Mommy’s Little Helper just loooves his IKEA kitchen and Melissa & Doug Chef Role Play Costume Set
How did I miss their book? The Green Plaid book is a vegan/PBD answer to my childhood bible, the Red Plaid cookbook. Yes, they do use a lot of faux-meat in the main course recipes but I can overlook that. There is a lot to love. Heck, I even bought some Gardein faux-chicken so I could live it up 😉
And as usual, I picked a sweet treat to try first. I did adapt it. Instead of olive oil, I used sunflower. For cupcakes it has a milder flavor. I also used sunflower seeds instead of walnuts. That way Alistaire could have one to enjoy. Gluten-cheats he can handle once in a while, it just makes his eczema bad. Nuts…well, let’s not go there!
The end result was a very moist cupcake. Not exactly good for you, but really good!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes (As adapted from page 360)
Ingredients:
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup sunflower oil
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 cups finely shredded carrots
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º, line 18 muffin spots with premium liners (Wilton or Reynolds, with foil interior).
Grind sunflower seeds in a mini food chopper, set aside. When grating the carrots, use the fine side on your box grater. This way the carrots melt into the cakes.
Add sugars and oil to a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth with a hand mixer, add in dry Ener-g egg replacer and vanilla, beat in.
Add in flour through salt, beat smooth (batter will be thick). Add carrots and sunflower seeds, stir in by hand, really working it in.
Scoop out ¼ cup balls of batter, drop into liners. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center (mine took 30). Let rest for 10 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack. Once fully cool, frost as desired.
Makes 18 cupcakes.
The recipe for the cream cheese frosting was vegan. I didn’t make it vegan. Truthfully I have yet to find a faux cream cheese I like – and that Alistaire can eat. So for me I’d rather just use the real thing. So if you want vegan…by all means swap in vegan cream cheese and Earth Balance Buttery stick.
Cream Cheese Frosting (As adapted from page 393)
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tsp milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Let the cream cheese and butter come to room temperature. Add to a large mixing bowl, beat smooth with a hand mixer. Work in milk and vanilla.
Beat in on low 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Once worked in, beat until smooth on medium.
Makes enough to thickly frost 18 cupcakes. Refrigerate frosted cupcakes, once frosting is set, store in a container or plastic bag.