Vegan Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Frosting

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"-- Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!
Hope it's a good one!  Just wanted to send out some LOVE to my favorite Valentine's!! Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me while I work out my wacky new diet - - Thanks for checking out the blog, encouraging me to experiment, giving me recipes, buying me cookbooks & appliances (MOM!), eating my trials & helping me cook, listening to me whiiiiiine, not laughing at me as a cried over food!! I LOVE you all! And I appreciate you MORE!!

Here's my Valentine to you:

Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Frosting we can all Enjoy!!

These are soooo yummy - believe me they are - I woke up this morning and thought we had been robbed b/c there were only like 3 left (...............guess someone Enjoyed them all through the night!)

This is my gift to you - because not only are they DELICIOUS, they're Vegan, Gluten-Free & made partly with beets - so you can feel healthier scarfing them down today.

Go ahead, make up a batch - you can even share some if you want!

Vegan Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Frosting

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I found this recipe here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=165333376276 Thank you - these are good enough to devour!!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake tins w/ papers or grease.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine: 2 cups rice flour, 2 1/2 Tbsp. tapioca flour, 1/2 tsp. xantham gum, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt,  & 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups cane sugar.  Mix until well combined.

3.  In a blender put: 2 Tbsp. flax meal or flax seeds (grind first if using the seeds) and 1/3 cup of water.  Blend until it is kind of gummy and thicker in consistency.  Add one cup chopped beets (you can use canned too), 1 cup water, 1/4 cup canola oil (optional), 2 Tsp. apple cider vinegar & 2 tsp. vanilla extract.  Blend for about 2 minutes until it looks frothy.

4.  Pour this into the dry ingredients & wisk together.

Mix until combined.  (As it noted on the recipe I found it may smell a little funky b/c of the beets & vinegar - but ignore this now they will be delicious later!)

Pour into cupcake liners & bake for 15-18 minutes.  You can tell they're done when you press it with your finger and the cake bounces back - don't over-cook!)

Once cooked, cool for a second & put in the fridge for at least an hour before frosting.   - This helps intensify the flavor.

Vanilla Frosting

Ok, SO I cheated a bit on this one and used a mix (you can easily make it from scratch too if you wanna)

1.  In mixing bowl add vanilla frosting mix:

This one is really good - but it's just powdered sugar and vanilla powder, so you can make your own too:) 

Follow directions on package - I added 6 Tbsp. butter substitute, 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, and 3 Tbsp. water.  Whip up & you're done.

Yum! HAPPY Valentines Day! ......And if for any reason, you're feeling down: Don't worry!  So far for Valentine's Day I have received a trashy gossip magazine! (and that's probably gonna be about it:) ..............But I did make myself these cupcakes and they're delicious for breakfast too!

*LOVE you * have a great day!!!!!