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holiday baking

Cranberry Chai Spice Cupcakes (dairy-free)

December 2, 2020 by Rachael Ng Leave a Comment

Sweet and fluffy, spiced cupcakes dotted with tart cranberries! These simple Cranberry Chai Spice Cupcakes are topped with an EASY spiced frosting and glistening sugared cranberries. They’re perfect for your next holiday get-together, or, you know, Tuesday night.

Cranberry Chai Spice Cupcakes

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

Cranberry Chai Spice Cupcakes

Cranberry Chai Spice Cupcakes

Sweet and fluffy spiced cupcakes dotted with fresh, tart cranberries! All topped off with an easy spiced buttercream frosting and glistening sugared cranberries!

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • Big pinch of ground black pepper
  • 1 cup plant-based milk
  • 1/2 cup plant-based butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup raw cane sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and patted dry (see Note 1)

Frosting

  • 1/2 cup plant-based butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, or more butter (see Note 2)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 4-5 Tbsp plant-based milk
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • Pinch of ground black pepper

Sugared Cranberries

  • 1/3 cup + 1 cup white granulated sugar (divided)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and patted dry

Instructions


Sugar the Cranberries

  1. Add the water and 1/3 cup of sugar to a medium pot and mix. Bring just to a simmer and then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the fresh cranberries to the sugar mixture, coating each cranberry and then removing them to a wire cooling rack. It's easiest to use a slotted spoon to remove the berries.
  3. Add 1 cup of sugar to a shallow bowl or dish. Begin adding the sticky cranberries, a spoonful at a time, to the sugar, swirling them about to coat them in the sugar. Carefully remove to a baking sheet or plate to cool/set.

Make the Cupcakes

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
  4. Prepare your cup of milk. Then beat ~1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add half of the milk and beat. Repeat once more and then, finally, beat in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
  5. Fill the lined muffin wells a little more than 3/4 full. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes (mine took 19) or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
  6. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before gently removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the Frosting

  1. Once your cupcakes are totally cool, make the frosting: in a large bowl, beat together the butter and shortening. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add 3 cups of the powdered sugar and beat. Add the remaining 3 cups of sugar + 2 Tbsp of milk. Begin beating and add milk as you need. You want the consistency to be thick and stable to hold shape yet spreadable enough that the texture is smooth.
  2. Add frosting to a piping bag fitted with your favorite frosting tip (I used a Wilton 1M tip). Frost each cupcake and immediately top with a sugared cranberry, sprinkles, or whatever you'd like.
  3. Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Notes

  1. Cranberries: you can use whole cranberries or slice/chop the cranberries into smaller pieces. I chose to slice the bigger berries and left the smaller ones whole.
  2. Shortening: this helps stabilize the softer plant-based butters. If you choose to omit it (and use more butter in its place), you may need to add less milk to your frosting.

© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cake

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

Filed Under: Cake, Dairy-free Tagged With: chai cupcakes, cranberry chai cupcakes, cranberry cupcakes, dairy free cupcakes, holiday baking, holiday cupcakes, spice cupcakes

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies (DF)

December 12, 2019 by Rachael Ng 6 Comments

When I set out to compile a list of new (and old) holiday cookie recipes for my 12 Days of Dairy-Free Cookies over on Instagram, I knew I needed a ginger cookie of some sort. Last year, I made these Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with coconut oil, but I’ve since fallen for the tase and texture that dairy-free (vegan) butter adds to a cookie dough! For this recipe, I adapted the cookies from last holiday season, swapping the coconut oil for vegan butter and adding a delicious (and perfectly festive!) orange icing. You can think of these as the easier version of those stamped and iced gingerbread cookies that are all over the internet. No special tools required!

The dough comes together like any other traditional cookie dough. You’ll cream the butter and sugar together, add molasses and egg, and then stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be sticky. Too sticky to scoop or roll. But popping the dough in the refrigerator uncovered allows the dough to dry out and firm up just enough to get the dough balls rolled. I don’t recommend chilling the dough for any longer as the cookies might not spread!

