gum

 ¼ teaspoon  fine sea salt

¼ cup grape seed oil

¼ cup coconut nectar

1 tbs vanilla extract

⅜ teaspoon stevia powder

⅓ cup of vegan soy free plain yogurt

½ vanilla bean cut in half lengthwise and seeds scooped out

Vanilla Frosting: 

2 ½ cups powdered erythritol

6 tbs warm vanilla rice milk

2 tbs coconut oil

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ vanilla bean , cut in half lengthwise and seeds scooped out and reserved

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 and line cupcake tin with baking cups 

Mix together rice milk and vinegar in a measuring cup

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well at the center

Add the grape seed oil, coconut nectar, vanilla, and stevia to the flour mixture and stir to combine. 

Mix in the rice milk mixture and stir until mixed through

Stir in the beans and yogurt to the mixture

Pour the batter into the baking cups. Each cup is two-thirds full

Bake in oven for about 15-16 minutes

Let cupcakes cool completely

Make the frosting by mixing the rice milk and erythritol in a medium sized bowl. Then add coconut oil and salt. 

Frost the cupcakes.

If not eating them right away, leave unfrosted and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Leftover frosting can be kept in the fridge for 4 weeks. 

 *I received this cookbook as compensation for my time. The recipe was used with permission from the author, but my opinion on this recipe ( as always) are my own 🙂