Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

Lately I've been experimenting with putting coconut butter into all the places that vegan butter normally goes. Cookies, cupcakes, and everything else really. Sometimes it imparts a little bit of coconutty flavor, other times I don't even notice it except for the rich light texture it leaves. In cookies it keeps them moist and chewy but not oily, and in these cupcakes it made them a little denser than an ordinary cupcake but incredibly moist and flavorful. I hate the word moist but I honestly couldn't think of a word to replace it.

My original plan was to put lemon zest as well as juice in the batter, but our zester's vanished so that didn't happen. Adding a couple teaspoons would be an awesome addition though!

These guys are pretty tasty on their own, and frosting would make them even better. I'm one of those people who prefers the tops of muffins to the rest of them, and that happened with these a little as well. There's a couple sitting in my fridge decapitated right now actually. No shame.

I used homemade cashew milk for this recipe which turned out awesome, (1/4 cup cashews blended with 1 cup water), but any commercially made nut or soy milk should turn out fine as well.

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

1 cup cashew/almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup coconut butter, softened
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 cup cake/pastry flour, sifted
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350, line a muffin tin with liners.

Mix together cashew milk and apple cider vinegar with lemon juice, set aside for a few minutes.

Cream together sugar and softened coconut butter. Add vanilla, and milk and apple cider vinegar mixture.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt.

Mix the dry into the wet, and combine until smooth. Fill liners and bake for 18-20 minutes.