Earl Grey Tea Cakes with Cardamom

A few months ago, I made some vegan Earl Grey French Macarons. Last month, the recipe was one of my most popular pins on Pinterest!

I wanted to do something else with Earl Grey tea. It's such a versatile and distinct flavor. For this recipe, I left the leaves as is -- you can run them through a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) to make a finer powder for your baked goods.

Now I don't want to call these cakes cupcakes; the texture's a little different. They're not entirely like a muffin or bread either. These cakes are a delightful hybrid. You can add some vegan buttercream icing and you have a delicious treat. Without the icing, these tea cakes have no refined sugar, which is an added plus!

For those of you not familiar with cardamom, it's a spice that's used frequently in India, often in place of cinnamon. You can find it in chai tea and other fall spice mixes. It marries well with Earl Grey, that's for sure!

As a side note, I tried making some maple butter -- and it failed miserably. It turned into maple candy, so I made some flower cut outs as decorations. I will try again to make the butter and let you know how it goes :-)

Earl Grey Tea Cakes with Cardamom
1/2 of a pureed banana (ripe)
1 c. pure maple syrup
1 c. non-dairy yogurt (soy, almond, or coconut)
1/4 c. coconut oil, softened
1 tsp. vanilla-infused bourbon (learn more about infusing your own liquor)
2 1/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 T. Earl Grey tea leaves
1 tsp. cardamom, ground
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch baking powder, aluminum-free
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients: tea, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, flour, and salt. Set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the banana, syrup, yogurt, coconut oil, and vanilla. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients to the mix. You don't want to over mix the batter.