Recipe: Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

While we have ample vegan and gluten-free coverage on The Kitchn, unless it’s naturally free of milk, eggs or gluten (say, a green salad) these recipes are not usually coming from my corner of the test kitchen.

There’s one recipe, however, that I’ve worked on quite a bit; a vegan and gluten-free chocolate cupcake that I first had when someone brought a dozen to my house for a party. They were gooey and dark and had a sweet coconut icing on top. I knew there was something different about them, but I had no idea until later that they had no wheat flour, butter or eggs.

So I played with her recipe a bit, tweaking a few things, trying to make a cupcake that was both vegan and gluten-free, but without the specialty ingredients like egg replacers, soy powder, and xanthan gum often found in recipes like this. The result? Pretty good.

Rather than make my own gluten-free flour mix, I tried two different commercial products: Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour. Both worked well and saved me from wasting extra rice flour, potato starch and the like. If you’re up for making your own, follow Shauna Ahern’s instructions on her blog Gluten-Free Girl.

I still prefer my wheat flours and buttercreams, but thanks to these little confections, I do believe that you don’t need to go without cake just because you, or a handful of your guests, have a few dietary restrictions.