Gluten-free Double-Chocolate Cupcakes

As cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D., Baptist Health’s wellness and prevention expert, advises in his latest book The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution, being “gluten-aware” doesn’t mean giving up all the foods you love.

Try this recipe for a treat that won’t leave you in pain or discomfort due to a sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in many baked goods.

Double-Chocolate Cupcakes
Hands-On Time: 15 minutes • Total Time: 35 minutes

For these chocolaty treats, choose a high-quality gluten-free dark chocolate with about 70% cacao. This will give you less added sugar and more of the heart-healthy polyphenols found in this type of chocolate. Tapioca starch is added to the brown rice flour here to add body to the cupcakes.

1 cup 1% milk
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2⁄3 cup brown rice flour
1⁄2 cup tapioca starch
1⁄2 cup granulated stevia (baking formula)
1⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces gluten-free dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 cups of a muffin pan with paper liners. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, egg, agave nectar, and vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, tapioca starch, stevia, cocoa, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cups and bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a rack. While the cupcakes are cooling, in a microwaveable bowl, heat the chocolate on high power in three or four 20-second increments, stirring well after each, until the chocolate is smooth and melted. When the cupcakes are cool, spread the melted chocolate over the tops.

Makes 12 cupcakes (1 per serving )
Per cupcake: 183 calories, 12 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 3 g protein, 20 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 110 mg sodium

From The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution by Arthur Agatston, MD with Natalie Geary, MD.  © 2013 by Arthur Agatston, MD.  Reprinted by permission of Rodale, Inc.  Available wherever books are sold.

Tags: Arthur Agatston M.D., chocolate, cupcakes, gluten aware, Recipes from Baptist Health