Make: Gluten-Free Fluffernutter-Chocolate Cupcakes (with Quinoa!)

Trust me—you won't miss that pesky gluten one bit.

If you follow Be Well on Instagram, you know I sampled these cupcakes over the weekend. My friend Abby—yes, of last summer’s Project Revamp acclaim—made them for a little get-together at another friend’s house on Saturday night. After we’d spent about 20 minutes oooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over how pretty they were, Abby gleefully announced, “And they’re gluten free!”

That’s about the time I snapped the above photo and posted it on Instagram. Almost immediately, I got a comment from a follower asking me to post the recipe. And so, here we are.

I should say up front that I’m not posting this recipe because it’s low-fat or low-cal. I mean, it’s a cupcake recipe, people. You’ll find sugar and butter and milk (and marshmallow fluff!) on the ingredient list below. I’m posting it for all our gluten-free eaters who are on the hunt for a seriously tasty, seriously moist, out-of-this-world chocolate cupcake recipe—because that’s exactly what this is.

If you make this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments. And feel free to share your own photo with us on Instagram—just tag @bewellphilly. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Fluffernutter-Chocolate Cupcakes
*Adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood
Makes five to six dozen mini cupcakes or 12 large cupcakes

For the cupcakes
2 cups cooked quinoa, cold
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
1¼ cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

For the Fluffernutter buttercream
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tbsp. milk
1 cup marshmallow fluff

For the chocolate coating
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate (depending on your preference)
2 tablespoons canola oil

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners.

2. In a Vitamix, blender or food processor, combine milk, eggs and vanilla. Blend until combined. Add 2 cups of cold, cooked quinoa and the melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.

3. Add sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; blend well to combine.

4. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, fill cupcake tins about three-quarters full.

5. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick/cake tester comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.

7. To make buttercream, mix butter, peanut butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy (about 1 to 2 minutes).

8. Slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing well after each addition.

9. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk and increase speed to medium; mix until creamy, adding more milk as needed to make it smooth.

10. Add marshmallow fluff and mix on low-medium until just incorporated.

11. Using a piping bag fitted with a round tip, pipe a tall spiral of frosting on each cooled cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for a few hours to firm up.

12. Prepare the chocolate coating. In a heat-proof bowl, combine chocolate and oil, and heat in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring well after each. When chocolate is melted, set aside to allow it to come to room teperature.

13. When cupcakes have hardened, remove from the freezer. Pour cooled chocolate into a cup with an opening wide enough to dip your cupcakes and tall enough that the frosting can be completely submerged.

14. Holding each cupcake by the base, dip straight down into the chocolate, coating the frosting completely. Let the excess chocolate drip off before moving the cupcakes to a baking sheet or platter. Place them in the refrigerator to allow the coating to harden.

15. Remove cupcakes from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving.

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