Allergen Free Chocolate Chai Cupcakes

Gluten Free, Soy Free, Peanut/Tree nut Free, Dairy Free, and CORN FREE!! 

A small twist on the Crazy Cake recipe!  Replace cold water with brewed Chai tea (cold) and add Chai spices to the mix!  Awesome!!  I did some experimenting today and I hope you like it as much as me!  We are no longer using White Distilled Vinegar (because of pesky corn) so I wanted to mask the more pungent flavor of the apple cider vinegar.  I'll tell you in advance that the icing pictured is not allergen free because we didn't have all of the ingredients needed to make it today.  However, you can easily adapt my other icing recipe found here by replacing the shortening with a product like Spectrum All Vegetable.  Today's recipe is a variation on the 7 minute frosting and super easy so if y'all are interested I can post that another day. 

 1 1/2 Cups Gluten Free All Purpose Blend
1 Cup Raw Sugar (blended to fine consistency)
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
Pinch of Sea Salt
1 TB Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cardamom
1 tsp Ginger
1 Cup Brewed Chai Tea (allowed to chill in fridge)
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 Cup Oil (optional: if going to eat within an hour or two it isn't needed but if going to sit it is best to add it)

 Sift all dry ingredients then add in wet.  (For this I filled half of the liners then added oil to the bowl so I could test the difference)  You can not over mix this, so have a ball!  There's also no eggs so you can taste to see if you want to adjust seasonings. 

 Okay, this part is NOT corn free but is dairy free.  I added a few chocolate chips ;o) 

 All done and smell divine! 

Left side is oil free and the right has Olive Oil.  First impressions is that there isn't much difference in taste or texture.  However, as time rolls on the ones with oil retain their moisture much better.  If going to eat right away I would say it's safe to just omit the oil all together.