Coconut Flour Cupcakes with Super Powers

Despite building for years, the cupcake craze doesn't show signs of slowing down. I won't call it a trend; if there is a genre of modern American culinary classics, cupcakes are a pillar. They are an American form of Prozac, just looking at cupcakes seems to make people happy, which probably explains why so many laid off workers used their severance to open up cupcake bakeries in the recession.

But despite cupcake boutiques seemingly everywhere, cupcakes are still somewhat elusive to people with gluten allergies. So, I tested and adapted multiple gluten-free cupcake recipes that were tasty, healthy and didn't cause a sugar crash. Below is a recipe for the highest protein, lowest sugar tastiest cupcake I have ever eaten. Being on a restricted diet by necessity, I thought that perhaps my taste buds had become delusional and I was only imagining that the impossible was possible: A (somewhat) Healthy Cupcake. Gluten-eating, sugar lovers confirmed that these were magic cupcakes.

Coconut Flour White Bean Cupcakes

(adapted from The Spunky Coconut Vanilla Bean Cake)

2 C. white beans, rinsed and drained

6 eggs

1.5 tsp. vanilla extract (gluten-free)

5 Tbs. Agave

3 Tbs. grapeseed oil

1 Tbs. applesauce

1/3 C. coconut flour*, sifted

.5 tsp. salt

1.5 tsp. baking soda

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 350º.

2. Grease the inside of muffin tin or liner-these tend to stick to liners.

3. Puree first 4 ingredients in a blender or vita mixer until well combined.

4. Add remaining ingredients and puree until combined.

5. Pour cups 3/4 full- these really rise!

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

*The Economics and wonder of Coconut Flour: Not only does coconut flour have a lot of fiber and very few carbs, it's other super power is enhancing sweetness allowing you to use less sweetener in your recipe. Don't be deceived by the price; while it hurts to turn over $7 for a bag of coconut flour, I quickly realized that most coconut flour recipes only use 1/4 the amount that you would use of other types of flour so it's actually the equivalent of buying an equivalently sized bag of flour for less than $2.