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Dairy free cookies n' cream cupcakes + printable toppers

Dairy free cookies n' cream cupcakes + printable toppers

Hello hello! I’m back after a terribly long hiatus. While I didn’t completely stop baking, things did take a bit of a back seat when I got pregnant and had my first child, baby Zoey! Baby Zoey is now actually a full fledged toddler, a few months away from 2 years old (!!) and my life is somewhere in the zone of having enough time to think about blogging again. I haven’t had as much time to photograph and style my baking as of late, but I thought progress is better than perfection, so why not just get started :) 

A little bit before the pandemic started, I started volunteering for an awesome organization called Cake 4 Kids. They, with the help of countless volunteers in multiple cities, deliver free custom homemade birthday cakes to at-risk and underserved youth across the country. It might be a small thing, but I’d like to think a home baked cake or treat on a special day can bring a little extra joy to a child. It’s also a great opportunity to bake with a purpose, and today I’m sharing the last treat I baked for Cake 4 Kids - dairy free cookies n’ cream cupcakes!

Overall this was a fairly simple bake, but it was my first time making Swiss meringue buttercream with vegan butter. I’m delighted to report it worked very well. I was a bit worried at first because it seemed a bit softer than frosting made with butter, but it set well and held its shape after being piped.

These cupcakes came out very delicious - not overly sweet, and good flavor. I will say chocolate cake or cupcakes made with real chocolate in the batter can have a stronger, more chocolatey flavor, but this particular batter made beautifully rounded cupcakes with perfect texture. The flavor also balanced the sweeter Oreo frosting nicely. 

Printable cupcake topper flags that say "Celebrate!"

These are decorated simply - I halved Oreo cookies, piped a little frosting along the edge, and rolled them in sprinkles. I used primary colors as this was for a younger child and there was no theme, so I thought colorful and cheery would do the trick. I also made some simple printable flags to go on top - if you like them, you can print or download them here.

Please note this is for a large batch - I needed to deliver 24 cupcakes and actually got about 27 out of this recipe, but you can easily half the recipe for about 12 cupcakes. I also made the regular amount of SMB frosting I usually make for a cake which was quite a bit more than needed. Lesson learned! 

I enjoyed making these (and tasting them!) and really hope the kid who got these had a fabulous celebration and enjoyed their cupcakes!

  • 25 Cupcakes
  • 1 hour
  • 20 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate cupcakes

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup cocoa powder (I used a combination of regular and dutch processed)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup soy milk (you can use any milk you’d like here)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup boiling hot decaf coffee (you can use regular of course, but since this is for kids and we’re a low caffeine household, decaf it is)

Dairy free Swiss meringue buttercream (this makes quite a bit, I would actually suggest halving the recipe if using for cupcakes - otherwise this is a good amount for filling and frosting a full 8 to 9 inch cake)

  • 227g egg whites
  • 454g sugar
  • 680g vegan butter, room temperature (I used “Vegan Buttery Sticks” by Earth Balance)
  • 2 tsp vanilla 
  • 1 tsp salt (optional)
  • 12 Oreo cookies, pulverized 

Directions

Dairy free chocolate cupcakes

  1. Preheat oven to 325F, and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners
  2. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt
  3. Add milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until combined, making sure to scrape the sides of your bowl to incorporate everything.
  4. Carefully add the hot coffee, mix well.
  5. Pour batter into prepped cupcake pan, filling each to about 2/3 full. If you only have a 12 cupcake pan, you’ll have to bake these in shifts.
  6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, checking for doneness using a toothpick - it should come out clean.
  7. Let cupcakes cool
    ​​​​​​

Frosting

  1. Whisk sugar and egg white together in the top bowl of a double boiler. Heat to 160F.
  2. If not already using a mixer bowl, transfer to a mixer bowl with the whisk attachment. Whisk until stiff peaks, about 15 minutes. Refrigerate for 20 minutes if you’re having a hard time getting the meringue to whip up.
  3. Replace whisk with beater attachment, and while beating on low speed start adding small cubes of vegan butter, until all butter has been added.
  4. ​​Add vanilla and pulverized Oreos. Beat until everything comes together and buttercream looks smooth.
  5. Taste - if you’d like, you can add a bit of salt, but depending on the vegan butter you use, you may not need it. 

Decoration

  1. Pipe swirls of frosting on each cooled cupcake
  2. Optionally, decorate with extra Oreo cookies, sprinkles, and toppers
  3. Enjoy!

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