Gluten- and Grain-free Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting
Halloween baked goods are so cute, but often so processed. Not here! Except that pesky white chocolate. I just can’t quit it. And the frosting? Made with coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey and peanut butter. Yeah! :D
You know what’s really neat? These cupcakes are grain-free, but my test testers didn’t even think they were “healthified.” HA! I think any baker can tell, though. Although with the chocolate peanut butter fudge topping, it’s pretty hard to tell. The texture is slightly different than a normal cupcake, but it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten with anything gluten-free. Much less grain-free. And they’re super, super moist.
I originally wanted to make skeletons for my cupcakes, and after four days of dipping pretzels in white chocolate, not being able to resist them and then having to remake them day after day, I had to give up. I put on their heads this morning and somebody told me that they looked like something “constructed at the playground.” So in a fit of rage (not really) I ate all the white chocolate covered pretzels this morning and tried to think of something Halloweeny to do with my cupcakes.
Gluten- and Grain-free Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C and line 8 muffin cups with liners.
In a large bowl combine the wet ingredients and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients and add this to the wet ingredients. Stir in just until combined. Do not over mix!
Pour evenly into the muffin liners. If you want to make spiderwebs like I did, you need to be careful to not put too much batter in the liners because I'm guessing it'll be more difficult if you have a slightly domed cupcake. My liners were a little less then ⅔ full.
Bake for 16 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out mostly clean. A few moist crumbs or a little stickiness is okay, just not raw batter. These are super moist so if it comes out totally clean, they're probably overdone.
For the frosting, melt the coconut oil, natural peanut butter and cocoa powder together in a pot or pan over low heat. When it's completely melted and smooth, take it off the heat and add the honey and stir until well combined. Let the cupcakes and frosting cool completely before icing. These are much better stored at room temperature and it's okay to keep at room temperature even after frosting. My favorite way to enjoy them is to reheat them a little in the microwave. The topping melts and it gets so gooey. Definitely the most "regular" cupcake tasting in this form. :)
I made these a fortnight ago for 4 gluten intolerant colleagues in my team. A girl who has been eating GF for 3 years said they were the best GF cupcakes she has ever had! They were all asking after the recipe! I also gave one to my personal trainer as he was impressed with me eating grain free. Impressive all round, so thank you :)
Wow! Thank you so much for the feedback, Beccy. :) It made my day, for sure. I'm not exactly an authority on gluten-free eating / recipe creating so it means a lot to me to have their feedback… yours too! :)
I'm a baking obsessed Texan named Erin, currently living in Germany. Here you'll find 100% whole grain, reduced sugar recipes that don't taste healthy! I also post a lot of grain- and gluten-free goodies. More »
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I made these a fortnight ago for 4 gluten intolerant colleagues in my team. A girl who has been eating GF for 3 years said they were the best GF cupcakes she has ever had! They were all asking after the recipe! I also gave one to my personal trainer as he was impressed with me eating grain free.
Impressive all round, so thank you :)
Wow! Thank you so much for the feedback, Beccy. :) It made my day, for sure. I'm not exactly an authority on gluten-free eating / recipe creating so it means a lot to me to have their feedback… yours too! :)