These easy healthy chocolate cupcakes are fluffy and light, and significant protein and fiber. An easy one bowl recipe to make a chocolate cupcake from scratch that is dairy free, egg free and gluten-free.
This healthy chocolate cupcake recipe from scratch uses pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree instead of eggs and oil. You can't taste the vegetables and the taste is a moist and fluffy cupcake.
Like my vegan vanilla cupcakes, and in fact my other cupcake recipes, these healthy chocolate cupcakes are dairy free, gluten free and vegan. Perfect for all diets and for celebrations and holidays, and even healthy smash cake celebrations.
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Why You'll Love This
A healthier chocolate cupcake. This cupcake is healthier with only 270 calories including frosting, and made with a vegetable puree instead of eggs and oil. That gives the cupcakes 4 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber, along with many micronutrients not usually found in baked goods.
Easy to make in one bowl. This fluffy gourmet chocolate cupcake is so easy to make, just toss ingredients in a bowl, bake and frost. I share my awesome chocolate buttercream frosting recipe in this post, or you can use my super healthy 2-ingredient sweet potato chocolate frosting, my white frosting, or my vegan buttercream frosting recipe which provides healthier ways to color frosting.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour. Or use gluten-free baking flour. My chocolate fudge cake uses oat flour if you'd prefer to try that recipe.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder. Use unsweetened and the higher the quality, the better the cupcake. Dutch-processed works well.
- Organic cane sugar. Regular cane sugar works but this tastes better.
- Almond milk + lemon juice. Helps with leavening.
- Pumpkin puree. Works to provide support an egg would and replaces oil.
- Aquafaba or applesauce. Either works as an egg replacer.
- Leaveners & flavorings: baking powder, baking soda, coffee, vanilla extract, salt
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Steps To Bake
Here are the general steps to make this recipe. Find the detailed measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
1. Line your cupcake pans with paper liners and preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Mix wet ingredients and sugar in a large bowl, and stir with hand-mixer or spoon until combined.
3. Add dry ingredients and stir or mix just enough to combine. Don't over-stir or you'll create a "tough" cupcake.
4. Fill each cupcake liner about ¾ full and bake for 18 minutes at 350 F.
5. Let them cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to rack to cool.
Pro-tip: Scoop using a medium-sized ice cream scoop for the perfect amount per cupcake liner. That way you avoid adding too little which results in a dry cupcake, or too much which spills over and sticks to the pan.
Variations & Substitutions
1.The veggie puree can be pumpkin puree, sweet potato puree, butternut squash puree or even zucchini puree. You can get quality versions of most of these canned, or if you don't mind the extra step, use fresh by steaming the vegetable and pureeing in a food processor.
2. Flavors can be added to these cupcakes via extract. For instance, I frost these with white frosting during the holidays and add peppermint extract in both the batter and the frosting to make festive peppermint cupcakes.
3. Aquafaba. Use the same amount of applesauce instead. Applesauce contains pectin which works as aquafaba does as a binder for cake batter.
Recipe Tips
1.Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature to start. Anything hot or cold can change the texture of your healthy chocolate cupcake.
2.When you are mixing wet ingredients, mix for at least 3 minutes to dissolve the sugar. There will be a minimal crunch when you press your spoon against the bowl. Dissolved sugar helps keep the healthy cupcake light.
3.Don’t over stir or bake or cool. Don't over stir, don't over bake, and don't leave the cupcakes too long in the hot pan to cool.
4. Use parchment baking cups to allow easy in peeling off the paper.
Make Ahead & Storage
These healthy chocolate cupcakes can be made up to 2 days in advance. Bake them, then let them cool completely, and store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator until you are ready to frost them. Or you can freeze them unfrosted for up to two months before they will suffer freezer burn.
FAQS
You don't need to buy buttermilk for this chocolate cupcake recipe. Just add lemon or apple cider vinegar to milk and wait a few minutes. That is a healthy vegan form of homemade buttermilk.
Yes, use a gluten free baking flour.
Yes, this recipe uses pumpkin puree and aquafaba (or apple sauce) instead of eggs and oil.
Use parchment baking cups, and rub a bit of coconut oil into each liner, or spray with a little cooking spray. Let your cupcakes cool before peeling them off.
Other Healthy Cupcakes & Cakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Chocolate Dipped Cupcakes (hi tops)
- Healthy Lemon Cupcakes
- Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
- Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
- Fluffy Vegan Vanilla Cake
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📖 Recipe
Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream
Equipment
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Hand-mixer
- Mixing bowl
- cupcake pan
Ingredients
Cupcake Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour or a GF baking flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder use dutch processed for darker color
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon coffee use instant granules or fresh brewed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Cupcake Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup dairy-free milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree, canned (Or sweet potato puree)
- 3 tablespoon aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas or apple sauce
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting:
- 2 cups organic powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder dutch processed cocoa for darker color
- ⅓ cup butter I used Earth Balance vegan butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoon dairy free milk
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Measure out aquafaba (liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas or garbanzo beans) OR use unsweetened apple sauce.
- Line cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
- Activate your milk by adding lemon juice to it and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Make cake
- To the large mixing bowl, add wet ingredients and sugar, and mix until combined. Mix for at least three minutes to be sure the sugar is fully dissolved.1 cup dairy-free milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ⅓ cup pumpkin puree, canned, 3 tablespoon aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup organic cane sugar
- Then add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon coffee, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Distribute the batter evenly into 12 cupcake liners using a medium cookie scoop.
- Bake cupcakes for 18 minutes. Or until tester comes out clean for all of them.
- Let them cool for a ten minutes in pans, then put cupcakes on cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Make frosting
- Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vegan butter, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoon of the milk to a large mixing bowl. If butter is cold, microwave it for 10 seconds to soften.2 cups organic powdered sugar, ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ⅓ cup butter, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 5 tablespoon dairy free milk
- Use a hand-mixer or an electric mixer to combine. Add the remaining milk gradually until you have a creamy consistency. You can add more or less milk, but be careful, it can turn too liquidy very fast.
- Add frosting to a frosting bag with your chosen tip.
- Frost cupcakes
Store
- To store cupcakes in the freezer for a month, pack them unfrosted in a sealed container.Once frosted, the cupcakes are fine at room temperature for about 3 days and then they begin to dry out.
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