Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

The cupcake recipe is an adaption from the book The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets.

The recipe is on page 88 of the cookbook. The original recipe called for “1 banana” which on average is about 1/3 cup mashed – but often the bananas are so big and never ripe, well you know me – I keep it easy by using Baby Walker’s bananas instead! A 4 ounce jar of stage 2 baby bananas is a nice rounded 1/3 of cup. Easy!

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup natural peanut butter
• 1¼ cups light vanilla soy milk
• 4 ounce jar stage 2 baby bananas
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 3½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 12 count cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Whisk the peanut butter, milk, banana and vanilla together until smooth in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a medium mixing bowl sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cocoa together.
4. Add the dry to the wet, whisk until just incorporated.
5. Divide the batter between the liners, about 2 Tablespoons per cup.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (mine took 25) till a toothpick comes out clean (be sure to test a couple of them to be sure).
7. Let cool for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks till competently cool.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

The frosting I adapted out of the book as well – but found it needed more sugar than called for. See page 230. If I were to make it again I would add in only a bit of the milk first, then sugar and then more milk as needed. When I followed the recipe with the called for sugar it was just too runny so I had to add more. Natural peanut butter is pretty runny to begin with as well. The recipe called for ¼ tsp salt, I used a fraction of what was called for – it did need a little though but not that much for my taste buds.

Fair warning though – the frosting spreads and then hardens. Also, if you store the cupcakes covered the frosting tends to sweat a bit of oil. More a first day cupcake for pretty appearance.

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• ½ cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup light vanilla soy milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2½ cups to 3½ cups powdered sugar
• Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

In a stand mixer bowl add the peanut butter and cocoa, whip until smooth, slowly add in the vanilla and salt. Beat in the milk until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar slowly and then beat on high, adding more sugar as needed until the right thickness.

~Sarah