Red Velvet Cupcakes, with Dairy-Free & Vegan Options

YIELD:           ~16 Cupcakes

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOK TIME: 22 – 24 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 37 – 29 minutes

Easy to make red-velvet cupcakes that are incredibly tender and moist that you won’t believe they are gluten-free! My family loved the cupcakes and the vegan cream cheese frosting, which tasted so much like the dairy cream cheese frosting!

 Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 cup Metta flour
• 2 Tbsp (~5 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ – ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk (or ½ cup plant milk, I used soy milk, + 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, let sit 2-3 minutes)
• 1 tsp ACV (omit if using dairy-free milk with ACV)
• 1 ½ tspbaking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
• ¼ cup plain hot coffee (sub hot water)
• 1 egg (sub vegan egg, I use flax egg)*
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp red food coloring (up to 2 Tbsp for a deeper color)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 oz. or ~ 8 Tbsps cream cheese, room temperature (or dairy-free cream cheese, I used Miyoko’s plain cream cheese)
• ¼ cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature (or dairy-free butter, I used Earth Balance)
• 1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar (I used organic which is vegan)

*Note: To make flax egg, mix 1 Tbsp of ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp of water and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. The cupcakes may not fluff-up as much, but they will still taste amazing!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake baking tin with cupcake liners or smear the tins with a little oil.
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together Metta flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and oil well. Add the egg (or egg substitute and buttermilk, vanilla extract, and red food coloring and mix until combined. Stir in the hot coffee (or hot water) and the ACV (if used dairy milk). The mixture will be liquid and that is okay.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just well combined.
5. Scoop the batter evenly into each cupcake well, about ¼ cup per tin.
6. Bake for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely before topping them with the frosting and decorations.
8. While the cupcakes are cooking, prepare the frosting by beating together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. I used the Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment to do this. Gradually, add powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, beating well until you reach desired consistency.
9. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost the cupcakes, using a piping nozzle of choice. Decorate with sprinkles of your choice and enjoy!

Note: This recipe was adopted and then modified from www.glutenfreepalate.com/gluten-free-red-velvet-cupcakes/

Have you used Metta gluten-free flour for this recipe or any other recipe?

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Any questions or concerns or ideas on how to improve our recipe and/or process, please feel free to contact us at mettagfatta@gmail.com