Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes

A rich, vegan cupcake recipe (you won't taste the beets!) from Minimalist Baker

In this recipe beets add moisture as well as nutrition. Beets are packed with nutrients: vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate, iron, manganese, potassium and copper. Beets are also a rich source of phytonutrients, including carotenoids, phenolic acids, and betalains. These phytonutrients give beets powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties.

Makes 10 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1-2 medium beets (1/2 cup puréed)

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 
3/4 cup coconut sugar

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp unbleached pastry flour or gluten-free flour blend

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• Pinch of salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash beets. Remove the stem, but not the skin.

Wrap beets in foil and roast for one hour or until a knife can be inserted without resistance. Beets should be tender. Set in the fridge to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, peel skin off the beets and purée in a food processor or blender (add a dash of water or orange juice to encourage mixing, if needed). Measure out a 1/2 cup of beet purée and set aside.

Whisk together the almond milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of beet purée and beat until foamy with a hand-held or standing mixer.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift it into the wet ingredients while mixing. Beat until no large lumps remain.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and let cool completely. If you try to take the liner off them when warm they'll stick to the liner.

Once cooled, dust the tops with a little extra cocoa powder.