Vegan S'Mores Cupcakes

What better way to kick off this blog with a cupcake recipe?  I made these for a Christmas party for my omnivorous friends and they were soooooo good, nobody knew they were vegan!  Of course, I waited until they were all gone to tell them… ;)

This recipe comes from the wonderful book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  It’s one of my very favorite dessert recipes now!

Ingredients:

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup canola oil

2 tablespoons molasses

¼ soy yogurt

1 ¼ cups soymilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup graham cracker crumbs (you can use vegan graham crackers that have been ground in a food processor if you cannot find vegan crumbs)

1.       Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2.      Mix the brown sugar, oil, molasses, yogurt, soy milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.

3.      Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a separate bowl and mix.  Add the graham cracker crumbs and mix it up.

4.      Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three batches, mixing well after each addition.

5.      Fill cupcake liners full.  Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before decorating.

Top them with vegan buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache (recipes follow) and sprinkle on extra graham cracker crumbs.

Vegan buttercream frosting:

½ cup nonhydrogenated shortening (I used Earth Balance)

½ cup nonhydrogenated margarine (again, Earth Balance is great!)

3 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted if clumpy

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ plain soy milk or soy creamer

1.       Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.  Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.  Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

***Note: Use half this recipe for one batch of cupcakes!

Quick Chocolate Ganache:

3 tablespoons soy creamer or soy milk

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1.       Heat soy creamer in a small saucepan over medium heat till just about to simmer.  Remove from heat; add chocolate chips and stir till chocolate is completely melted and creamer is incorporated.  Set aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes.  With a spatula, scoop into a prepared pastry bag or plastic bag with the tip chopped off, or drizzle haphazardly with a fork.  The ganache will set when fully cooled.

(I used the “drizzle haphazardly with a fork" method; very messy but very fun!!)

Enjoy!