Mini Chocolate Cupcakes With Pumpkin Coconut Frosting [Vegan]

Oh my gosh, how excited are you that it’s almost Halloween?! I know you’ve had that costume ready for months. In fact, it’s probably starting to get dusty by now and you might want to wear it around the house just for fun.It’d be awesome if you could all send me pictures of your Halloween décor. I have a thing for pictures of holiday décor, and I may or may not constantly try to squeeze in a few minutes to look at them. I can only watch so many pliés at dance class, right? Pumpkins are especially nice, and it’s always a good idea to cover every shelf in your house with them, even if you have to box up pictures of your family to do it.

Halloween is the perfect time to celebrate sugar, and how much we’re going to ignore the fact that we’re not supposed to eat it, except for on this one day… Then there is Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and the days we are preparing for those holidays and we just need a little taste to make sure it’s good. Help! I’m in trouble.

Despite the fact that sugar is our Frenemy, I do prefer a homemade treat over store bought extra processed one any day. At least that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it! These cupcakes are chocolaty, creamy, and pumpkin-y all at the same time. How can you resist? Chocolate and pumpkin – that’s basically the short definition of Halloween.

I’m sending sweet treats and big hugs your way!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Coconut Frosting

Chocolate Cupcake

Yields: approximately 55 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup almond milk
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cane sugar
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips dairy-free, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line mini cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to sift. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat almond milk, brown sugar, cane sugar, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Melt the chocolate chips. The easiest way to do this is in a microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds and stir until all the chips are melted.

Add the melted chocolate chips to the wet batter and beat for 30 seconds until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, half at a time, mixing on low until completely combined.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake for 10 ~ 15 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out pretty clean. My mini cupcakes took closer to 15 minutes to cook, but it is always a good idea to check them at 10 minutes so that they don’t dry out.

Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Pumpkin Coconut Frosting

Frosting Ingredients

13.5 oz. (398mL) coconut milk, refrigerated & cream removed from the top
4 Tbsp. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Refrigerate the can of coconut milk the night before or for a few hours in the fridge. You only want to use the solid cream from the top of the can.

Add the coconut cream to a large mixing bowl, along with the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and confectioners’ sugar. Beat on medium speed for one minutes until the ingredients are combined, then increase speed to high and beat for another 3 minutes.

*Tip – it is helpful to refrigerate the frosting for 10 to 15 minutes before frosting the cupcakes because of its creamy texture. I used a Wilton #12 tip to frost the cupcakes.