Chocolate can be quite addictive, especially since most chocolate (and chocolate-based desserts) are made with refined sugar. However, in my humble opinion, an occasional good chocolate treat is one of life’s simple pleasures, especially when it’s homemade with wholesome ingredients. These delightful little cupcakes are soaked for optimal nutrition and contain pure organic fair-trade cocoa powder and wholesome pure honey. So if you have a special occasion to celebrate, whip-up a batch of these little beauties and enjoy the sweet smiles!
Soaked Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup organic whole spelt flour
- 1/2 cup organic plain Kefir
- 1/2 cup water, plus 1 tbsp
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/3 cup pure organic maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened organic fair-trade cocoa powder
- 1 pinch of stevia powder extract (optional, adds a touch more sweetness)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 large egg
Step One: Soaking
Step Two: Baking
Instructions
- Add above ingredients to a large ceramic (or glass) mixing bowl and thoroughly combine.
- Cover the bowl and place it in a warm area of your kitchen for 12-24 hours.
- Once soaking time is completed, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Using a large wire whisk, stir melted butter into soaked batter and thoroughly combine.
- Then add maple syrup, vanilla extract and cocoa powder; whisk until well blended.
- Finally, whisk in stevia powder, baking soda, salt and egg; mixing until no lumps remain.
- Using a spoon or measuring cup, scoop cake batter into a pre-lined 12-cup muffin pan; filling each cup no more than 2/3 full.
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for five minutes before removing from muffin pan and then place on a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
- Top with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting or a heaping dollop of homemade whipped cream and a sprinkling of dark chocolate shavings. This scrumptious cupcake is certain to make any day special! (Recipe inspired by Cooking God’s Way.)
Step One: Soaking
Step Two: Baking
Notes
If you're new to soaking, check out How to Soak Grains for Optimal Nutrition.
Wow, this recipe looks awesome. Ever made it into a cake?
Btw, I *love* your website! 🙂
Thanks, Rhonda. I appreciate your kind words! I haven’t tried it as a cake. Let me know if you do? Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Can you use spruoted spelt flour and if so do you still need to soak it? Thanks.
Leslee
Hi, Leslee! Good question. You do not need to soak sprouted grains – that’s the benefit of using them – a time saver – and sprouted grains are also a great option when it comes to certain baked goods that just don’t work well soaked – like cookies 🙂
Hi can you use something else instead of kifir? or how do you make it?
thanks I just found your website
Hi, Tracey! Welcome to The Nourishing Home. So glad you’re here. You could certainly use buttermilk in place of the kefir for the soak. And if you do decide you’d like to make kefir, visit Cultures for Health – they have lots of instructional videos, FAQs and also sell wonderful cultures to get you started. Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
I am learning to make soaked foods as my daughter in law and little grandchildren require that. Can these cupcakes be made with my regular baking flour?
Thank you so much! I was excited to find your website!!
Denise
Hi, Denise. Welcome to The Nourishing Home. I’m happy the Lord has led you here. When you asked about using regular baking flour, I am assuming you mean all-purpose flour (APF)? In general, soaking pertains to whole grains. The purpose of soaking whole grains is to help neutralize the phytic acid found mainly in the bran (outer layer) of the grain. You can read about soaking whole grains via the link below. But to answer your question, if you’re using refined white flour (APF) then you can skip the soaking step. Please note that I haven’t tried this recipe using APF so I am not sure how well it will turn out since this recipe was specifically developed for soaking whole grains. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
http://thenourishinghome.com/2012/03/how-to-soak-grains-for-optimal-nutrition/
Question: Was this developed with fresh-ground flour? Just wondering… I just had my daughter grind soft wheat and when I measured it in, the soaking batter seemed a little thin. Wondering if I ought to compensate and add another 1/2 cup… Whatcha think? 😉
Hi, Kirsten. This recipe was not developed using fresh ground flour or wheat flour, which may be the issue since spelt absorbs liquids slightly differently than does wheat flour. 🙂
Just made and ate these for my daughter’s bday. Whipped up cream cheese, cocoa powder and maple syrup for frosting. All were pleased.
So glad to hear it, Maria! And happy birthday to your daughter! 🙂