Chocolate Cupcakes & Avocado Icing

These vegan chocolate cupcakes are a healthier dessert. The avocado icing is so rich and yummy you'll want to eat it by the spoonful!

It’s my birthday and I baked myself a cake. Actually, cupcakes… and technically I baked them last night so I could make this little b-day post today.

I’m thirty-four today (ouch, that hurts to type).

It’s the age that you start to forget what age you are… the age when you realize how silly you were when you felt old at 28. And it’s the age that you have to start taking really good notes because you just can’t keep “it all” in your head anymore.

They say avocados and chocolate are brain foods right? (I don’t know who says, but it seems like something I might have read somewhere). I know it sounds weird and maybe a little gross to put them together but it actually works to make really thick and rich chocolatey frosting.

But here’s a tip – don’t let your husband watch you put the green stuff into the blender. Of any recipe I’ve made, this was perhaps the one he was doubting the most. But, of course, he loved it in the end.

chocolate cupcakes & avocado icing

 

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Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Ingredients

cupcakes:

• 1¼ cups spelt flour (or blend of white/wheat)
• ¾ cup agave syrup
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

frosting:

• 2 very ripe avocados
• ¼ cup chopped baking chocolate (around 65% cacao)
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup agave
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup almond milk
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Make the cupcakes: Mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry ingredients, mix together and bake for 15-18 minutes at 325 degrees. These are best if you under bake them slightly (since there's not very much oil in the recipe).
2. Make the frosting: Melt the baking chocolate in the microwave (careful not to burn it). Let it cool slightly. In a food processor mix all ingredients together. Taste and adjust. Let chill in the fridge for at least 15 or so minutes.

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cupcakes adapted from The Skinnygirl Dish

frosting adapted from Giada De Laurentis’ Avocado Mousse