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Not Your Usual Chocolate Cupcakes!
December 30th, 2008 Madhuram Posted in Food Blog Events, Muffins/Cupcakes, Vegan Baking | 
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Yes, unlike the usual chocolate cupcakes these cupcakes are rich in fiber and protein. 18gms protein and 21gms fiber in total! Wondering how? One and half cups of pureed black beans is mixed with the batter and the beauty is, you wouldn’t taste the black beans or anything different! You can make these cupcakes even more healthy by using whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour. I adapted this black bean chocolate cupcakes recipe from the book Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy. I made a couple of changes to make it vegan.
Like the other healthy cupcake which I baked earlier, these chocolate cupcakes taste very good the day after baking. I baked these yesterday and I when I tasted soon after it cooled I felt that something was missing, maybe sweetness. But today the flavors were complete, it had the perfect amount of sweetness and tasted like any other ordinary cupcake.
1 and 1/2 cups of cooked beans)
Yield: 12 regular size cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes. (or 16 regular size cupcakes)
2 Drain the black beans from the can, rinse it well under running water and puree it in a food processor/blender using approximately 1/4 cup of water. The puree should be very smooth without any lumps.
3 To this also add the sugar, prune puree, 2 tablespoons of water, canola oil and vanilla extract. Process/blend it again for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer it to a large bowl.
4 In a small bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.
5 Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in 3 parts. That is, first add 1/3rd of the flour mixture to the bean and prune puree, mix it well. Then add another 1/3rd and then the last 1/3rd of the flour mixture. Having some lumps is fine. I found that using a wire whisk to mix the batter worked well than using a spatula. The batter was in the consistency of pancake batter. Initially I felt that the quantity of the wet ingredients was way too much, but once I started mixing it to the flour I was relieved to find out that the proportions were getting right.
6 Fill the muffin wells 2/3rds full, around 3 tablespoons of the batter. For the mini muffin tin, just use 1 tablespoon. I placed both the muffin tins in the same rack. The mini muffins were done by 9 minutes and the regular size muffins around 14 minutes. Oven temperatures may vary so check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center and it should come out clean.
7 Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Slide a knife around the edges of the cupcake and invert the tin slowly. The cupcakes will fall down, cool them on a rack. Frosting is optional.
2 Melted butter or any vegan butter substitute can be used in place of the canola oil. The original recipe called for soy margarine.
3 I didn’t have cupcake liners at home, so I used vegetable shortening to grease the pans instead of coating it with non-stick cooking spray. I have noticed in the past that while using the latter, pans get grease stains which are very difficult to clean.
4 I recently have found out that using 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for each egg replaced gives the light and airy texture to the baked product. In this recipe I used 1/2 cup of prune puree to substitute 2 eggs, so I used 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in total. The result was eggless chocolate cupcakes with the spongy texture of the usual cupcakes.
5 We can also control the sodium in the recipe by using low-sodium or no salt added canned beans. Or better soak dried beans and cook it ourselves without salt and add a pinch of salt to the flour mix, because salt enhances the flavor of any sweet dish.
These vegan chocolate cupcakes goes to:
1. Egg Replacement Event – Pureed Fruit hosted by me.
2. Baking for Beginners hosted by Vandana.
3. Santa’s Holiday Challenge hosted by JZ.
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December 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hey! I too am making these during the weekend – saw a few black bean brownie recipes last week! I was really surprised that beans could be used in cakes – glad to see you vouch it too! Your cupcakes speak for the texture – great! HAPPY NEW YEAR
Go ahead and try it SM. It was approved by my son too.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Madhuram,I too had bookmarked black bean brownies from 101 cookbooks.This looks scrumptious and perfect and too good .Nobody will be able to guess that black beans is one of the contents.The texture is too perfect.Love it.Hope your son enjoyed it.
I too saw that recipe Usha. My son ate it happily. Thank you for reminding me about that, I forgot to mention it in the post. Will update it.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Love it, it looks just delicious and loved the use of black bean in this…perfect
Thanks Usha.
December 30th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
black beans in cakes?!?!!!?!?!?
sounds interestng!!! your cupcakes look just perfect 
It tastes good too Ramya.
December 30th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
wish you and your family a wonderful 2009, dear madhuram.
Happy New Year to you too Bee.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Holy cow, or maybe I should say holy beans.
Never in million years I would have thought that you can sneak in back beans in a cup cake and make it taste delicious.
Happy New Year to you and your family Madhuram.
Like others who have commented I’ve seen black bean brownies, so I wanted to try this cupcake recipe too. Not only me, my son liked it too. Happy New Year to you too RC.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Happy New year To u & Family!
My daughter saw this cupcake and she said ” wow I smell chocolate” …:-) What a recipe!
December 30th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Looks wonderful! Have to try it. The only reason I might not make this all the time, is because my son loved black beans themselves…!
Gosh, I’d love to be a dinner guest at your home some day, Madhu! –Deepa
Sure Deepa, I’d love to have you as a dinner guest.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
wooooooow black beans in cupcake superb looks awesome Madhuram
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
December 30th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Cakes look perfect.. Never in my life, I would have thought of using black beans in a cake. Thanks for trying it out and posting it here.
