I made these Vegan Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting for a lovely vegan bride-to-be for her bridal shower this weekend. I’m not going to lie, I was going to do a test run of these, and if I didn’t like them, she was getting normal egg-filled, buttercream-topped cupcakes. But. These are good. Really really good.
So when I did my test run, I passed them around to friends and family and conveniently left the word “vegan” out of the description until after they tasted the cupcakes. My “test subjects” didn’t seem too upset with my experiment, many went for seconds!
These cupcakes use dark chocolate (versus milk chocolate), and have no eggs, butter, or milk. And they are still super fluffy and moist. The best part, most of the ingredients are probably either in your pantry or really easy to find!
Ingredients (makes 2 dozen) adapted from the Curvy Carrot:
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 2 oz vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup sunflower oil
- 1 1/4 cups vanilla almond milk
- 3/4 cup cinnamon applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Peanut Butter Frosting:
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons vanilla almond milk
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Begin by combining all your dry ingredients in a large bowl (2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon cream of tartar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder, and 2 oz. chopped dark chocolate).
Add the 3/4 cup sunflower oil, 1 1/4 cups vanilla almond milk, 3/4 cup cinnamon applesauce, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. (note: I used cinnamon applesauce because that’s what I had. Use any kind you want, sweetened or unsweetened).
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the 1 tablespoon cider vinegar and mix to combine.
Spoon the batter into your prepared cupcake tin, filling the tin 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the center cupcakes comes out clean.
Allow to cool, and refrigerate (overnight if possible). These cupcakes are so moist that that need to be refrigerated to let them set.
To make the frosting, add the 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup margarine, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons almond milk to a bowl and mix until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. You can adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar if it’s too thin, and adding more milk if it’s too thick.
To add the frosting to the cupcakes, add the frosting to a plastic ziplock bag, seal, and cut off one of the lower corners.
Squeeze the frosting onto the cupcakes in a circular motion, starting on the outside and working your way in. (You can decorate them however you want, I just find this to be an easy way.)
Here’s a shot of the cupcakes from the bridal shower.
Everyone seemed to really enjoy them! The cupcakes are really moist, and because of my applesauce choice, you even get a hint of cinnamon. The peanut butter frosting is the perfect complement to the dark chocolate flavor of the cupcakes; you’d never guess it wasn’t a traditional buttercream frosting!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 2 oz vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ¾ cup sunflower oil
- 1¼ cups vanilla almond milk
- ¾ cup cinnamon applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup vegan margarine
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons vanilla almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- Begin by combining all your dry ingredients in a large bowl (2 cups flour, 1½ cups sugar, 1 tablespoon cream of tartar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¾ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder, and 2 oz. chopped dark chocolate).
- Add the ¾ cup sunflower oil, 1¼ cups vanilla almond milk, ¾ cup cinnamon applesauce, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. (note: I used cinnamon applesauce because that’s what I had. Use any kind you want, sweetened or unsweetened).
- Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the 1 tablespoon cider vinegar and mix to combine.
- Spoon the batter into your prepared cupcake tin, filling the tin ¾ of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the center cupcakes comes out clean.
- Allow to cool, and refrigerate (overnight if possible). These cupcakes are so moist that that need to be refrigerated to let them set.
- To make the frosting, add the 1 cup peanut butter, ½ cup margarine, 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons almond milk to a bowl and mix until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. You can adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar if it’s too thin, and adding more milk if it’s too thick.
- To add the frosting to the cupcakes, add the frosting to a plastic ziplock bag, seal, and cut off one of the lower corners.
- Squeeze the frosting onto the cupcakes in a circular motion, starting on the outside and working your way in. (You can decorate them however you want, I just find this to be an easy way.)
I love not mentioning that things are vegan until AFTER people have loved the food! I hosted Thanksgiving last year and while we did have a turkey, all of the sides were vegan (mashed potatoes and stuffing included). Nobody had a clue!
Thanks for the awesome cupcakes!
I’m happy you liked them Emily!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Gazpacho with Grilled Pickapeppa Shrimp
I am all about some peanut butter and chocolate
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Lovely recipe, thank you! Would like to point out that confectioners and white sugar are truly not vegan. So many bakers think that eliminating the eggs and milk constitute vegan….but white refined sugars are filtered through charred animal bones, rendering them not a vegan product. So to be really vegan it is best to use unrefined (golden) sugars. I am actually shooting for the peanut butter frosting!
These sound great! My daughter is Vegan and I want to make this for her birthday coming up…I’m just wondering if instead of cupcakes I can use this recipe to make a cake instead?
Hi Michele,
I don’t see why not! This recipe would probably make two cakes, for a two-layer cake. You’d have to increase the cooking time… I’d check after 30 minutes but it could take up to 40 minutes. The cake will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Hope this helps!
Very helpful! Thanks so much! 🙂