vegan lemon cupcakes!

vegan lemon cupcakes 

1½ cups (6.6 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour*

1 cup (7 oz.) sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 lemon

½ cup orange juice

cold water

6 TB canola oil

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon extract

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. place paper cupcake liners in 12-cup muffin pan. set aside.

2. mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. make sure they are thoroughly combined.

3. zest and juice lemon. set aside 1 TB juice and 1 tsp. zest for icing. place remaining lemon juice and zest in a measuring cup. add water to equal ½ cup liquid.

4. make 2 small holes and 1 large hole in the dry ingredients. pour 1 tsp vinegar in one of the small holes, pour the vanilla and lemon extracts in the second small hole, pour the oil in the large hole. don’t worry if it overflows. pour the orange juice and water/lemon mixture over everything. using a mixer, mix until batter is smooth.

5. portion out the batter in the prepared pan. bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. cool completely before icing with lemony cream cheese-ish icing.

*do not substitute bleached all-purpose. you can substitute ½ cup bread flour, 1 cup bleached all-purpose flour.

lemony cream cheese-ish icing

3 oz. tofutti cream cheese substitute

3 oz. vegan margarine

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 TB fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest (for garnish)

place tofutti and margarine in bowl. whip with mixer until smooth. stop mixer. add lemon juice and 3 cups powdered sugar. mix until combined, then whip on high until icing is fluffy and spreadable. (you may need to add more powdered sugar if the icing seems too soft.) frost cupcakes and garnish with reserved zest. 

**my friend amber, of sweet girls bakery, came up with this recipe for us vegans of the world who miss a good lemon bar.  these cupcakes were just as refreshing and light as i remember the lemon bars to be in my pre-vegan days.  if you live in the raleigh area and are interested in purchasing some yummy baked goods, contact amber at sweetgirls@mindspring.com