I knew I wanted to make something DELICIOUS and vegan for Valentine’s Day this year, and what better way to do that than a dark chocolate hot lava cake! I scoured the internet looking for a recipe to pull from and found this one at Carrots & Flowers and it did NOT disappoint. It also just happened to be gluten free.
Ingredients:
- scant cup gluten-free flour (I used this one)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup apple sauce
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk (I used Malk!)
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- ½ cup organic sugar
- 3 Tbsp melted coconut oil from Thrive Market
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ Tbsp pink himalayan salt
- ⅔ cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
- 6 squares vegan dark chocolate (I used this one!)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease 6 slots of muffin pan with coconut oil and dust with cocoa powder, then flip over and tap away the excess powder.
- Add the almond milk and vinegar to large bowl and stir. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Melt half of the chocolate chips in a saucepan or double boiler over low heat, stirring often.
- Grab almond milk mixture and add coconut oil, vanilla, sugar, and applesauce and beat with a whisk until the mixture gets frothy. If the almond milk is cold, it may be lumpy, but that is ok.
- Next, add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until the large lumps are gone then stir in the melted chocolate chips.
- Spoon ¼ cup of batter into each of the 6 greased muffin holes. Gently place a 1-2 squares of chocolate into the batter and push down slightly. Evenly divide the rest batter to cover the dark chocolate pieces.
- Bake at 400F for 13-17 minutes. You want the outside to be fully cooked and the inside to be gooey and melty. Keep a close eye on the lava cakes after 13 minutes and check on the sides with a toothpick. Mine took the full 17 minutes.
- Let the pan sit for a couple minutes, then flip the muffin pan over onto a cookie sheet to release the lava cakes.
- Melt the remaining chocolate chips and top the cakes with them and add light dusting of cocoa powder or powdered sugar.
- Serve immediately or let cool completely before transferring to the fridge.
If transferred to fridge, that can be heated up for 45 seconds in the microwave.
Next, enjoy! These vegan hot lava cakes are super rich and delicious! I would highly recommend them. I always feel a little left out when I can’t partake in lava cakes at restaurants!! But now I can!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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