I woke up craving chocolate cupcakes in the worst way. I mentally ran through the ingredients I’d need and realized I didn’t have butter or eggs. Drat. I went hunting for an eggless recipe and I hit absolute pay dirt! I am not a vegan by any means, but these cupcakes are so incredibly tasty and moist. They really don’t require a topping – they are that good – but you could dust them with powdered sugar, drizzle caramel sauce on them or just frost them. I made a thin powdered sugar chocolate icing and dipped mine in it. I really may never make cupcakes with eggs and butter again!!

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350(f)/175(c)

**This recipe calls for a cup of coffee. If you are like me and do not like coffee at all, use a cup of water instead.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brewed coffee (or water if you prefer)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 tablespoons olive oil

Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt until there are no clumps left.

In a separate bowl, mix together the coffee (or water), vinegar, vanilla extract and olive oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once, then whisk together until the liquid is fully incorporated. The batter will be slightly runny and lumpy.

Fill each cupcake about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick or butter knife inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to fully cool.

I chose to make a powdered sugar glaze type frosting for mine, then dipped them in to coat the top. The cake is so rich and tasty that this doesn’t really require a ton of a super heavy frosting.

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

Melt the butter in a medium bowl. Add the unsweetened cocoa powder and mix until there are no lumps. Begin adding the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Once each 1/2 cup is fully incorporated, add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix in. Repeat these steps twice more, adding the vanilla with the last bit of milk/sugar. Continue adding more powdered sugar a bit at a time until you get the consistency you want. Mine was thick, but still pourable. I took each cupcake and dipped it into the bowl of frosting. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to allow the frosting to drip down the sides. The frosting will harden up a bit as it sits out. Cover and store.