Swapping Blogs and Chocolate Almond Cupcakes

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Today I am swapping blogs with Kim from Cups by Kim.  I am so happy to welcome Kim here. Her blog is wonderful and has so many delicious recipes, including all of her cupcakes. She even runs her own cupcake business.  Please make sure that you go check out her blog and check out my post for Cinnamon Smores Cookie Cups there.  Here's Kim and her Chocolate Almond Cupcakes:


Well hello everyone! I'm Kim, and typically you can find me over at Cups by Kim. But today! Today is the day that Alyssa and I are swapping places! Well, not really swapping places, besides I don't know anyone who would volunteer to take on my crazy life. We're swapping blogs! We signed up to be part of the



I'm so happy that Alyssa invited me over here to share one of my recipes with all of you. After stalking checking out her blog I decided that I was going to stick to what I'm good at, but add in a twist for Alyssa. If you know her, you know that she is lacotse intolerant. Personally, I don't know how she does it. She's a much stronger woman than I!I decided that I would use one of my most favorite items that I was heavily dependant on when I was diary free after I had my little one, Almond Milk.Now if none of you have ever tried Almond Milk you are totally missing out. It's a great alternative to cows milk. And it comes in so many different flavors now, you can't go wrong with Chocolate Almond Milk & A Cupcake.I decided that's just what I would do.Drum roll please...ddddddddddddddddddddddddd!  
And not only are these cupcakes made with Almond Milk. They are Gluten Free and have a top secret ingredient.Quinoa.(okay a little side note, please excuse the digression, I have to get it out)So this thing Quinoa. I've been intrigued by this for a while now, and though I haven't been brave enough to try it, I finally decided to put on the big girl panties and cook it up. It was pretty simple to make, and was perfect for these cupcakes, and I will admit, Sophie actually enjoyed it. But I very much disliked it. Not because of the taste or anything like that, but because of the mess it makes. There are a few things that I abosolutely despise doing in the kitchen.Chopping Broccoli. I hate the little tiny pieces that get everywhere and are impossible to wipe up.Using Stainless Bowls.I have white countertops, need I say more?And now experimenting with Quinoa has been added to this ever growing list. Why you ask?Because it sticks to everything! I think Quinoa is one of NASA's Top Secret science projects that went terribly wrong in the easy remove glue department, but went terribly right in the good for you category.If you're up to it and have figured out a way to prevent this from sticking to every horizontal surface in your kitchen I would highly recommend these cupcakes.I'm not convincing you am I?Really, the flavor of these cupcakes outshines the stickiness of the Quinoa completely.Really. You need to try these.Okay so enough digression, how about the recipe.Well here you go!
Chocolate Almond CupcakesIngredients:2/3 cup white or golden quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup almond milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins with liners and set aside.

Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2 cups cooked quinoa and the butter and continue to blend until smooth.

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the contents of the blender and mix well. Fill the cupcake pans 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool in pans for about 5 minutes and then remove to cooling rack. Allow cupcakes to cool completely and frost as desired.

These cupcakes are so rich and chocolatey they didn't need any frosting at all, but they looked kind of naked in the pictures, so I decided to try them with some cream cheese frosting and hazelnut spread.  TA DIE FOR!I hope all of you enjoyed this as much as I did. I want to thank Alyssa again for inviting me over for the day, and I hope that all of you will come check out my blog atCups by KimHave a fantastic week!