Chocolate Cupcakes (Dairy Free!)

Recently, a friend of ours asked me if I knew a recipe for cupcakes that she could bring to a team event. There was a child on the team that had nut and dairy (egg included) allergies. I did some research online, played around with some recipes and came up with one.

Time: 30 minutes (mixing and baking)
You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or cake flour, not self rising)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups water
• Optional: Chocolate chips. You can often find non-dairy chocolate chips at health stores or specialty diet stores.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Line muffin pan/tin with liners/wrappers.

3. Mix together cocoa powder, baking soda, flour, sugar, salt.

4. In a bowl, mix together water, vinegar, oil, and vanilla until combined well.

5. Add the flour mixture to the liquid and mix until it is smooth with no lumps (mix about 3 to 4 minutes). It will be a little more watery than a normal cake batter. 

6. Pour into muffin pan. Fill 1/2 - 3/4 full.

7. Place in oven and bake 20-25 minutes. Rotate about halfway through baking.

8. Test cupcakes with a toothpick to make sure they come out clean. Remove from oven, place on a wire rack to cool. 

9. Frost cupcakes after they are completely cool.

*There is also Gluten Free Flour in many stores, if there is also a Gluten Allergy.
**Make sure to check the labels when making food for kids with food allergies!

The cupcakes turned out moist.

FROSTING:

I adjusted my normal icing recipe to be nut friendly (it normally has almond extract in it). This makes 4 cups.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (a high ratio shortening is best)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 5 Tbp water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp butter flavor extract (Make sure it does not include any butter!)
• If you use Crisco as the vegetable shortening, you might need a stabilizer in warm weather. There are several options:
• 1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer (many are non-dairy), or
• 1-2 Tbpn Meringue Powder (This is made from egg whites, so do NOT use with an egg allergy!) 

Directions:

1. Dissolve salt in the water.

2. Mix ingredients together on low speed until creamy.

3. If the icing seems too thick, slowly add another tablespoon of water. Repeat if necessary. If the icing becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar.
4. Optional: For chocolate icing, add cocoa powder to taste.