Grain-Free Chocolate Cupcakes + 1 Year Blogiversary

this recipe

Hey, hey Robust Recipes! Happy Birthday! I can’t believe you’re one year old today!

One year ago I launched Robust Recipes. I can’t believe how fast my baby is growing up.

Phew, I made it to one year of posting blogs, at least two times a week.

It has been my dream to be a food blogger for several years. I have always had a love affair with food, especially healthy, homemade food. My need to share my recipes with others has always been strong.

You may not know this about me: I had been sporadically posting on a previous blog for several years. My previous blog never really took off, partially because I wasn’t committed. Somehow a part of me thought that I would magically become a well-known, successful food blogger if I just posted a recipe every once in a while. Boy, was I wrong.

Blogging takes dedication, a lot of work, and a lot of learning. A blogger needs to wear many hats. You need to be a cook, a writer,  a food stylist, a photographer, a photo editor, a web designer, a planner, a social media manager, and a business person.

But, if you stay committed and keep working at it every single day you will create something wonderful!

I started my first blog because I needed a creative outlet. It was on a whim, unplanned. I created Robust Recipes with the intention of making it professional, beautiful, and a place to share healthy, delicious, home-cooked food. I spent months planning how my blog would look, deciding on a name, learning how to design a webpage, and reading food photography books before I actually hit “ publish” on my first post.

Let me tell you, all of that hard work and pre-planning has paid off. Robust Recipes has grown and come farther than I envisioned after just one year.

I can’t believe how many accomplishments, goals, and improvements I have made since starting this blog. For as much as this blog has grown, I have grown with it. Some major achievements are:

• I took a few online photography courses. Notice my improvements, examples A, and B (try not to laugh too hard).
• I have published over 100 posts!
• I have experimented with a lot of Gluten-free cooking and baking.
• I have stayed committed to healthy cooking. Even when I make desserts I always try to keep health in mind and use natural sweeteners, avoiding refined sugar whenever possible; examples here and here.

On to the cupcakes!

When I thought about a recipe suited for a first birthday, I considered cake, of course. Which turned into cupcakes because they’re automatically portion-sized and cuter.

There was no question they were going to be chocolate with chocolate frosting. Because chocolate is always best!

I knew that I wanted to use almond flour. I’ve really been digging the stuff lately. It’s simple to work with, is more filling because it’s got healthy fats, and is gluten-free. It yields a rich, tender cake-like texture.

The trick with almond-flour baking is that it absolutely needs a lot of moisture, such as yogurt, or a fruit or veggie puree.  I had previously made Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Elena’s Pantry. It was so decadent; I thought it would make the perfect cupcake.

It sure does! It is moist, rich, chocolaty, cake-y, and perfectly sweetened with honey. You won’t even notice the bits of zucchini in there.

Look mom, I ate all of my zucchini! In a cupcake.

Whether you are celebrating a birthday, or just because, you will absolutely love these grain-free chocolate cupcakes!

Thanks a gazillion to everyone who has followed me on this crazy and wild journey (hi, family!), and to everyone who has supported me. I would not be able to keep this blog running without you. And to all of my readers out there, yes you, I truly appreciate each and every one of you!

Grain-Free Chocolate Cupcakes

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Emily Koch
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
• Category: Dessert, Cupcakes
• Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free

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Description

These chocolate cupcakes are made with almond flour and shredded zucchini to keep them moist. They are rich, chocolaty, and perfect for any celebration.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• FOR THE CUPCAKES:
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour (I use homemade, but you can also use store-bought
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
• FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar (I used scant 1 cup, but I prefer desserts to be on the less-sweet side)*
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 3 tablespoons milk

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Instructions

1. FOR THE CUPCAKES:
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prep a standard muffin tin by lining each cup with a paper muffin liner. Set aside.
3. To the bowl of a food processor add the almond flour, cocoa powder, fine sea salt, and baking soda. Pulse until the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Next, add the eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla. Pulse until mostly combined. Scrape down the sides and add the zucchini. Pulse until everything is well incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. The zucchini should be mostly pureed, but slightly chunky.
5. Transfer the batter to the muffin tin lined with paper cups. You want to fill each cup almost all the way, leaving about ¼ inch of space at the top.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top of the cupcake is dry to the touch and the top springs back when gently pushed on.
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Immediately transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
8. FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
9. While the cupcakes are baking or cooling make the frosting.
10. Add the room temperature butter and the sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, or a stand mixer on low speed, cream the butter and sugar together, until well incorporated.
11. Add the cocoa powder and fine sea salt, and mix until incorporated. If you are unsure about the amount of sugar you want now is the time to taste-test to add more sugar if desired.
12. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk. Gradually add a tablespoon or 2 more of milk until you reach your desired spreading consistency; I used 3 tablespoons.
13. Frost your cooled cupcakes and serve them immediately. Or store them in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days. You may have extra frosting, unless you frost them heavily like I did.

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Notes

Cook time does not include the amount of time the cupcakes need to cool completely.

*I used raw turbinado sugar that I ground up into a fine powder using my spice grinder (a coffee grinder that I dedicate for spices so it doesn’t taste like coffee).

Cupcake recipe adapted/inspired from Elena’s Pantry

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting adapted from Good Cheap Eats

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