Wishing you and your family a fabulous New Year.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Bean in cake
Wishing You and your family a wonderful Year!
December 31st, 2008 at 5:49 am
Hey Madhuram, firstly..wow..bean sneaked in muffin:!: Prune puree an egg substitute? WOW! Just amazing Madhu..looks like our usual cupcake too! Your son had it, means its a ‘must try’ one now!
Do u by any chance know abt the Japanese Dorayaki, ie. Dora cakes? They use a azuki paste (sweet bean paste filling)..link here, may be of help to you (http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesecake/r/dorayaki.htm) I have yet to try that out, the beans are not available here. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO U N URS!!
December 31st, 2008 at 7:23 am
Hi there,
Beans in cupcakes..I never would have guessed, but I’m impressed.
These cupcakes are so cute!
Happy new year!
- Chan
December 31st, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Madhu,
What will you think of next??
Well, one look at your blog and I am confident that you and your family will definitely have a healthy and creative New Year
Anjali, I found this recipe in the book which I’ve mentioned, so I cannot take the credit. Happy New Year to you too.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
There’s beans in those cupcakes???!!! Wow! What will you think of next, Madhu?
Wish you and your family a very happy and healthy new year!
January 1st, 2009 at 7:53 am
Hello Madhuram,
Excellent site and excellent recipes. Which cocoa do you use in your chocolate base recipes?
Thanks,
Aashi
Thank you Aashi. There are 2 types of cocoa powder Dutch Processed (eg. Droste brand) and Naturally Unsweetened (eg Hersheys). Sometimes the recipe specifies which type to use. If not mentioned in the recipe, I generally use what I have in hand. For this recipe I used Hersheys cocoa powder. Also Dutch processed cocoa powder is costly than Hersheys.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Madhu,
With Prunes and beans I thought they would make fireworks for the new year
They are awesome , thanks for the treats. My son had them for dinner ,breakfast and lunch .
You’re welcome SS. I’m glad he liked it.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Black bean in a muffin. Sound so cool. Healthy muffins, with full body…. Nice try….YUM!
Happy new year!!!!….
Happy New Year to you too Sukanya.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
Madhuram, what lovely cupcakes. I’ve heard of brownie and cake recipes before that use prune puree but have never tried it before myself. Now I’m quite inspired!
You don’t taste the prune at all. In the past I had found out that silken tofu and cocoa produced fabulous results. Now I add prune puree also to that list.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
Madhu, i was in india for a month and didn’t get to check your blog. Just came back few days back and want to say that i love all the recipes that you have posted in december, especially the sneaky ones
My toddler is going thro’ a very picky phase now and am sure some of them will help me stay sane 
You rock girl!
Thank you very much Vidya. I guess all toddlers are alike at least in this aspect! Have a wonderful New Year!
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
they sure taste yum!
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Amazing stuff…I can’t imagine black beans in a cupcake, will give it a shot sometime. Hapy New Year!
February 12th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
hi.
i saw your ingredients for the cupcakes.
i have a small and easy question?
*what can we use instead of prune puree(can we use the prune puree avaliable in babyfood section)
*second question is wht to substitue black beans with.
pls if u have any idea of doing the cake without using pls tell me. i want a substitute for beans.
Hi Sheetal, yes you can use the prune puree available in baby food section. I used that one too. Reg. substitute for beans, maybe you can try using 1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened applesauce.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Madhu
YOu can use Chia seeds for eggs, they work very well and very nutrious too. For 1 egg, use 1 tables spoon Chia seeds and 3 tablespoons water. Soak them for 10-15 mins and they will gel. Use this as a egg replacer and they come out really well.
That’s new to me Sadhana. I’ll check it out. Thanks.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I just made the “not your usual cupcakes” and they were fantastic. With a toddler with an egg allergy I am always looking for egg free recipes but I loved the protein in these AND I am not a fan of sugar(my poor kids:)), so I halved the sugar, using just 3/4 cup and they were plenty sweet- and even healthier! I also used applesauce for the prune puree, which is my usual egg substitute as we always have plenty of it on hand.
Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome Tamara. I also try to reduce the quantity of sugar, so it’s nice to know that these cupcakes taste good even with less sugar.
October 10th, 2009 at 4:27 am
My son’s first birthday is coming up and I need an eggless cupcake recipe…I’m thinking of using this one. The one thing is that in addition to an egg allergy he has a mild wheat allergy. I was thinking of using oat flour, will that work? I’ve never made him any kind of baked good before, so I haven’t yet started experimenting with wheat flour substitutions. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Hi Ana, I’m not sure if oat flour alone will work because it does not have gluten, so the cupcakes will not rise. I think addition of xanthan gum is required. I’m not familiar with gluten free baking. Check the following website which have gluten free recipes and try my egg substitution ideas in those recipes.
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
October 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am
this cupcake came out lovly and thankyou for this website
You’re welcome Alex.