Gluten-free, Vegan Strawberry Preserve Filled Banana Cupcake Recipe

My vegan strawberry preserve filled banana cupcake recipe was so popular that I decided to make a gluten-free version.  For a first attempt at gluten-free baking, this turned out splendidly. 

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

3/4 cup demerara or raw sugar

1/4 cup rice milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup quinoa flour*

Approximately 1/3 cup of strawberry preserves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups

Toss the bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them with a mixer.  Add the sugar and oil and mix well. Incorporate the rice milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.  Add flour, taking care not to overmix.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan, filling each cup only one-quarter of the way full.

Scoop a spoonful of strawberry preserves into the center of each cupcake and fill the cups with the remaining batter.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out (relatively) clean.

I topped these delicious cupcakes with my own peanut butter frosting.  The recipe can be found here.




*Quinoa flour is an interesting beast.  It has a distinctly grassy flavor.  I have read that baking it at a low temperature for a couple of hours will help to get rid of the grassy taste.  Since this was my first time using quinoa flour, I decided not to bake it so I could see what it tastes like.  The taste didn't bother me for this recipe, but I can see how it might be unpleasant in other recipes.  I'll continue to experiment and keep you updated.


.