You can’t help but love these oil free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes that are perfect for entertaining or as a light, simple snack. Serve with a cup of coffee or tea and share them with someone special!
Lemon and coconut are a great combination! The tartness of the lemon blends with the subtle sweetness and richness from the coconut to create a refreshing, yet satisfying flavor. It’s excellent in baked goods, no-bake treats, and even in refrigerator pies, or tart recipes. These oil free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes are the perfect way to take advantage of this flavor combination without much hassle or time involved!
These oil free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes are a tasty, easy dessert perfect for the late summer months, but can also be enjoyed anytime of the year. They’re light in texture and not a heavy, rich dessert since they’re free of oil and butter. They definitely satisfy a sweet tooth though! They’re a fun spin on the popular types of lemon coconut tea cakes and loaves that are enjoyed during summer months. They’re small, cute, and perfect for guests to grab on-the-go as they wish, or for single size serving and portion control purposes. Best of all, no one even guesses they’re vegan!
Oil Free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes
These oil free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes are also simple to make. They bake up just like muffins and then are drizzled with a quick and easy icing drizzle made from coconut, a natural sweetener, fresh lemon zest, and non-dairy milk. The cakes themselves are made with real coconut, fresh lemon juice, whole grain oats, an organic and unbleached all-purpose flour, non-dairy milk, and a natural sweetener.
The secret trick to getting these little cakes to puff up nice and fluffy without eggs is the simple combination of vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda. The acid and alkaline reaction of these ingredients create a chemical reaction in baking that helps baked goods rise, and stay soft and fluffy. You won’t ever taste the vinegar flavor because it cooks off during the baking process.
So what are you waiting for? Grab a muffin tin, the ingredients, and get baking! You can make these Oil Free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes in under 45 minutes and have them ready for a party, brunch, or for dessert in no time!
Mini Lemon Coconut Cakes are the perfect healthy treat and make for a decadent dessert at parties, brunches, and even showers. They're also easy to make and bake up quick and easy!
Ingredients
- For the cakes:
- 1 cup of whole grain oats, ground into a flour (oat flour) in a blender or food processor
- 1 cup of organic, unbleached all-purpose flour (or a gluten-free all-purpose flour if needed)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 cups of unsweetened non-dairy milk (refrigerated coconut milk or almond work best here)
- 1 tsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
- 1/3 cup real, pure maple syrup
- For the icing:
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk (refrigerated variety, not canned)
- 3 tbsp shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest (from the lemon from above)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Process your oats into a flour mixture in the blender (or use 1 cup of oat flour instead).
- Add the oat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, baking soda, shredded coconut, and coconut sugar to a bowl. Sift and stir well to combine everything evenly.
- Next, start adding in the liquid ingredients by adding the non-dairy milk first, then the vanilla extract, the juice from a lemon, and the maple syrup last.
- Stir well until properly combined. It should be a thick mixture. Depending on the brand of flour you use, you may have a mixture that's thicker than mine. Feel free to add a little water as needed to get the batter to a muffin batter consistency. Set aside once mixed.
- Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray, or alternatively, grease them with coconut oil. Then sprinkle the cups with a little coconut sugar and spread the sugar inside the cups (this helps prevent sticking even more and adds a delicious golden coating on the outside of the muffins).
- Once the oven has fully preheated, divide the batter into the muffin cups evenly, with each muffin cup about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350°F until slightly golden brown and firm to the touch, or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the icing
- To make the icing, add 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk (refrigerated variety, not canned), freshly grated lemon zest, 3 tbsp. of shredded coconut, and 3 tbsp. pure maple syrup to a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Remove the cakes from the muffin tin and put them on a glass plate. Make sure they cool completely before drizzling the icing over them, at least 20 minutes.
- Drizzle the icing on top and serve, or refrigerate for later use.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: Fresh lemon juice is best in this recipe for the optimal flavor, so don't buy the bottled stuff. The bottled lemon juice also comes with preservatives that can affect the outcome of the texture of the muffins. Real lemon is the way to go!
Try out these Oil Free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes and share them with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. They’re the perfect late summer treat and bring a smile to anyone’s day all without any animal ingredients, oil, or refined sugar. Happy baking!
We hope you love these delightful Oil Free Mini Vegan Lemon Coconut Cakes recipe from SoFabFood Contributor, Heather from The Soulful Spoon, as much as we do. If you like this recipe, be sure to stop by our Dessert Section section for even more cake recipes like it. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so that you never miss a single recipe, and be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Pinterest for even more fabulous dessert recipes. Enjoy!