Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Amaretto Chocolate Glaze

I didn't eat eggs for years and years when I was younger, but I love cake.  Over the years, I tried a number of different egg substitutes, including the starch egg replacers, and it just never worked for me.  The cakes would either sink in the middle or come out kind of dense.  The recipe below has worked every time for me and it's really moist!  One of the people I work with used a glaze on her cupcakes that was delicious, so I tried that for the first time in this batch.  I think I'll be doing that every time now... =)

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes- Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa power

1 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)

½ tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp chocolate syrup

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp vinegar

Cupcakes- Directions

(don't use any metal bowls or spoons)

1.  Preheat over to 375˚F.

2.  Mix all the dry ingredients together.

3.  Mix all the wet ingredients together except vinegar.

4.  Mix dry and wet ingredients and blend well.

5.  Add vinegar and mix (not blend) RIGHT before baking.

6.  Fill cupcake papers and bake for 30-40 minutes until top of cake cracks.

7.  Optional: Brush top with Amaretto Chocolate Glaze (see below).

Amaretto Chocolate Glaze- Ingredients

1/4 cup chocolate chips (I like using Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet)

1/8 cup boiling water

1 tbsp Amaretto or Amaretto flavored syrup

Glaze- Directions

1.  Melt chocolate chips in the microwave 15 seconds at a time until smooth.

2.  Add boiling water and amaretto syrup and mix until uniform.

3.  Brush on top of cupcakes (I used two coats).