Sugar Free, Gluten Free, GUILT FREE!!

Paleo Chocolate Olive Oil Cupcakes!

I have a dear friend who has a very strict diet. She doesn't eat any gluten, dairy, red meat, or unnatural sugars. With very few exceptions to this life-style it can be hard to find treats we can both enjoy ( I like butter, and sugar, and more butter... she doesn't ;p ) These cupcakes are based off a recipe I found online one day while trying to decide what to make one day in honor of her visit. I was so worried that she wouldn't like them but she absolutely LOVED them (otherwise I probably wouldn't be sharing this with you). This friend is very picky so when she ate, I kid you not, EVERY ONE of them throughout the course of the night I couldn't help but smile about it.

The recipe is very simple but I was a total ninny and forgot to add the eggs to my batch, amazingly enough they still turned out fine. I think the eggs would have given them more of  that velvety texture that no cupcake should go without. But, otherwise, this recipe was trifle free.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs cocoa powder
2 Tbs coconut flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1/4 Tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
3 Tbs honey
1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs olive oil
( I added a few drops of imitation raspberry extract that I found in my cabinet to give the cake some extra flavor)

Icing:
1 Tbs  melted coconut oil
1 Tbs cocoa powder
1 Tbs honey




The recipe told me to set my oven to 160 degrees Celsius which converts to about 223 degrees Fahrenheit. My oven does not have this setting so what I did is set my oven on the lowest setting and then watched the cupcakes very carefully!

However, first things first, combine all dry ingredients and then one by one add in the wet ingredients (eggs, honey, vanilla, and olive oil) and then mix thoroughly until it's smooth.

The batter yields very little to work with  so I tripled the recipe and then used mini cupcake tins and a mini cupcake pan.

The bake time is 20-25 minutes but like I stated earlier my oven was quite a bit hotter so my cupcakes took significantly less time to bake.

Like when working with any frosting you must allow the cake to cool completely before icing.

The icing consistency can very if you would like it too. To make it thicker add more coco (with some honey to sweeten it)  Add a little more coconut oil to thin. This homemade frosting takes a bit to thicken so make sure you give it time to set!

These cupcakes taste wonderful and natural however I thought they needed a little bit more sweetener so I added the raspberry topper to give it a little zing! Also, to compliment the extract in the cakes.


Some ingredients can get pricey so I recommend taking advantage of stores like Aldi where organic honey, coco powder, eggs, raspberries, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and olive oil can all be found.

Raspberry extract and all natural flour can be found at your local Target :) I honestly thought that the coconut flour was WAY to expensive. So I used gluten free Bob's Red Mill flour because I don't believe in paying $40 for something that wont be paired with butter ;)






Source: http://www.siascookingblog.com/2013/10/chocolate-olive-oil-cupcakes.html

Turtle Cups!

Tools:
a mini cupcake pan
little cupcake liners (the cheapest ones!)
A microwave safe bowl,
a stirring spoon,
pastry brush.
A cake pan (rectangular)
A knife
Measuring spoons\cups

Ingredients:
Semisweet chocolate chips
Crisco
Brownie mix (or whip up a homemade batch!)
A batch of caramel (if you don't know how to make caramel simply buy a pack of chewy caramels from the store and melt them down with heavy whipping cream in the microwave! Not too much cream though, the caramel needs to be thick not creamy)
Pecans
Sea salt

To make the edible cups you melt down chocolate chips with a smidgen of Crisco. I'd say 2 tsp. Of Crisco per  cup of chocolate chips. You can play with this ratio. You do not want the chocolate oily or thin,  just smooth and thick! I do intervals of 30 seconds in the microwave. Stirring between each interval. When the chocolate is smooth and thick (and very hot!!) You  dip in your pastry brush and coat the inside of the liners. Reheat the chocolate as needed but be careful not to burn it. Don't be upset if the liners don't cooperate, its a messy process.  It is important to put the liners back in the pan so the cups have the proper shape. Get a thick coat on the inside of the desired amount of liners and set the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.

  While they are freezing preheat your oven and whip up those brownies!!! 

After 30 minutes the cups should be frozen. Before removing them from the freezer prepare another bowl of chocolate. When that is ready you can take the cups out and coat them again. Make sure there are no visibly thin areas! Focus on the bottom of the cup as well, you want a firm base. However there does need to be room in the cup for goodies!!! While coating the liners the second time they will start to melt and not be as firm, don't be afraid to throw them back in the freezer for a few minutes every now and again to make things easier. When they are all Coated put them back in the freezer for 30 or more minutes.

While they are freezing go ahead and bake the brownies if you haven't already. If your brownies are baking already make your caramel, once those things are done go ahead and crush those pecans!! Not to powder. You can chop them if you want.

When your brownies are cooled cut them into small squares, and I mean small. Your going to ball each tiny square and put it in the cups. I use the brownies from the center of the pan because they're the most soft.

Once your brownies are cooled and cut, pecans chopped, and your caramel is all ooey and gooey you can get those cups from the freezer. This next part can get frustrating, you must now unwrap the cups. All of them. Be gentle and place them back in the freezer for bits of time as needed. The wrappers are going to stick in the grooves, to the bottom, and everywhere else. The cups are delicate so peel with caution. There will be quite a few that inevitably crumble. Keep these, set them to the side. After they are peeled refreeze for a few minutes if needed. You won't need to freeze them again for awhile because you shouldn't be manhandling  them as often anymore.

Place a brownie bit in the bottom of the cup and carefully press it down. On top of this you can sprinkle the pecans. After the pecans have been sprinkled go ahead and spoon some caramel on top. Just enough to cover the brownie and nuts.

The cup should be about full now. Those superfluous crumbled chocolate cups? Break them into shards and sprinkle them over the caramel. Or just eat them, that's up to you. To top them turtle cups off with flavor go ahead and lightly sprinkle some sea salt on there. It looks pretty and tastes great!!!!

I have made anywhere from a dozen to 400 of these. They take time but are so worth it! Measurements are more of estiments, I haven't experimented enough with them to have exact numbers so don't be afraid to play around with things!