Sweet Potato Cupcakes

DO NOT RUN AWAY SCARED!!

On a recent trip to Nashville, TN
(is there any other Nashville??)

we pulled a Peterson!

What's a Peterson you ask?
Well a "Peterson" is when you
become overly and compulsively
obsessed about something-
okay, OKAY, OKAY
that something is most likely FOOD!

We went to every small bakery we could
find that sells Cupcakes-

and for us, the smaller, quainter the bakery
the better!

Completely on accident, we discovered this 
adorable little bakery in an old house.

The owners still live in the house,
with their daughters and cook from their
kitchen-
it is amazing! I absolutely loved this place

we went back twice in one day!!
Well we asked what was the FAVORITE and 
as if angels sang from on high-
the gals all said "Sweet Potato"-
"Well no thanks" says I,
but my husband said
"I'll take 2".
Well my Sweet Lemonade Cupcake 
was good, 
but it weren't nothin' compared to his
little Sweet Potato Cupcake
(which explains why we went back)

Well, my kids have been obsessing about
this cupcake since we got home,
especially the oldest daughter who wasn't 
with us for this trip.

As we searched for recipes and ideas,
we came across a recipe for a healthy 
version of a Sweet Potato Cupcake-
I have one daughter who is very carefully
monitoring her sugar/dairy/gluten right now
so this seemed like a PERFECT recipe to try!

They were GOOD! 
As with most gluten/dairy/sugar free stuff
it was different-
but not so different that we cared!

So if you find yourself limited in one 
of these little sections 

than you might want to give these 
little treasures a chance.

We didn't want to mess with frosting,
so we made a little maple glaze

and than topped them with whipped
cream- our dairy free friends used
a soy option! Than we sprinkled a 
little cinnamon & sugar on top.

 Sweet Potato Cupcakes

1 cup sweet potato puree

1/2 almond milk 

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup sucanat (or raw cane sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

(You can use any gluten free flour too)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt 

Preheat oven to 350°F and line pan with cupcake liners. 

In a large bowl mix sweet potato, milk, vinegar, oil, 

sucanat, vanilla and ginger. In another bowl sift together

the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, careful not to

over mix. 

Scoop a few tablespoons of the batter into the cupcake
liners, about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 minutes, or to
pass the toothpick test. Let cool in a covered dish.


MAPLE FROSTING

1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2T cornstarch
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 t vanilla

In a small saucepan mix the milk and cornstarch
until they are dissolved. Add the syrup and using a
fork or whisk, stir the mixture over medium heat
until it is thick. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile,
 cream the butter and vanilla until they are well
mixed and then beat in the cooled syrup mixture.
Beat on high until the frosting is fluffy.

*** I will say, ours never got really fluffy. It was
more like a glaze. So we glazed the cupcake
with it and used whipped topping (a soy version
for our lactose free gal) and sprinkled with
sugar & cinnamon mix. YUM.