Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Most of the recipes I have shared up to this point have been raw. A few months back I did share a tasty recipe for sweet potatoes roasted with Coconut Creme. On occasion though many of us have reasons to cook something for loved ones or an event, even if we maintain a high-raw diet ourselves. A perfect example of this is when a child has a party at school. For valentine's day my daughter's class asked me to make some allergy and vegan friendly cupcakes for a Valentine's Day party. When making these types of foods I have a few things that I take into consideration. First is, where can I sneak in the superfoods? In this recipe I managed to sneak in Cacao Powder, mesquite powder, Cacao Paste, Coconut Oil and Vanilla Powder. They are gluten-free, casein-free and vegan. The other big concern is taste, I mean I don't want my daughter to be the one whose mother always sends in the "weird" food. And the final consideration is my location. It can be very hard to find ingredients that can fit all these criteria in my location. So while my preference might be using a certain group of products to make, say, frosting, I am left having to get what is available in my area. This recipe has some of all of those things, superfoods, tastiness and a few ingredient compromises because of what I could find in my area in my time-frame. Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes 5 1/2 cups gluten-free baking flour blend (I used one from Bob's Red Mill that already had baking powder and such added) 1 cup Cacao Powder 1/2 cup mesquite powder 1/3 cup Cacao Paste, broken up into small pieces 1 cup Coconut Oil, melted 1 1/2 cups agave or other liquid sweetener 1 cup fruit or veggie puree (pumpkin, apple, cherry, apricot) 1 tbs. Vanilla Powder 1 cup chai tea Preheat oven to 325 degreesMix all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl until well-combined. Line a muffin tin with paper cups and fill 3/4 of a way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack. Frosting: Pamela's Confetti Frosting Mix 8 tbs. softened shortening or butter-like substance of choice 1/4 cherries 1/2 tbs. Vanilla Powder Place ingredients (except sprinkles that come with mix) in a food processor and pulse until well-combined but still with some chunks of cherries. Frost cooled-cupcakes and sprinkle with sprinkles. Enjoy!