Combine sugar and water in a stainless steel pan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and salt and swirl to combine. Simmer over low heat for about a minute to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and enjoy!
These cupcakes are divine!! You can also make them with almond butter or peanut butter… those variations coming soon!
Sometimes gluten, dairy and refined sugar free baked goods are dense and lack moisture. But I promise you these are fluffy and moist (sorry I don’t have a better word for it 😬)!!
Cupcakes:
1/4 cup + 3 TB milk (I used @goodmylkco almond milk)
3 TB cacao powder
1/3 cup cashew butter
5 TB maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 TB almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 TB arrowroot
A very large pinch of sea salt
Frosting:
2/3 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
A very large pinch of sea salt
1/8 tsp vanilla
2 TB cacao powder
Make sure cashew butter and egg are at room temperature and oven is set to 350 degrees before beginning.
Heat milk in a saucepan over medium low heat until the milk scalds. Remove from the heat and pour into a liquid measuring cup or bowl. Add cacao powder and stir to combine. Let sit until it reaches room temperature.
Cream cashew butter and maple syrup in a mixing bowl with a large mixing spoon or spatula. Add the egg and vanilla and cream until homogenous.
Strain the cacao milk mixture over the creamed cashew mixture (using a fine mesh strainer- or if you don’t have one, you can blend the cacao milk in a blender to make sure there are no lumps) in two additions folding the milk in completely before adding the second addition.
Whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the creamed mixture in 3 additions, folding the ingredients in completely before adding another addition.
Bake in cupcake molds for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before unmolding. Let the cupcakes come to room temperature before frosting them.
Cream the room temperature cashew butter, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt together in a mixing bowl with a spoon or spatula. Once the mixture is homogenous, sift the cacao powder over it in two additions. Make sure to fold all of the first addition in before adding the second one.
Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes and enjoy!
This puree is awesome to add to desserts or smoothies. It is also what I use to make pumpkin spice lattes!!
1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
1 TB fall/pumpkin pie spice mix (homemade or bought)
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
4 TB maple syrup
Stir all ingredients together. Store in the refrigerator for a week or the freezer for longer. I love to use this mixture to fill silicone molds and then freeze for easy access.
This puree is great to use instead of canned pumpkin (in case you can’t find any or want to make your own).
Pumpkin
Avocado oil, coconut oil or ghee
Sea salt
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut the top of the pumpkin off, then cut it in half. Scoop out all the seeds and place on a baking sheet.
For these small pumpkins, I used 1/2 tsp of fat per pumpkin half. If you have larger pumpkins you might need 1-2 tsp per pumpkin half. Rub the pumpkins with the fat and sprinkle the tiniest amount of sea salt over them.
Roast until a fork easily pierces the pumpkins. It took about an hour and 10 minutes for mine.
Let the pumpkins cool to the touch and scoop the pumpkin out. Add the pumpkin to a food processor or high powered blender and combine until you get pumpkin puree. Yum!!
Store the pumpkin puree in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for longer. I like to add the puree to silicone molds and freeze them for easy access.
This caramel sauce is fantastic! It is great for making sticky buns (recipe coming soon), topping on fruit or any dessert.
Heat maple syrup and coconut oil in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Turn off then heat and add halved and seeded dates to the hot syrup and oil mixture (make sure all the dates are submerged). Cover the saucepan and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.
Combine the syrup mixture with the rest of the ingredients in a high powered blender. Blend on medium until well combined and thick. Enjoy!
Store in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for longer periods of time.
This recipe makes 4 cupcakes.
Cupcakes:
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 TB maple syrup
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup milk (I used hemp milk this time)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 TB almond flour
3 TB coconut flour
1 TB arrowroot powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 TB dark chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)
Heat oven to 350. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Cream peanut butter in a bowl using a large mixing spoon.
Add egg yolk and maple syrup to the peanut butter and cream until well combined.
Add vanilla extract to milk. Add the milk mixture to the peanut butter mixture in 3 additions, creaming well after each addition.
Stir dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 additions, folding each addition into the mixture until combined.
Fold in chocolate.
Bake in cupcake molds (I absolutely love my Silpat cupcake molds) for 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the molds and allow them to come to room temperature.
Frosting:
1/4 cup + 1TB peanut butter
Large pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 TB cacao powder
1/8 tsp vanilla
Allow all ingredients to come to room temperature.
When the cupcakes are cooled, add all frosting ingredients to a bowl (sift the cacao powder if it’s lumpy) and stir or whisk until well combined.
Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!
This frosting is delicious and creamy! You can use almond or cashew butter instead of peanut butter in this recipe.
*please use organic ingredients, if possible.
*please use organic ingredients, if possible.
*Note: because of the collagen, this frosting hardens very quickly. You have to use it while its warm and quickly. Because of this, you cannot pipe this frosting. I use a portion scoop to scoop the frosting over my baked good (or ice-cream). The frosting will run over and trip down the baked good and then harden.
*please use organic ingredients, if possible
**Because I have replaced sugar with maple syrup, you cannot pipe this frosting. I use a small portion scoop, or you could use a spoon, to scoop over baked goods.
