happy friday! {canyon cupcakes}

happy friday!

well, my pledge on monday to blog more has fallen flat...but this week i: took a sewing class and made a pillow; went on lots of hikes; worked out; did yoga; experimented with agave and baking; and played with a two year old. not much time for sitting in front of the computer.

my friends moved here from new york this week and they {and their two year old} are staying with us until their moving truck arrives. we're joking that now that they left brooklyn and moved to los angeles, they are canyon people. so...i made some really hippie cupcakes and called them "canyon cupcakes." i'm trying to go off sugar and i'm allergic to dairy & eggs, so that means a lot of vegan cooking. this week, i experimented with replacing sugar with agave in cupcakes and the results were pretty tasty. although, as you can see from the photo, they are not the prettiest cupcakes...but heck, they're canyon cupcakes! they look like the brown hills of the canyon...

so, they are named canyon cupcakes in honor of my recent new yorker transplant friends. i amended the recipe from my favorite cookbook ever Calci-Yum! by david & rachelle bronfman. hope you enjoy! {sorry, esb, not gluten-free! i know you're disappointed given how much you *love* cupcakes! i'll experiment with that next time.}

{canyon cupcakes}

preheat oven to 375 degrees

makes about 20 cupcakes

nonstick muffin tin, lightly oiled

for cupcakes:

3 cups finely chopped beat greens

1- 1/4 cups soy milk

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup soy flour

1 cup agave

1 tbsp cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup chocolate chips {optional, i used fruit-sweetened & dairy-free from nature store}

for frosting:

4 oz firm tofu

1/3 cup agave

1/4 cup almond butter

1/2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. steam beat greens & allow to cool and chop. {i used the food processor to finely chop.} transfer to large bowl along with soy milk, agave syrup and vanilla; mix together.

2. in a separate bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and flax seed. add in the chocolate chips, if using. gradually stir dry ingredients into beet-green mixture; mix well.

3. spoon mixture into cups of prepared muffin tin. bake 20 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.

4. make frosting: in a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients; blend until creamy {you may want to add more almond or peanut butter if needed to thicken}. transfer to small bowl and refrigerate from 1 hour. when frosting has become firm, it's ready to spread.

{photo by me}