Kind Cupcakes

A few months back my friend Sammi bought The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone's book advocating a vegan diet. Sammi was kind enough to lend it to me. It was a very easy read. It's only a little over a hundred pages of information and the rest is recipes (obviously, my favorite part). While I'm still just a regular old vegetarian, I have been trying to reduce my dairy consumption and limit how much white sugar and flour I eat. These cupcakes came from her book with just a few ingredient variations on my part, so I have christened them "Kind Cupcakes". Make them and you will not care that they are vegan and mostly healthy. I promise.

Kind Cupcakes

• 2/3 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. Combine the milk and vinegar in a medium bowl, and set aside for at least 5 minutes until it starts to bubble a little. Add the agave, oil, and vanilla and stir. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the west ingredient to the dry, mixing until no lumps remain. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are slightly springy when pressed. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan, then cool completely on a baking rack before frosting.

Frosting

• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Use a mixer to cream together margarine and sugar until very smooth. Add the vanilla and half of the cocoa powder, mix on low speed to combine, then add the remaining cocoa powder. This is a rather runny frosting, so let it firm up in the refrigerator before frosting the cupcakes. When the frosting is somewhat firm, frost the cupcakes. Garnish with sprinkles if so desired. Then devour them!