Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

I bet you never thought you would see rich, decadent, chocolate cupcakes on a Nutritionists’ blog. I did it! I created healthy, delicious, don’t-feel-too-guilty-about-eating-these cupcakes, and I made them festive too, perfect for the Christmas season!

There’s a secret about these melt in your mouth, rich cupcakes, they are made with a typical pantry ingredient you’d never think you’d find in cupcakes…chickpeas!

The base of these cupcakes contains no flour and instead chickpeas take the place of the flour and work to bind the cupcakes together. With this you get a nice dose of plant-based protein and digestive-boosting fibre. The cupcakes are also made without refined ingredients and have a nice amount of healthy fats, and dark, antioxidant-rich chocolate!

The peppermint in the frosting is the perfect finishing touch, making candy canes and chocolate chips dance in your head as you take each delicious bite. The frosting, made with coconut oil literally melts in your mouth, and then you get just a teeeeny tiny hint of orange from the juice in the cupcake and all the wonderful flavors of Christmas come together…pure Joy… To the Cupcake World.

I hope you like today’s recipe – December will be full of delicious fun, holiday inspired recipes to lead up to Christmas, my favorite time of year! 🙂

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Serves: 15

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained
⅔ cup unsweetened, no pulp, orange juice
4 free-range eggs
½ cup agave nectar
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 cup dark chocolate chips
⅓ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon pure peppermint extract

Instructions

For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with liners.
Blend chickpeas and orange juice in a food processor until smooth. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, blending in between.
Add remaining ingredients to a large bowl. Mix in chickpea mixture until well combined.
Fill each cupcake liner around ¾ full and bake 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting: In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and coconut oil
Stir in peppermint extract
Place frosting in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to thicken, checking often to make sure it doesn't get too firm! (if it does, just pop in the microwave for 10 seconds and refrigerate again, or leave at room temperature for an hour)
Remove from refrigerator and whip frosting with a hand blender until thick and fluffy
Frost over cupcakes!