Gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe offers healthy diet swap

Baking gluten free cupcakes is very easy. This recipe make cupcakes that are denser than moist cupcakes, but that tends to happen with gluten free baked goods. These are what I call double chocolate cupcakes. They are a chocolate cake with a chocolate frosting, all of which is homemade. This recipe came from the website “My gluten free Kitchen,” and it was posted by Michelle Palin. The day after I had baked them, I took them to my school Peet Jr High and handed them out randomly to teachers and students and had them fill out a survey about the cupcakes. 

Mary Watson, a math teacher at Peet, said, “The frosting was my favorite part. It had a good consistency and great chocolate flavor. The cupcake had a nice chocolate flavor as well.”

 The frosting had many great reviews from almost every participant. Principal Bill Boevers said they had “good flavor, and the frosting was delicious.” 

In the response survey, those who tried the cupcakes shared what they would want improved. Media specialist Abby Hendrickson said, “Well, since I didn’t realize I was eating a gluten free cupcake, I was initially caught off guard by the thicker texture.” 

The density of the cupcake was more so of a pound cake than a normal cupcake, but 50 percent of the tasters that had one liked them and wanted more, while 40 percent said they would if it had some changes.

Frosting ingredients: 

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup cocoa powder *see note

3 2/3 cup powdered sugar

6-7 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Frosting Directions: 

Place the butter in a glass bowl and microwave till melted.Whisk the cocoa powder into butter.Add the powder sugar and milk alternately till mixed together.If you’re frosting is a bit stiff and hard to work with, add a little bit more of milk to soften it. If  your frosting is a bit loose, feel free to add more powdered sugar to the mix.

Notes: My frosting turned out more on the liquid side, so I used a spoon to spread it out on top of the cupcakes.You can place the frosting in the fridge to cool faster, but it might melt a bit once you put it on the cupcakes.

Cupcake Ingredients

2 cups sugar

2 cups good quality gluten-free flour blend; I  

used Cup4Cup

1 tsp. xanthan gum; xanthan gum is used to 

thicken the cake, and this is very important!

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)

1/3 cup cocoa powder 

1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Cake Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix together the sugar, gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, baking 

soda, and salt and set aside.

Next, in a saucepan, mix the butter, water and cocoa powder, 

whisking it while it’s brought to a boil.

Let the mixture in the saucepan cool a bit till you mix it slowly into 

the dry ingredients. 

Beat in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla till combined. 

Spoon in the batter to a lined cupcake tray and place in oven. 

Bake for 17-20 minutes. It’s alright if you have to add a few 

minutes onto the timer if the toothpick doesn’t come out clean. 

Notes: 

The cupcakes while baking puffed up but while cooking 

flattened out. 

I beat in about 2 tbsp. worth of buttermilk to get the bat

ter to become more creamy. 

The frosting was very liquidy after it was made, so it would 

be better to make it before you start the cupcakes so it has 

time to set. 

Anything in the recipe can be sustained to suit vegan diets, 

but may change the taste.