Carrot-Chocolate Cupcakes

Fresh carrots add a healthy boost to these cupcakes! The cupcakes freeze beautifully, since they are not frosted - just thaw at room temperature whenever you want one.

Peel and slice 1 pound of carrots, then place in a food processor and process until minced - because my food processor is small, I did this step in two batches.

Place the carrots in a large bowl, along with 1 and 3/4 cups vegan sugar (such as Wholesome Sweeteners), 6 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, 1/3 cup vegan buttermilk, and the equivalent of 3 eggs using egg replacer (such as Ener-G).

Note: to make the 'buttermilk', pour 1 teaspoon lemon juice into a measuring cup; fill with plain soy milk (such as Silk) to equal 1/3 cup, then let stand for 5 minutes to clabber (sour) the mixture.

Lightly spoon 2 cups all-purpose flour into measuring cups and level with knife. Combine the flour with 2 teaspoons baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture, and stir until smooth. Stir in 1 ounce finely chopped dark chocolate (my favorite brand is the Endangered Species chocolate company, for rather obvious reasons).

Line 22 muffin cups with paper liners - I recommend Beyond Gourmet's unbleached liners, available at organic markets, rather than the standard liners you might find at a regular grocery store.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, then bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, sprinkle the tops evenly with 3 tablespoons organic powdered sugar.

Each muffin is 160 calories.

Note: I only had 17 paper liners left at home and didn't have time to dash to the store, so sprayed the remaining 5 muffin cups with cooking spray. These 5 muffins still baked just fine; they were just a little bit harder to remove from the pan afterwards. But it worked in a pinch!


Cost:
carrots $1.41
dark chocolate $3.99