When you’re craving something decadent but want to stay on track with your health and fitness goals, Vermints’ Vegan PepperMint Bark Cupcakes are the answer.

With natural ingredients like coconut sugar and almond milk, these sweet treats taste a hell of a lot more sinful than they actually are. They’re fluffy, chocolatey, and oh-so-minty fresh. What more could you want in a dessert?

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 cupcakes)

¾ cup almond milk (soy would work too!)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp peppermint extract

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 ¼ cup gluten-free flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

12 large cupcake liners

½ cup vegan white chocolate

15 – 20 PepperMint VerMints

HOW TO MAKE MAGIC HAPPEN

Start by preheating your oven to 355ºF. Place the cupcake liners in a muffin tin and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for a few minutes to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl combine the coconut oil, apple sauce, vanilla and peppermint extracts, coconut sugar and mix well. Stir in the milk and vinegar mixture.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and stir until just mixed.

Use a small spoon or a scoop to fill your cupcake liners about ¾ full and bake for about 10 – 12 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick or skewer and it removes clean. Once your cupcakes are cooked, set them aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Now it’s time to crush up your VerMints. You can either chop the mints into large pieces using a large, sharp knife on a cutting board, or you can use a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle.

Once your mints are roughly chopped / grinded and your cupcakes are cooled, they’re ready to be chocolate coated (yum!). Melt the white chocolate using a double boiler, (learn how you can easily rig up your own double boiler), or you can pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat on medium, stirring every 30 seconds until fully melted.

Spoon a dab of melted chocolate onto each cupcake and top with a dash of crushed mint. Repeat until you’ve coated each cupcake. Allow the cupcakes to stand, either in room temperature or in the fridge, until the chocolate has hardened.

These taste amazing with a cup of tea or coffee. Or if your sweet tooth is really taking hold, try our VerMints Peppermint Mocha recipe!