When I was listening to the radio the other day, one of the radio deejays asked a question to the audience. He began by saying during this time of the year, there is something people do on average six times a day. One of the radio listeners called in and stated the answer was complain about the weather. I started laughing because I knew I was one of those people. It has been extremely chilly in Ohio over the last month. I’ve been staying inside as much as possible aside from going to work, running errands, adding gas to my car, and picking up groceries. Today, I woke up early to make vegan cupcakes. I’ve been planning and testing my lemon olive oil cupcakes over the last few weeks and am finally ready to share my findings. These cupcakes were definitely a long time in the making. One of the resolutions I made this year was to challenge myself to cook at least one vegan dish per week. I’ve been pretty good at whipping up vegan smoothies, pasta, pizza, and fried rice. Most of the dishes usually turn out well. However, vegan baking is one of the areas I find the most challenging. Many of the best tasting baked goods have eggs, butter, milk, and cream. Without these ingredients, I had to find alternatives to yield an equally delicious treat. As part of my recipe testing, I started researching alternatives and acceptable substitutes for these foundation ingredients. My research led me down a rabbit hole of tons of different suggestions and options. During the research process, I was most intrigued by the use of apple sauce as a substitute for eggs. Who would have thought apple sauce is an acceptable replacement for eggs? I played around with different ratios and substituted ingredients over the last few weeks until I came up with this most wonderful lemon olive oil cupcake recipe. When I made my cupcakes today, I folded in apple sauce in place of eggs. I also added lemon zest, and olive oil to round out the rest of the flavor profile for the cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out moist and fluffy just like some of my favorite cupcakes. I was very happy with the end result and just had to share my findings. The olive oil added a subtle nutty flavor. The lemon zest added a freshness and brightness. The unsweetened apple sauce added a slight sweetness and tartness. Overall, the cupcakes tasted so good, Kevin couldn’t even tell they were vegan cupcakes. He was actually surprised by the aroma, flavor, and texture of the cupcakes when he found out these were vegan cupcakes.
Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· Zest of one whole lemon
· ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
· ¾ cup granulated sugar
· ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
· ½ cup almond milk
(Optional)
For the lemon buttercream frosting:
· 1½ cups (1½ sticks) vegan butter
· 2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
· 1 tablespoon lemon juice
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the olive oil and sugar until combined. Add the unsweetened apple sauce and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Stir all ingredients until you have a smooth batter.
4) Pour the batter into the muffin tin. Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes. Test doneness of cupcakes by inserting a knife into the center of the cupcakes and checking to see if the knife comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before serving (or frosting).
5) As an optional step, you can make some lemon buttercream frosting for topping the cupcakes. To make the frosting, combine the vegan butter, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Blend the ingredients until a fluffy buttercream is formed. Scoop the frosting into a pastry bag with a decorating tip and decorate away.
Takeaways: I divided the batter in half and made half a dozen of blueberry lemon olive oil cupcakes and kept the other half dozen as lemon olive oil cupcakes. You can omit this step if you just want lemon olive oil cupcakes. For the lemon buttercream frosting, there is a noticeable difference between butter and vegan butter. Kevin couldn’t tell the cupcake was a vegan cupcake, but he could definitely tell the buttercream frosting was not the traditional buttercream frosting. I actually enjoyed the cupcakes with the vegan lemon buttercream frosting, but I could tell it did taste different.