GF Chocolate Cupcakes *Coconut Flour*

OMG!  My dear friend, Lindsay, heard my pitiful plea and came to the rescue!  Seriously, tears were shed when I received a package of coconut flour on my front door step a few weeks ago.  It's the little "sweet nothings" received from friends that keep us trekking along in this world.  As you know, I have been whining about wanting to try coconut flour for quite some time, but I couldn't bear to buy it because it's expensive, and I am so poor right now.  THANK YOU, LINDSAY!!!

As some sort of payback to Lindsay for her generous gift, I have spent the past few weeks dedicating my baking time to creating the perfect chocolate cupcake made from coconut flour.  I finally came up with what I believe to be a moist, non-gritty, dependable GF cupcake.  I won't go into the details of my trials while on this journey, but I do want to shed some light on some super cool aspects of this recipe....

One, no need for xanthan gum!!!  Finally, a lickable batter for GF'ies!  Next, due to coconut flour being the most "thirsty" flour in the world, you only have to use a very small amount; therefore, the "expensive" bag of coconut flour really turns out to be not that expensive at all.  Seriously, I still have the same bag of flour, and I have made at least 10 batches of cupcakes...and I still have at least 3 more batches left in the bag.  And finally, I love how this recipe only makes 8-9 cupcakes.  That's the perfect amount for a family needing a sweet treat for a couple days.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup-  Coconut Flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs-  Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 tsp-  Salt
• 1/4 tsp-  Baking Soda
• 3-  Large Eggs
• 1/2 cup-  Sugar (or Coconut Sugar)
• 4 Tbs-  Canola Oil (or Coconut Oil)
• 1/2 tsp-  Vanilla Extract

Directions:


Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Sift together coconut flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a small'ish bowl or on a sheet of wax/parchment paper (makes for easy dumping later).  Add salt.  Set dry ingredients aside.

In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs until they just come together.  With the speed on medium, gradually pour in the sugar.  Once the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer on high, and whisk until the mixture becomes very pale yellow, and doubles in volume.  This step is very important, and takes appx. 3.5 minutes in a stand mixer.  Add oil and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk until just combined.  Mixture should still contain a lot of air.  Dish into 8 or 9 paper lined cupcakes, and bake for appx. 15-16 minutes.  They will contract some upon cooling.  This is typical for a chiffon-type cake, which this recipe mocks...sorta.  Leave in pan to cool a good deal before transporting them to a wire rack; otherwise, the will collapse.

(the stupid cupcake liners I bought did not want to cooperate)