Coconut Quinoa Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

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There are two types of people:  people who go with the flow and do things on the fly, and people who are totally anal rigid and need to plan things.

I'm the planning type.  Like, I need to schedule things or know of something in advance.  If it's not on my calendar, on my to-do list or reviewed fourteen times in my mind, it's not happenin' buddy.  Maybe this is my way of conquering my former habit of procrastinating?  Because if I mastered one skill (or curse?) in my early life, it would be that.

My planning led me to make those yummy Vanilla Toffee Quinoa Cupcakes.  However, the unplanned and alarming rate at which we finished off those cupcakes screwed up my baking schedule (yes, that exists).  My calendar told me that I should have a steady supply of dessert for a week when I really had disorder, chaos, despair zero cupcakes and a garbage full of cupcake wrappers.

Insanity.

So due to my cupcake withdrawal, I needed to make the recipe again, only this time trying out a new flavor!  I was craving coconut, so I made coconut cupcakes.  Everyone knows (or at least, everyone should know) that coconut and chocolate pair beautifully together.  Like peanut butter and jelly, but more sophisticated.

These cupcakes are incredibly moist, soft and springy.  It is shocking that you can actually feel good about eating them.  They are equally as sweet and delicious as the recipe it is based off of.  It still has that distinct quinoa flavor, but far less intense than the vanilla version.

Coconut and chocolate is a match made in heaven, except YOU are now part of the equation!


Coconut Quinoa Cupcakes with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting:  [sugar free, low fat, high protein, GF, vegan]
(makes 12 cupcakes)

   Cupcakes:
       272g (2 cups) Quinoa Flour
       2 tsp Baking Powder
       1/2 tsp Baking Soda
       1/2 tsp Salt
       1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
       241g (1 cup + 1 tbs) Coconut Amande "Yogurt" (other yogurts will probably work, like dairy, soy...)
       1+1/4 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
       1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
       1/2 tsp Stevia Extract
       1/2 tsp Butter Extract

   Fudgy Chocolate Frosting:

       24g (2 tbs) Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (I used Spectrum Organics)

       1/3 cup Light Coconut Milk, canned
       1/2 tsp Stevia Extract
       1/2 tsp Butter Extract
       10g (2 tbs) Regular Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
       75g (2/3 cup) Powdered Erythritol
       42g (2 scoops) Chocolate Brown Rice Protein Powder (I used SunWarrior)

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a cupcake tin with cooking spray or line with parchment liners (paper tends to stick to the cupcakes since these are low fat)
2.  In a small bowl, whisk together the quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.
3.  In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, almond milk and extracts.  Stir the dry into the wet and fold together (batter will be thicker than typical cupcake batters)
4.  Working quickly, scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake tin, gently pat the pan on the counter a couple times and bake for ~32 minutes, or until surface of cupcakes spring back when tapped.  Remove cupcakes from pan immediately and let cool on a wire cooling rack.
5.  For the frosting-  in a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the shortening at 15-second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted.  Stir in the coconut milk and extracts.  Stir in the cocoa, then the erythritol, then the protein powder.  Frost the cupcakes once completely cooled.

Feel free to sprinkle the cupcakes with unsweetened coconut and/or chocolate chips!

*Personally, I think these cupcakes are best eaten the next day... the quinoa flour flavor weakens (which is a good thing, since it's a bit grassy), and my paper liners peeled off easier than the day they were baked.  I put the cupcakes on a plate, wrapped with plastic wrap and left at room temp overnight.

Cupcake + Frosting = 150 calories??

Oh, and 2g of fiber, 3g of sugar and 6g of protein?

I don't think any of us feel bad about eating a couple in a row  ;)