Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Icing
Made with quinoa flour, these cupcakes are so fluffy and moist, no one would ever guess they are gluten-free! (dairy-free option)
If I had to make a movie from the last week of my life, it would be titled:
Invasion of the Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes…in Sarah’s Face.
Last Saturday, Brandon thought it would be fun to take a trip to Spain, just after returning home from Germany two weeks prior. I, of course, had to stay home and stick to my nine-to-five so that someone could pay the bills around here. ;)
So, what does a girl do when her man takes off to Europe without her for the second time in one month? She bakes cupcakes.
And eats all of them.
By herself.
I mean, you have to taste one before they’re done cooling to make sure they turned out okay.
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And then you have to try another one after you’ve iced them to make sure the flavor matches appropriately.
And then you have to try one more after a few hours have passed right before bed while standing over the sink and drinking a glass of milk.
And all of that is perfectly fine because no one is there to watch you.
Okay, so I might have felt a teensy bit guilty after eating three of these in one day but surprisingly enough, I didn’t get a tummy ache. That coupled with the fact that they are made from quinoa flour, I’m taking it as a sign that these are so good for me that I should eat at least one every day.
Who’s with me?
Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Icing
Ingredients
For the Quinoa Flour Cupcakes
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, sub coconut oil to make dairy-free
- ¼ cup coconut oil, measure in solid state
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, use dairy-free Greek yogurt to make dairy-free
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1¼ cup quinoa flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Vanilla Bean Frosting
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened (use dairy-free butter to make DF)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Pour in the water and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder and coconut oil until dissolved, then set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the quinoa flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until combined.
- To the large bowl, add the eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Pour in the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until well combined.
- Using an ice cream scoop (or a spoon), scoop the batter into the cupcake tin, filling each about ¾ of the way full.
- Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes, or until firm in the center. You should be able to stick a toothpick or knife into the center and have it come out clean. Allow them to cool while you prepare the icing.
Prepare the Frosting
- In a large bowl, combine the butter, vanilla extract, almond milk, and vanilla bean paste and beat until soft and fluffy.
- Slowly add in powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, while continuing to beat on high until a thick icing has formed. If the icing is not thick enough after adding 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar, you can add another a tablespoon at a time and beat again until thickened.
- Lastly, ice cooled cupcakes and then serve!
Notes
If i can not find vanilla bean paste is there anything I can use to substitute it ?
Hi Charmaine! Yes, you can use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (total) instead of the paste. You can also use a vanilla bean by scraping the seeds off into the butter. I hope that helps! :)
The sugar step seems to be missing from the cupcake part… :(
Oh no, I’m so sorry! The sugar is supposed to be sifted with the flour. I’ll be sure to fix that!
Thanks for letting me know Mishi!
Think these “babies” would freeze well?
Possibly without the icing but I worry that it might alter the flavor/texture. If you try it, let me know how they hold up!
Have you ever tried to make these as a Vanilla option? I need a good vanilla cupcake make from quinoa flour. The others i found so far tend to add regular AP flour as well and I can not do that… Woud i just substitute out the Cocoa powder for vanilla paste??
thanks for your help
the Chocolate ones are amazing BTW!!!
I haven’t tried making them vanilla but I don’t think subbing vanilla paste for the cocoa powder would turn out right. If anything, more sugar (like 1/4 cup) and another teaspoon of vanilla extract. It would require some experimentation. I will definitely keep it in mind for a future recipe post but if you end up trying it yourself, please let me know how it turns out!
I’m glad you liked the chocolate ones! :)
I made these as Vanilla and they were amazing… I changed up the recipe a little though so that the vanilla flavor would come through. I did half Quinoa flour and Half Almond flour. added 1 extra tsp of vanilla and 2 vanilla beans. I did of course omit the chocolate. but they were awesome. My husband preferred them to regular cupcakes.
Wow, I’m impressed! I tried to make a vanilla version with honey (in place of sugar) and coconut flour in place of the cocoa powder and it was a total fail. Your version sounds awesome though, thank you for sharing! I’ll have to give them a try. I wonder how they would come out with honey…
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Just made these today with my 3.5 year old and we both loved them! I can totally see why you ate 3 in one night. They go down easy and are actually pretty light! Another great recipe!