Oh. Em. Gee. Guilt-free cupcakes

With blurry photo-documentation, unfortunately.

I actually managed to make vegan, sugar-free cupcakes. And they taste good! They're not as sweet as sugar-sweetened cupcakes, of course, but they're lightly sweet and yummy.

• ⅔ cup soy milk
• ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
• ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ⅓ cup canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (use all-purpose for less texture, if desired)
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp salt*
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Mix wet ingredients together in one bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to incorporate, until no large lumps remain. Pour mixture into liners until ¾ full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a large cupcake comes clean.

* this iteration uses salt, but I think I will omit it next time; the salt is a bit too overpowering in this version

For the icing, I winged it. The following measurements are approximate:

• 6 unsulphured Medjool dates, pitted
• one avocado, peeled and pitted
• scant ¼ cup cocoa powder
• splash of soy milk (or until the icing is suitably moist)

To the bowl of a food processor, add the dates and pulse to coarsely chop. Add the avocado and pulse further. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary. Add the cocoa powder and pulse further, again, scraping the bowl down when required. Add soy milk as needed.

Pipe the resultant icing on your cupcakes and eat to your heart's content!

July 31 update: it's official, using all-purpose flour and omitting the salt makes a better cupcake. Yay for half-batches!