Ahh. Valentines Day....a day to love on your friends, family, and significant other! The past couple of years Ryan and I have just stayed in and cooked a fancy dinner together (aka I cook, he cleans). That doesn't just stop with dinner! I go all out and include a fancy, yet easy dessert, too! Although I like to keep it mostly healthy, sometimes you just need a chocolate cherry cupcake. ??♀️
I did sweeten these chocolate cherry cupcakes with dates and coconut sugar! So that counts as a littttttttle healthy, right?! My husband loves chocolate cake, and although he would probably have preferred it paired with peanut butter, we had extra cherries in the house. So this is what he gets!
These cupcakes are absolutely fluffy, chocolatey, and fruity. Its one of the softest cakes I've ever eaten and I love how it isn't overly sweet because of the dates and coconut sugar. The tart cherry in the frosting really balances the rich chocolate cake. There is not actually any cherries in the cake itself, since they are sweetened with dates, the bits of date in the cupcake really mimic the cherry texture and you get plenty of cherry flavor from that beautiful frosting!
More Dessert Recipes
How pretty are they with a cherry on top?! So happy Valentines Day and make this easy dessert for someone special. They will thank you! I highly recommend trying a date night in this Valentines day, that way you can have as many rounds of dessert as you want and nobody can stop (or judge) you!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 large dates with the pit out, soaked in warm water
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup softened butter
- ¾ coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips melted
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup almond milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- frost with chocolate cherry buttercream
Instructions
- Soak your dates in a bowl of warm water to soften them. Once they are soft add the dates and 2-3 tablespoons of the water to a blender and puree.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl
- In a large bowl cream together the softened butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beaat in melted chocolate and prune puree.
- In a small bowl whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Alternating flour and milk mixtures, start by adding flour to the creamed butter & sugar. Then milk and then flour again.
- Bake in cupcake liners sprayed with nonstick spray at 350 for 20 minutes.
- Let cool and then frost!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons cherry jam
- 2 sticks of salted butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- extra:
- chop up cherries and fold in
Instructions
- In a stand mixer whip 2 sticks of softened butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and cocoa powder
- Add in cherry jam and continue to whip.
- 1 cup at a time add in powdered sugar, making sure each one is fully incorporated before moving on to the next cup
- fold in chopped cherries
- enjoy!
Leave a Reply