The Post-Semester Series

Having finished my final week of my final semester, I've had enough time to breathe. This of course means I am cooking again! With a number of HUGE life decisions looming in the not- so- distant- future, I'm dealing with my stress by stocking the fridge so full of food that anyone who takes a peek may or may not be able to see the shelves, nevermind the back of the fridge.

That said, I believe it is time for me to finally post my recent food fun!



I know its backwards, but I'm going to have to start with the recipes I made ... err... am still making as I type... CUPCAKES!!!!

I found an amazing- let me repeat- A-MA-ZING recipe for cupcakes on someone else's blog, which I've adapted a bit. Everyone should go check her site out- www.ohsheglows.com. She's got a number of awesome recipes and I love the goal of her blog.

Ok! So the Recipe(s)

Mocha Maple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil (I split the 1/3 and did half extra virgin olive oil and half canola oil)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure maple extract


1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (dutch baking cocoa is more expensive, but seriously worth it)
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first group of ingredients (milk -> maple extract)it may not come all the way together for you, dont worry about it for now.

Mix in the next group of ingredients (flour -> salt). Make sure that the batter is smooth and has no clumps.

Line your cupcake pans with the paper cups and fill the cups to about 2/3 full- I used a 2oz scoop to make sure all my cupcakes would come out the same size. Once all the paper cups are filled with delicious batter, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the batter. I don't mix them in the batter, because they're likely to sink to the bottom and burn there. :( No one wants sad chocolate chips in their cupcakes.

Bake 'em! ~ 22 minutes per pan, or until their characters have developed, so you can poke the little dears and have them spring back!

If you can't wait, go ahead. Eat one. I did.

For the maple frosting:

1 Tbsp maple extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp almond milk
1 stick margarine

Mix! spread on cooled cupcakes- and for pete's sake PLEASE don't try piping maple frosting on anything... you'll see.



I told you... just say no to piping here. Unless your intent is to serve crappy cupcakes... Just use a flat icing knife for these. The eaters will thank you.





Oh and by the way. These are vegan. YEAH. THAT'S WHAT I SAID. AMAZING, RIGHT?