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Chocolate Cupcakes

Fri, 03/09/2007 - 2:17pm — suemay
Recipe: 

Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from a recipe found on recipezaar.com

Yield: 12 cupcakes

These just happen to be dairy- and egg-free. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2      cups whole wheat pastry (or all-purpose) flour
2/3         cup packed brown sugar
1             teaspoon baking soda
1             teaspoon salt
1/3         cup dutch-processed (unsweetened) cocoa powder
1/2         cup vegetable oil
1             cup water
1             teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1             Tablespoon white or cider vinegar*
1             Tablespoon orange zest, chopped fine (optional)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2.  Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease and flour well. 
3.  Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl (try to get all of the lumps out).  If using all-purpose flour, you could sift the entire mixture if you like.
4.  In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.
5.  Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, mix until well combined.
6.  Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full.  Fill any empty muffin cups with water to keep the heat even.
7.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*The vinegar may sound weird but it's essential.  It will react with the baking soda to make them rise, don't worry you won't taste it. 

Notes: 
  • These aren't too sweet so if you plan to eat them plain and you like a sweet cupcake, use 1 cup of packed brown sugar.  However, if you do frost them I would stick with the amount of sugar in the recipe to prevent a massive sugar high.
  • If you decide to use the orange zest, add 1 T of orange liqueur (like Grand Marnier) if you have it.  Also, don't leave out the vanilla even when using the orange zest because the vanilla helps bring out the chocolate flavour of the cocoa.
  • You could also add some chocolate chips to make them extra chocolate-y.  Add the chips to the batter right before baking.
  • You can substitute half of the oil with applesauce if you're trying to cut down on fat.