St. Patrick's Day Special: Bake Your Own Chocolate Stout Cupcakes!

How early is too early for beer?

One could choose to hold off until after sunrise. Fortunately, crumb toppings are the great equalizer: Is it breakfast? Brunch? Dessert? Who cares! It's beer! Here's to you, patron saint of unnaturally colored alcoholic beverages!

These cupcakes have an exceptionally tender crumb and intense chocolate flavor. They're also extra beery -- double the amount listed in the original published recipe...

Alissa Nelson

You know you want them -- so go bake them!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
(adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World!)

Crumb Topping (optional)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp neutral oil (like canola or grapeseed)

Cupcakes
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (you can sub in a little whole-wheat flour to give a little bit of a bitter beery edge)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup beer (I used Guinness, but Schlafly's coffee stout or Young's chocolate stouts are also excellent choices)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup neutral oil
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 and put paper liners in a muffin tin.

Make the topping, if using: sift (or whisk) together the flour, cocoa, and sugar in a small bowl.

Then, while stirring constantly with a fork, slowly drizzle in the oil. Stop once you have a good proportion of larger crumbs -- you probably won't need to add all of the oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar. Set aside to curdle.

In a medium-size bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the beer, sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy-milk mixture and whisk until frothy. Add the dry ingredients to wet in two batches, and whisk for a couple of minutes, until no lumps remain.

Fill the tins about three-quarters of the way, and gently top with the crumb topping. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool for five minutes in the tin, then cool the rest of the way on a rack.