These Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes are BETTER than regular ones

If you are looking for a recipe to wow people with a sweet tooth, this is it.  My daughter has been playing with cupcake recipes for a long time.  And here is what she has recently settled on.  Anyone who thinks a gluten -free baked dessert made without dairy or eggs must be less tasty, has never tried these.   Everywhere we have taken them, where there were also traditional cupcakes served, those who tried both like these better.  Sorghum flour seems to lend a subtle sweetness that wheat flour does not.  Make sure you use "refined" coconut oil, as it has a mellower flavor then extra virgin.

Basic Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing
Makes 12 large cupcakes, or 24 mini-cupcakes
 
Cupcake Ingredients: 
 
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup cane sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder (use one without aluminum like Rumford)
1 tsp xanthan gum
¾ tsp salt
¼ cup warm water
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer powder
1 cup almond milk (original or vanilla flavored)
3 Tbs melted refined coconut oil
¼ tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs vanilla extract
 
Cupcake Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a cupcake tray (or two mini cupcake trays) with parchment cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, tapioca starch, sugar, soda, powder, xanthan gum and salt.
3. In a blender, blend the warm water and Egg replacer together first, then add the almond milk, melted coconut oil, and remaining liquid ingredients and blend well.
4. Pour the liquid into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula first, and then beat with an electric mixer until the batter is thick, smooth. Do not overbeat.
5. Spoon the batter into the cupcake trays. (Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t seem to fully fill each cupcake, these rise A LOT!!!)
6. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven until cupcakes are firm and rounded on the top. (Or use a toothpick to test a cupcake and see if it’s is done). For the large cupcakes this is around 22-25 minutes, and for the mini-cupcakes this is about 20 minutes.
7. Take the tray out of the oven, and immediately remove the cupcakes from the tray and set them on a cooling rack to cool.
8. Make icing and ice the cupcakes!

 
Icing Ingredients:
 
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons refined coconut oil
1-3 Tbs almond milk
 
Icing Instructions:

1. Starting with the powdered sugar, mix in 1 Tbs of the cocoa powder.
   
2. Add the coconut oil and a very small amount of milk and using a fork incorporate these together, and then beat with an electric mixer (adding more almond milk as needed) until the icing is smooth. Beat in the remaining cocoa powder
3. For a stiff icing, use the minimum amount of almond milk possible to mix everything together. For softer icing, use more almond milk until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Spoon the icing into a clean plastic baggie, and cut the tip of the bag off to squeeze out the icing, otherwise simply spread the icing on the cupcakes, or using a confectioners icing set.

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