Vegan Spiced Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup light soy milk or almond milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 + 1/8 cup cocoa powder (I used Ghiradelli)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract


Pumpkin Spice Frosting

1/4 cup vegan creamcheese
1/4 cup vegan butter
2 1/2 Tbs pumpkin puree
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a small pot/saucepan pour the soy milk and add the cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then turn off and let the cinnamon steep for about 10-15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon with a spoon once the milk is about room temperature.

2. Preheat oven 350 degrees, and spray and line 1 cupcake pan. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. To the room temperature soy milk add the sugar, Kelapo coconut oil, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk until well combined. Using the same whisk, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry whisking until the batter is smooth. DO NOT over mix. Using a ladle, ladle in the batter into the cupcake liners going up about 3/4 of the way.

3. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the vegan butter, cream cheese and pumpkin until creamy and smooth. Sift in 1 cup of the powdered sugar, and beat. Sift in the 2nd cup of powdered sugar and beat until well combined. Repeat for the last cup of powdered sugar. Frosting should thick.  Add in vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and food coloring. Beat until well combined. Taste to make sure its spiced properly and it tastes like pumpkin! Cover in plastic and store in the fridge until ready to pipe.

5. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the frosting and sprinkle with the decorative sprinkles.

Makes 10-12 cupcakes