My go-to drinks at just about any coffee shop is either an almond milk decaf latte or a soy chai latte. Two drinks I’ve ordered for years and they just never get old. Now when someone introduced me to a dirty chai latte, I was completely intrigued. Combining both espresso and chai. Ummm, genius! For this girl, it was love at first sip.
To celebrate my amazing husband’s birthday, I’m sharing a recipe for dirty chai cupcakes today! He LOVES chai lattes and even though he’s not a huge coffee drinker, he agrees that dirty chai lattes are pretty amazing. I’ve made chai cupcakes before, but never thought of adding espresso. I knew it could only be a good thing so it was a must that I made these for my man.
A light, chai spiced cupcake with a whipped dairy free espresso buttercream. Every bite of these cupcakes just gets better and better. The chai flavor is strong, with a hint of espresso. I’ve also created a chai spice blend to go along with this recipe, which is used in the cupcake batter and sprinkled on top. It makes about 1/4 cup so you’ll have plenty left over for creating more chai treats. The spice blend really tastes just like a cup of chai tea and you’ll want to keep it stocked in your pantry for sure!
- 3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground clove
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons Sarah's gluten free flour blend
- 3 teaspoons chai spice blend (see below)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup So Delicious Dairy Free unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk
- 1/3 cup grape seed or sunflower seed oil (or mild flavor oil)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons So Delicious Dairy Free unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 6 tablespoons Earth Balancevegan butter, softened
- 6 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
- 2 1/2 cups powdered cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- To make chai spice blend, place all spices in small bowl and whisk to combine. Makes about 1/4 cup. Store in airtight container and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pans by lining with paper liners.
- Sift together flour, chai spice blend, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In large mixing bowl, mix together warm water and espresso, until dissolved. Stir in coconut milk, oil, vinegar, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined.
- Evenly divide cupcake batter into prepared cupcake pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool cupcakes in pans for 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.
- While cupcakes are baking, start espresso buttercream. Mix together coconut milk and espresso powder, until dissolved.
- Cream together vegan butter and shortening in bowl of stand mixer, 1-2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, espresso mixture and vanilla. Beat for 3-4 minutes until creamy (add additional coconut milk if needed).
- Place frosting into piping bag with large star tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Top with sprinkling of chai spice mixture.
I’m a big fan of chai tea so I can’t wait to try this cupcake recipe! Can you clarify the amount of oil used? I’m seeing a symbol (box) with no cup measurement. Thanks!
Kay, it should say 1/3 cup oil. Would you mind telling me what browser you are using or on what devise you are pulling up the recipe? Thanks!
Can I use coconut oil in this recipe?
You can, just make sure it is melted first and all of your ingredients are at room temperature. The texture may come out a bit more dense.
Is it possible to substitute room temp coconut oil for the shortening when making the frosting?
Coconut oil can be used, but is finicky with different temps so be sure to keep it from getting warm!
These are beautiful! My Mum had a charity coffee and cake day to celebrate her 80th birthday and my daughter and I were in charge of making the ‘free-from’ cakes and cookies so we made a batch of these. Best vegan gluten-free cupcake recipe i have come across – thank you so much!! Your flour mix makes life so much easier – I have a big jar of it in my cupboard now, and have just seen your pizza recipe – so guess what’s for tea tonight?! x
Going to make this recipe tomorrow! Could I use avocado oil instead of grape seed?
Help!!! Buttercream instructions say add vanilla but I don’t see an amount listed in the ingredients!! I’m preparing this now please help ASAP
thanks for letting me know! just fixed it 🙂