Vegan Cookies ‘n Cream Muffin-Cakes

When I wrote the 2nd edition of Go Dairy Free, we had to cut dozens of recipes to make room for some new ones. These cookies ‘n cream muffin-cakes fell victim to the chopping block since I had more muffin and cupcake recipes moving in.

The original recipe was shared with me by my friend Liz, who also goes by VeggieGirl. According to Liz, her family was smitten with this three-treats-in-one baked good, stating:

Aside from featuring an enticing combination of cookie-, muffin-, and cupcake-goodness, these muffin-cakes have a deliciously chocolate-y flavor, moist center, and a bit of crunchiness from the cookie on top.

Sarah tested them with her crowded household, and they were approved. She also took these pictures for us, and opted to add just a week bit of salt to the recipe.

Special Diet Notes: Cookies ‘n Cream Muffin-Cakes

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, vegan, and vegetarian.

Soy-free sandwich cookies can be hard to find, but you can make your own with the shortcut recipe in this post.

Vegan Cookies 'n Cream Muffin-Cakes

 

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Sarah, our Associate Editor, classifies these as healthy cupcakes, but her husband classifies them fancy muffins. Her kids don't care what they're called - they just eat them!

Author: Adapted from VeggieGirl

Serves: 12 Muffin-Cakes

Ingredients

• 11 dairy-free chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup evaporated cane juice or unrefined sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup dairy-free chocolate chips or carob chips
• 1 cup plain dairy-free milk beverage
• 5 tablespoons (scant ⅓ cup) unsweetened applesauce (see Note below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and line 12 muffins cups with cupcake liners.
2. Place 8 of the cookies in a plastic bag and coarsely crush them. Chop the remaining 3 cookies into quarters so you have 12 cookie quarters.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the crushed cookies and chocolate chips until well distributed.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk beverage, applesauce, and vanilla.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
6. Pour the batter into your prepared muffin cups, and gently press a quarter-cookie segment on top of each muffin-cake.
7. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin-cake comes out clean.

Notes

Note: Low fat muffins or cupcakes are best eaten when fresh as they can have a slightly chewy texture after a day or two. If you are used to non-fat or low-fat baked goods, then this should be no problem. But if you prefer, you can swap in a scant ⅓ cup oil (your favorite baking oil) for the applesauce. Or you can use part oil, part applesauce. Even 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil will help to tenderize the texture. If you prefer to use eggs in baking, you can substitute 2 tablespoons oil + 1 egg for the applesauce.

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Key Pantry Supplies: Cookies ‘n Cream Muffin-Cakes

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