Today, I modified a recipe that daughter Liz shared with me where you substitute 15 ounces of canned pumpkin puree for all the wet ingredients required in an 18.25 oz. chocolate cake mix to produce either delicious low-fat cupcakes or cookies. The only problem is that Ray and I don’t eat refined sugar so we don’t use cake mixes.
So, instead, I used a chocolate cupcake recipe from the Baking in America cookbook, removed the wet ingredients and the refined sugar, then added fresh pumpkin puree, maple sugar and maple syrup. The result was a chocolate cupcake that was moist, rich, delicious and also had a perfect consistency. I am adding a 5-Star distinction to this recipe beginning now. If I can make such a perfect cupcake the first time out, then I can’t even imagine how good these will be with a simple cream cheese frosting. Plus, there is no fat in my recipe at all so that makes it even healthier. A low-fat cream cheese frosting should not be too sinful, I think. But the truth is that these cupcakes were so good even without frosting that I had two!
Here’s my modified recipe, which does not taste non-fat or even maple sweetened. It is just plan delicious.
Non-fat Maple-Sweetened Chocolate Cupcakes
1 ¼ cup sifted all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla ¼ cup maple sugar ½ cup pure maple syrup 1 cup pumpkin puree
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Spray a muffin tin with Pam. Resift the flour with the baking soda, salt, and cocoa and place in a mixing bowl. Add maple sugar and all other ingredients and mix on medium with an electric mixer until smooth, about 1 minute, then shift to medium-high and beat for 1 more minute until fluffy. Divide batter evenly among the muffin tins. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the middle bounces back. Cool for 5 minutes before frosting or eating.
Cream Cheese Frosting 1 package low-fat cream cheese ½ – 1 teaspoon vanilla ¼ cup honey
Mix with electric mixer on high-speed until fluffy. Spread on cupcakes.
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