Vegan Mocha Almond Latte Cupcakes

I promise I’m still alive. I haven’t disappeared off of the face of the earth just yet. All of my time has been spent towards school projects and work as of late. But I have officially returned bearing the gift in the form of a recipe for Vegan Mocha Almond Latte Cupcakes.

Since I’ve officially made the switch to vegan I’ve been playing with recipes more. I feel as though that there needs to be more vegan friendly recipes out there; including recipes utilizing coffee.

These cupcakes are a moist chocolate cake with a hint of coffee flavoring and are topped with an almond frosting. When I made these I didn’t realize I was all out of sliced almonds, but I insist you top yours with them. Sliced almonds take the level of presentation to a whole new level. Plus they let your friends and/or family know that the frosting is almond flavor and they won’t bite into the cupcakes with a shock at their finding.

Vegan Mocha Almond Latte Cupcakes

Makes 12

Original recipe from here

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted
• 2 tbsp. ground flax seed
• 8 tbsp. water + 1 tbsp. instant coffee powder

Frosting:

• About 1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
• 2 – 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1-2 tbsp. water
• About a 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the granulated sugar, 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance, flax seed, and 8 tbsp. water + instant coffee. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until there are no lumps.

Evenly spoon the cupcake batter into your prepared muffin tin. Bake for about 18-22 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of your cupcakes should come out clean when they are done. Let the cupcakes cool for about 30 minutes before frosting them.

Frosting:

In a mixing bowl combine the Earth Balance, 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, 1/4 tsp. almond and 1 tbsp. water. Beat together the ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and thick. Give the frosting a bit of a taste test and see if you need an additional 1/4 cup of Earth Balance and/or another 1/4 tsp. of almond extract.

Using a knife spread as little or as much of the frosting as you would like on your cupcakes. Sprinkle a few of the sliced almonds onto each frosted cupcake.

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Even though it may appear that I’ve vanished from the face of the earth, I am in fact still breathing and present. Due to midterms, filming on weekends and a reoccurring cold, I haven’t been able to spend much time blogging or baking. Although I did make my way into the kitchen this past week to cook up something fall-esque.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks are a popular beverage during the jack-o-lantern season. Taking into account their popularity, I did some researching and stumbled upon a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes. Since I prefer to bake vegan, I vegan-ized these little treats and made a dairy-free, animal cruelty-free delectable creation.

Did you know that I’ve never made a vegan frosting before until having baked these cupcakes? I’m not a big fan of frosting in general, which is why no frosting recipes (or recipes requiring frosting) have ever appeared on CoffeeVanilla until now. I’ll be one to admit that this frosting has slightly changed my perspective on frosting.

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Original recipe from here.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes

Cupcakes:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. salt

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

4 tbsp. ground flax seed

6 tbsp. water

6 tbsp. espresso

About 1/2 cup espresso (for brushing on the cupcakes)

Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance, room temperature*

1-2 tbsp. water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two muffin tins with muffin liners, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix together pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, oil, applesauce, flax seed, water and 6 tbsp. espresso. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix the ingredients together until fully combined.

Evenly spoon the batter into your prepared muffin tins. Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes. The cupcakes should be golden brown and a tooth-pick inserted in the center should come out clean. Using a pastry brush (or spoon), brush the remaining espresso over the cupcakes. Allow the espresso to sink in. Let the cupcakes to cool for about 20 minutes before preceeding.

Frosting:

In a mixing bowl, combine the Earth Balance and confectioner’s sugar. Using an electric mixer, mix the two ingredients together. Add 1 tbsp. of water and mix. Continue to add more water if needed to create a thick, smooth frosting. Spread the cooled cupcakes with the frosting.

*I like to leave my Earth Balance out on my kitchen counter when I first begin baking so that it will be softened by the time I get to making the frosting.