Once your cookies are baked and cooled, you’ll make a simple icing flavored with a bit of vanilla extract and fresh orange zest. Then you’ll dip the tops of each cookie into the glaze, careful not to submerge the sides, allow the excess icing to drip off, and voila! You’ve got beautifully iced, totally delicious, soft ginger molasses cookies!

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Coconut sugar is my favorite, better-for-you sweetener. It’s low GI, unrefined, and tastes nothing like coconut. It makes a great 1:1 replacement for regular, high GI sugars like granulated sugar and brown sugar.

Molasses brings that seasonal taste we all know and love to these cookies. It also adds necessary moisture to keep these cookies nice and soft.

Egg adds moisture, fluff, and chewiness to these cookies. For a classic cookie texture, egg is best.

Yield: 22 Cookies

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies

Soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies topped with a simple icing made with fresh orange rind! A pretty and extra delicious way to enjoy your favorite ginger cookies!

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter stick, softened
  • 2/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 Tbsp molasses
  • 1 large egg, room temp
  • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 3-4 Tbsp granulated sugar for rolling (optional!)

Orange Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-5 tsp plant-based milk
  • Zest from 1 medium orange

Instructions

Make the Cookies

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring your egg to room temperature (if it's not already) by placing it in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. Beat in the molasses and then the egg; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to gently mix. The dough may seem dry when you begin mixing, but it will turn out quite sticky. Chill dough, uncovered, for 15 minutes - this helps dry it out a bit.
  4. Scoop six dough balls 1.5 Tbsp in size. Roll each dough ball and then roll in the granulated sugar (totally optional). Place on prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F for 7 minutes or until cookies have puffed up.
  5. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before gently moving to a cooling rack. Continue baking the rest of your dough. There's no need to re-chill the dough. Be sure to use a room temp baking sheet each time - this is why two baking sheets are handy!


Make the Icing

  1. Once your cookies have totally cooled, you can make your icing. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 3 tsp of the plant-based milk. Add milk 1 tsp at a time until you've reached a thin, drip-from-your-spoon consistency. Finally, stir in the fresh orange zest.
  2. Dip just the top of each cookie into the icing, allowing excess icing to drip off. This process is a bit tedious but necessary. Ideally, you want only the tops of the cookies iced, so be careful not to submerge the sides of the cookies while dipping. Turn each dipped cookie over and allow to set on a cooling rack.
  3. Once icing has set, you can store cookies in an airtight container at room temp, placing a piece of parchment paper between each layer to keep the cookies from sticking to each other.

Notes

  • You won't use all of the icing, but it's nice to have the icing deep enough to dip (which is why I recommend mixing it in a small bowl!).
  • Feel free to leave the icing off. These cookies, especially when rolled in granulated sugar, are delicious and sweet as-is. Alternatively, the granulated sugar can be left off the dough balls if you're icing the cookies. I chose to do both.

Recommended Products

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  • Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
    Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
  • Small Cookie Scoop, 1.5 Tbsp
    Small Cookie Scoop, 1.5 Tbsp
  • Baking Sheets Set
    Baking Sheets Set
© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

More ginger recipes:

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting (DF)
Pumpkin Butter Sweet Rolls (V)
Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with Coconut Oil (DF)

Filed Under: Cookies, Dairy-free Tagged With: dairy free cookies, ginger cookies, ginger molasses cookies, holiday baking, holiday cookies, iced gingerbread cookies, molasses cookies, orange icing

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Meet Rachael

Hi! I’m Rachael, a home baker who creates dairy-free, indulgent treats. As a sweets lover and former candy addict, I believe we shouldn’t have to give up everything we love in pursuit of wellness. That’s why I create delicious and approachable desserts that you can enjoy, in moderation, no matter your goals! Because, let’s face it, sometimes you just need a giant slice of frosted cake, sans guilt! Read More…

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