Is there anyone who would say NO to more dessert?

Not anyone that I know.

If you’re following the Virtual Vegan Potluck, I say WELCOME and feel free to have seconds!

Click here to start at the beginning

Today I am proud to be part of the first ever (that I know of)  Virtual Vegan Potluck! This love child was born from the brain of Annie from An Unrefined Vegan.  I invite my readers to take a guided journey through dozens of blog-chefs all “cooking” today to give you a taste of delicious plant-based food. You can start at the beginning if you wish and page through appetizers, soups, main dishes and desserts (just hit “next” on each blog post to move to the next dish)

Or you can just stay here and have dessert first, in which case I say “I like your style…let’s party when this thing is over.”

The best part is, there’s no guilt and no calories!

Those of you who have posted recently about wanting to improve your diet (and you know who you are) ….here’s your chance! Maybe you can even try something with an ingredient you’ve never used before…..like vegetables! And to those of my readers who are thinking “Haven’t I seen this recipe somewhere before?” I say, “When it tastes this nice….you gotta post it twice!”

Beet-root Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate (no-butter) Butter-cream Frosting

Eat chocolate…love life.

Oven is at 350 F (that’s 176.666667 Celsius)

• 1 1/2 cooked beets (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (not Aunt Jemima’s please)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance coconut spread (or Earth Balance vegetable oil spread or similar)
• 1/3 cup low fat coconut milk (or almond or rice milk)

Also coconut milk (or plant-based milk of your choice)

1. Cook beets by scrubbing to wash. Lightly peel any rough skin (I use a carrot peeler). Cut off top and bottom. Cut into cubes and set in steamer or placed in a metal colander on top of pot filled with about 4-5 inches of water, covered, on med high heat. Beets should not touch the water. Steam for about 30-45 minutes. (be careful that you don’t steam all your water away) Pieces should be soft when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool completely. This step can be done the day before with beets stored in the fridge.

2. Place cooked beets, syrup and vanilla in food processor and pulse to mix. then process on high for 3-5 minutes until very smooth. (so pretty…) 3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add beets and coconut milk to mixture and stir to combine.

Pink and fluffy…batter doesn’t get any better than this!

4. Add in melted coconut oil and stir well with a spoon. 5. Line cupcake tin with paper cups or grease with oil spray and fill 3/4 of the way full with batter. (It’s OK to lick the bowl…no one is watching) Bake at 350 F for 16-18 minutes. (11 minutes for mini cupcakes) Top should be firm to light touch. Let cool for 15 minutes and cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate no-butter butter-cream frosting

• 11 Medjool dates (I’ve tried to use regular, but they just don’t compare…go with the Medjool)
• 1 Avocado
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup + 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of coconut milk
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

1. Remove pits and skin from dates. (This is a pain in the rump, but it affects the creamy-ness of the frosting. No matter how much you process it, you can’t get the skin smooth and it messes with the texture.) Dates are very sticky, so the easiest way I found to remove the skins, is to have a bowl of water next to you and dip your fingers in the water as you peel the skin off. Try to find the dates whose skin is already loose to make it easy. And no complaining.

The skin is the paper-y outside

2. Wash and cut the avocado. (Always wash fruits and veggies even if you don’t eat the skin. When you drag your knife through to cut, you’re dragging everything on the surface through the food. I KNOW you know this…this is for those that don’t)

3. Place everything in the food processor and process the bejeziz out of it on high until it’s creamy smooth. You may have to stop a few times to scrape the sides of the processor.

Snobs use a fork…Peasants use their hands and shove the cake in their mouth. Either way it tastes great

Frost cupcakes when cooled.  They firm up nicely in the fridge overnight.  Store covered in the fridge (if they last more than 1 day).

This recipe makes 10 frosted regular sized or 24 mini cupcakes.  You can have your cake…and be healthy too! Enjoy!

Nutrition: per frosted regular sized cupcake: calories: 300, Protein 4.1 gm, carbs: 33 gm, Fat: 13.6 gm, Fiber: 3.1 gm, Iron 15% RDA, calcium 4.4% RDA , cholesterol 0 (only animal products have cholesterol, silly) All nutrition is plant-based.

Go back to the previous dessert

Yes, you DO want more dessert…Go to the next dessert in the potluck

You can see the complete line-up of bloggers here…quite impressive!

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Categories: health, healthy cooking, healthy living blogs, vegan cooking, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes

Tags: chocolate vegan cupcakes, healthy quick vegan chocolate cupcakes, vegan chocolate cake, vegan chocolate frosting