Honestly, I wasn’t expecting these raw vegan cupcakes to turn out as well as they did, after all, the “cake” part is made of apples and coconut flour and the cream “cheese” frosting is made mostly of blended cashews. Oh, and there’s no baking involved!? Turns out, they’re super yummy AND not terrible for your health! And the cinnamon bun flavour is no joke. So, if you went apple picking recently, or you’re planning on it, you should definitely try these out!

Cinnamon Bun Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes and Cinnamon Syrup

3 cups peeled and chopped apples

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 cup raw honey or agave

1/2 cup raw coconut oil

seeds of 2 vanilla beans

2 tsps organic vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

2 cups raw coconut flour

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

pinch of Himalayan salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

2½ cups raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours, drained/rinsed

½ cup raw honey or agave

6 Tbsps lemon juice

¼ cup pure water

seeds of one vanilla bean

1/8 tsp Himalayan salt

1/3 cup raw coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Cinnamon Bun Cupcakes

1. Place the chopped apples in your food processor fit with the S-blade and process until smooth. Immediately add the lemon juice and process to prevent browning.
2. Add the honey or agave, coconut oil, vanilla bean, vanilla extract & salt and process again until well combined. Finally, add the coconut flour and process until completely combined.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the agave nectar, cinnamon and salt until smooth.
4. To assemble the cupcakes, fill your liner 1/3 of the way with the cake mixture and press to form. Drizzle ½ teaspoon of cinnamon syrup. Top with more cake until the liner is now 2/3 of the way full. Drizzle another
   1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon syrup onto the cupcake. Finally top the cupcakes with more of the cake mixture until the liners are completely full.
5. Freeze for 2 hours to firm. Once solid, pop the cupcakes out of the liners and they’re ready to be frosted.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place the cashews, honey or agave, lemon, water, vanilla and salt in a high-speed blender. Blend until very smooth.
2. Add the coconut oil and blend again until just combined.
3. Refrigerate the frosting for 2-4 hours to firm. Once the it has thickened, frost the cupcakes.