Hi there!

My name is Christina Oh and I’m a shipper for 6DollarShirts.com. If you’ve been keeping up with our work blog, you already know that our wonderful boss Nick recently started a new 6DS tradition of vegan work lunches.

[See pics of the first couple lunches here and here!]

Some of the staff was a little unsure of how good vegan food could be, so I decided to show my support for the idea by baking vegan chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter “cream cheese” icing. They turned out great, and Nick asked me to bake vegan desserts for every lunch… well, challenge accepted!

A lot of people think vegan baking is expensive, with hard-to-find ingredients, and not worth the extra time and effort, but I’m hoping to simplify it all. I’ve become pretty adept at making ends meet on a poor college kid’s budget and I’m applying that to baking awesome vegan treats as well.

Follow for more great recipes like this one for the cupcakes that started it all-

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
(Makes about 4 dozen cupcakes)

• 4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups water
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and mix all the dry ingredients together. To the dry mix, add oil, water, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and cupcakes lose their shine.

Helpful hint- For even cupcakes, I use an ice cream scooper to get the perfect amount of batter each time!

Peanut Butter “Cream Cheese” Icing

• 4 cups Confectioner’s Sugar
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Tofutti brand imitation cream cheese
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup Silk brand Soy Milk (depending on desired consistency of icing)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Whip together sugar and peanut butter. Add cream cheese and vanilla extract. Slowly pour in soy milk until your desired consistency of icing is achieved.