Chocolate Cupcakes

I've posted two recipes so far that use variations on this base to make the cupcakes, but I decided to make it official and just post the basic cupcake recipe for future reference. Sometimes I'm in the mood to make something fancy and some days I just need something quick and easy so I can take desserts with me or whip them out quickly. This recipe falls into the quick and easy category, but it's also delicious enough to get recipe requests. Now that I have a go-to quick brownie recipe, I think this has in the span of a week become my go-to quick cupcake recipe.

Other selling points of this recipe: it only requires two bowls, no stand mixer, and no having to worry about room temperature butter or needing to melt butter. The batter contains no raw egg, so there's no hesitating with eating the raw batter. It also uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate which is good because I seem to constantly run out of semisweet chocolate. The one con is it does rely on coconut milk, but I try to always keep at least a can in my cupboard for quick curries. One other word of warning, they don't seem to hold together very well until they've had a chance to cool. If you have the time, a quick trip to the fridge does wonders for them. And if you don't have the time, they're still wonderful.

One year ago: Orzo with Roasted Vegetables ... I think I may need to revisit this soon with a different blend of roasted veggies

Chocolate Cupcakes (from Love and Olive Oil)
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (170g) sugar
1 cup (110g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (40g) cocoa powder
2 tbsp almond meal (ground almonds)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Whisk together the coconut milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in coconut milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).
5. Pour into liners, filling each with 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). For mini cupcakes, fill each with 1 tablespoon batter.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.