Quinoa is a great substitute for ingredients like white rice, pasta, etc.
Kicking these foods to the curb and substituting with quinoa can help you manage your hunger and weight long term.
It adds much needed fibre, iron and a kick of protein to your diet to help kick start your metabolism.
Another cool thing is that when blended, quinoa can be used as a thickening agent in baking!
That brings me to this recipe: Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Icing!
Gluten-free and super tasty, these Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Icing are a go-to for me if I'm having a get-together and want to serve a healthier version of the store bought cupcakes.
Don't get me wrong: I'll totally buy the store-bought cupcakes sometimes.
Like for example, this past weekend at our Halloween party. I bought cupcakes from the store, with towers of white icing, complete with plastic eye-balls on top and I made this Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Icing.
A friend is gluten-free so I wanted a different option for her and I actually like these cupcakes better than the store bought ones.
Although, my 6 year old thought otherwise. He tried one (when offered both versions) and was visibly upset when he loudly proclaimed: THESE TASTE LIKE AVOCADO!
I really had to suppress my laughter for a few reasons:
1. I couldn't believe he could even taste the avocado in the icing
2. He hasn't had avocado in years so he actually remembers what it tastes like(!) and,
3. He basically felt like I totally tricked him into eating one
Plus, his reaction was all THIS IS HORRIBLE so that's just funny in itself.
It also requires you as a parent to not laugh at all.
But other than that, my friends' 2 and a half year old ate one 🙂
And my hubby likes them without icing (he's crazy like that) but no matter which way you eat them, it's great to have a dessert with a bit of protein, fibre and healthy fats.
Hope you love you em' like we do,
~April
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup water
- ⅓ cup quinoa 1 cup after cooking
- ¼ cup reduced-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup liquid honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the icing
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 tablespoon liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with silicone or paper cupcake liners.
- Cook the quinoa for the cupcakes. In a small saucepan, bring the water and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit with the cover on while you do the next steps. Make sure the quinoa is very fluffy with no excess water in it.
- Using a hand blender, combine sour cream, honey, egg, egg white, oil and vanilla. Blend until combined. Add ¼ cup of the quinoa and blend until mostly smooth. Repeat adding ¼ cup quinoa, pureeing after each addition, until all the quinoa has been added. Blend about 30 seconds each time. It's ok if it's not completely smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt until no lumps of cocoa powder remain. Add the pureed mixture. Stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
- Bake for approximately 19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the pan.
- For the icing, peel the avocado and in a small bowl, mash it with a fork until no big lumps remain. Then add the honey and vanilla and whisk by hand until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and whisk again till smooth.
Chrystal Keogh says
These were so good!! Just came on here to get the recipe and going to make them tomorrow ????
April Saunders says
Awesome! So glad you liked them Chrystal 🙂
Juanita says
These are really good. The icing actually comes together nice. You can make a really pretty cupcake with this recipe.