Gingerbread Cupcakes

From: https://foodwithfeeling.com/vegan-gingerbread-cupcakes

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups of all purpose flour

½ cup of dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

½ tablespoon of cinnamon

½ tablespoon of ground ginger

½ teaspoon of all-spice

½ teaspoon of nutmeg

½ teaspoon of ground cloves

WET INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons of Country Crock Plant Butter, melted 

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

⅓ cup of molasses

½ cup of plant based milk

FROSTING:

3 ½ cups of Powdered Sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) of Country Crock Plant Butter

1 tablespoon of Molasses

1/4 teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1 teaspoon of vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tablespoon of plant based milk

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with liners and spray the inside of the liners with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: butter, apple cider vinegar, molasses, and plant based milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry and mix until JUST combined. It’s important not to overmix this batter as it will add too much air into the cupcakes and cause them to sink.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.

To make the frosting, add the plant butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, slowly, until all of it is in. Finally, add in the molasses, vanilla, spices, and milk. Mix on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until nice and fluffy.

Hot Mama Grade: C-

Hot Mama Notes: This recipe is a DISASTER!! I will never make it again. The Gingerbread never baked sufficiently. The toothpick was never clean, even after double the baking time! I used mini cupcakes and even after 23 minutes on the oven, they were still wet-ish. I was scared to overbake them. And then they fell, so the cupcakes were sad and sunken. 

The only good thing is the frosting which is amazing. I used roughly half as much ginger and cinnamon so as to not make the flavor overpowering. The frosting is very tasty, though sweet. I would make it again! It is the only saving grace of this recipe. It made the cupcakes at least somewhat edible and covered up the sad sunken look. 

Also worth noting... The cupcakes stuck in their liner cups with spray oil or not. First pan I forgot the spray oil. They stuck. Second batch, I remembered the spray oil, and they still stuck. Lame.

I probably made too many substitutions, and maybe that is what ruined this recipe. I won't give it another try. I converted this vegan recipe to non vegan. I used butter and milk. I didn't think it would be an issue, but the Gingerbread turned out awful, so who knows. Next time I will search for and bake a non-vegan Gingerbread cupcake recipe. And maybe using mini cupcakes messed it up, but it shouldn't.