Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Now I know for some, the title of this post will turn you away. That’s ok, I understand. It probably would have turned me away too but I have good reason for a gluten free post… My dad’s birthday!

Last year my dad drastically changed his diet and one of these changes included limiting his gluten-intake. Something the rest of my family, myself included, have also tried to do as well. We haven’t completely cut out gluten, well because, we struggle with gluten free bread. Sometimes a good ole piece of gluten heavy bread is just needed. Actually, it’s kind of always needed…

Anyway, my dad has also given up dessert and not just for a month. For like 5 years… Ya, totally impressive! I think he’s had one donut in those 5 years (the most amazing Apple Hill donuts that obviously need to be consumed!) so this year he said he would eat some gluten free cake if I made it. Of course I was going to make a gluten free cake then and of course, my first attempt failed.

I found this recipe that looked very promising! The reviews said it tasted amazing and that nobody could guess what the secret ingredient was- quinoa as a substitute for the flour. I decided that this was the recipe to try and was just convinced that my family would fall in love with it and not realize that it’s gluten free. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Turns out I didn’t quite let the cake set like I should have and it completely crumbled on me as I was was trying to assemble it 🙁 Lesson learned for next time!

Since the homemade version of the cake failed, I turned to boxed gluten free cake mix and dairy free frosting mix. Was I skeptical, yes? Did the cupcakes turn out, yes! The response to the cupcakes and frosting was very positive!

As you can tell, this isn’t the typical recipe post because it just requires following the directions on the box. But if you are looking for a gluten free treat, my family deems these quite acceptable! Enjoy 🙂

-Kelly