Remember the ever-popular Sprinkles cupcake era of 2010; when Cupcake Wars was the best show on TV and gourmet cupcake shops were popping up at every corner? Cupcakes were adored by the little ones for birthday parties but also by the Grandmothers who loved pairing them with a cup of coffee for breakfast.
During that time period I learned that ordinary cupcake flavors almost always disappointed me. When I went to local cupcake shops, I stuck to the classica: chocolate with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, strawberry, red velvet, vanilla birthday cake, etc. They were never magical enough for me to want to return for another.
I remember the first time I chose something out of the ordinary: a mango cupcake with a mango orange buttercream. My goodness, it was downright sensational! From that moment, I vowed to choose the surprising, unique cupcakes flavors over basic bettys.
Today’s recipe was inspired by a lemon pistachio doughnut at Stan’s Donuts in Chicago. Tony took me there for my birthday breakfast and we ordered about 6 of their doughnuts (so we can have a bite of each!); we knew the lemon pistachio flavor stood out by a mile because it was devoured in less than two minutes.
Of course, when Earth Balance reached out to me and asked me to create a vegan cupcake to promote their awesome vegan cupcake challenge (with a grand prize trip to Colorado!), I knew that I would try to create pistachio cupcakes with beautiful with spring flavors (like lemon and blueberry). I used their soy free vegan buttery sticks for the both the cupcake and frosting and seriously, you’d never be able to tell that they’re vegan!
More about these cupcakes: Did I mention they’re gluten free too?! This means that anyone will be able to enjoy these beauties. They’re moist with a light crumb and the lemon buttercream frosting is the perfectly fluffy, sweet and tart. Keeping your fingers out of the frosting bowl is going to be pretty difficult, so good luck.
I love that you can actually taste the pistachios in the cupcake without having to use pistachio pudding flavor additives. The lemon flavor is also very prominent, making the cupcakes feel fresh and light.
I hope you love these cupcakes as much as I did. They’d make the perfect Easter or party dessert. If you make these, please let me know by leaving a comment below or snap a photo, upload it to Instagram and tag #ambitiouskitchen! xo.
Lemon Blueberry Pistachio Cupcakes (vegan + gluten free!)
Nutrition Information
- Serving size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 286
- Fat: 13.9g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 36.2g
- Sugar: 22.1g
- Fiber: 2.8g
- Protein: 4.8g
Recipe type: Cupcakes, Vegan, Gluten Free
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 cup shelled roasted pistachios (pistachios without the shells)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon Earth Balance vegan soy free buttery sticks
- 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- For the vegan lemon buttercream
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan soy free buttery stick
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- For garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
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