Vegan Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes!

Oh yes, they tasted as good as they looked. =]

These were made for our nephew Jaedyn's adoption party. He's got severe dairy allergies, so everything I make for him needs to be vegan/dairy-free. You'd think this would limit my options as far as baking goes, but there are so many awesome recipes out there! This one came from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, but I found it online at Chow.com.

Jaedyn LOVED them, especially the frosting. He was eyeballing them all through dinner. Here's some more pictures.

Jaedyn chowing down on the breakfast of champions the next morning. =]

Vegan Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes

• 1 c. soy milk (I used vanilla Silk)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. coarsely chopped chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
• Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK). Mix in the sandwich cookies. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated shortening (I just used butter-flavored Crisco since I wasn't worried about the vegan aspect)
• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated margarine (I used Willow Run soy margarine)
• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. plain soy milk or soy creamer (I used vanilla Silk again since it's what I had)

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and the soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until light and fluffy. Just fold in chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs to make it match the cupcakes.