The weather has been like Fall the past week—not complaining! In fact, it’s enabled me to get busy in the kitchen without making the indoor temperature 106 degrees F. Cool weather inspires me to cook, and sometimes the baking bug will bite me, even though I’m not the best baker in the house. I prefer to cook; baking takes more time and precision, not to mention skill, and gluten-free baking is another animal in itself. But the best way to hone a skill is to practice it. So, that’s what I did. I’ve had my eye on The Spunky Coconut’s vanilla bean cake for awhile now, so I finally found a good time and climate to try it out. I made some slight changes, but followed most of her recipe. I also didn’t use her frosting recipe and instead ventured out into my own creativity for that.
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Cookies ‘n Cream Frosting
(gluten-free, grain-free*, vegetarian)
Original recipe courtesy of The Spunky Coconut
When I say vanilla bean, I mean vanilla and beans, not a vanilla bean. As in white beans:
Recipe with my modifications in bold:
Add to food processor:
2 cups cooked white beans, room temperature, so they don’t cook the eggs (I used canned beans; drained and rinsed again)
6 large eggs
3/4 tsp Vanilla Creme liquid stevia (I used NuNaturals vanilla liquid stevia)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey (I used 1/3 cup agave nectar)
Puree well.
Add:
1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified (I used liquefied organic palm shortening)
1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 tsp sea salt (I omitted this)
1 tsp baking soda (I used sodium-free baking soda)
1.5 tsp baking powder (Grain-free Baking Powder Recipe) (I used sodium-free baking powder)
Puree well.
Pour into springform pan, lined with unbleached parchment paper on the bottom, and greased all around. (I made cupcakes and used paper cupcake liners; skipping this whole step)
Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. (I like to check to see if it’s done by inserting a knife into the middle. If it’s comes out mostly clean, it’s done.) Bake for about 22 minutes for cupcakes.
Makes 12 cupcakes
*Cookies ‘n Cream frosting is not grain-free but cupcakes are.
Cookies ‘n Cream Frosting
(vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free)
1 cup organic vegetable shortening (recommended: Spectrum Organics organic palm shortening)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 KinniToos gluten-free Oreo-like sandwich cookies, crushed and crumbled
In a large bowl, add shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. With a hand beater, mix together until frosting consistency. Crush cookies and mix in with spatula or wooden spoon. I put my cookies in a sandwich baggie and whacked them until they were crumbs.
I cut 3 sandwich cookies in half and placed them atop the frosting. The frosting was SO decadent, OMG, I had a few too many licks while making it. 
For being gluten AND grain-free the cupcakes were GOOD, especially with the cookies ‘n cream frosting. 
Next time, I think I will add another teaspoon of vanilla to the cupcakes to give them a tad more flavor. But make no mistake: These babies are SWEEEEEEEEET! If you’re like me and have a raging sweet tooth, these are for you. Try not to eat the frosting out of the bowl; save some for the cupcakes. 
I had to remind myself of that a few times, haha.
While the cuppies were baking, I admired my itty bitty deck garden:
I had a basil and a tomato plant, but I left them at ground level too long and the deer ate them the other night. 
Sigh. My parsley is thriving, though! Yay!
I got a late start today, so it’s looking like an easy-dinner kind of night. Nothing as fancy as late night’s gluten-free pizza. I should have made two batches to have leftovers! Ah well. 
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