Donuts with an Identity Crisis?
Poor little Donut was always being made fun of. People called him fat. People poked fun at his gastronomic hole. They stuck their pencils through it and when he told them, “that’s not nice!” They replied, “your argument is full of holes! Get it? Holes?!?!”
So Donut numbed the pain of social rejection by eating strawberry jam until he was full to the bursting. Then he became a filled donut – literally.
But still the health-conscious crowd scorned at his oily ways. And though he was as sweet as could be, no one but Homer Simpson seemed to want him around. Most people called him a “cholesterol bomb” and said he was “unhealthy.” Donut didn’t know what cholesterol was, but he certainly knew he didn’t want to explode. He began to wonder if maybe he really was unhealthy.
He checked out his stats, and it turned out he contained an average of innumerable calories and you-don’t-want-to-know-how-many grams of saturated fat. If he continued on this path, it appeared he would soon become the cause of many faint-hearted souls to suffer obesity, heart disease, and overall guilt. He knew he had to change his course before he caused anyone harm.
But how does one become healthy? Donut wondered. He decided the first step would probably be to get into shape. So he headed to the gym and began watching his macronutrients. After some time, Donut had taken on the fetching form of a muffin! And not just any muffin… a healthy Strawberry Crunch Donut Muffin!
He still loved to eat strawberry jam. But now that he was educated and mindful, Donut/Muffin worked reasonable servings of jam into his balanced diet, rather than bingeing on it when he was upset. So his heart was still full of gooey, sweet strawberry goodness, but it was complemented by plenty of whole grains and a lower fat content.
Now the health enthusiasts were impressed with Donut/Muffin’s transformation. They followed him everywhere, desperate to learn his fitness secret. (And savor his delicious body! 🙂 ) He told them his secret was simple – just live a balanced lifestyle with everything in moderation, and be mindful of your habits – it’s the first step towards changing the ones that need work. He tried to educate them about the food pyramid, but at that point the crunchy coating and strawberry center grew to be too much for the hungry zealots and they ate him.
And you can eat him too. You needn’t feel bad about it – he’s made with whole wheat pastry flour, the crunchy coating is balanced Life Cereal, and while the strawberry jam in the center may serve no nutritional function, it does contribute to the deliciousness, and that’s important for a lifestyle of moderation.
Donut’s struggle to find himself resulted in a recipe for delicious treats you can make for the whole family! The taste is reminiscent of a strawberry filled donut, but the texture is similar to that of a hearty muffin. This has to be the tastiest identity crisis in history.
Here’s the recipe – now go out and find yourself today!
Strawberry Crunch Donut Muffins
based on recipe from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
makes 12 regular-sized muffins
Ingredients:
muffin batter
- 1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- small dash cinnamon
- small dash nutmeg
- 1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup plain almond milk (or whatever kind of milk you like)
- 1/3 cup lemon curd
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
filling
- 1/4 cup strawberry jam
topping
- 1/4 cup Earth Balance Whipped or Original Buttery Spread
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Quaker Life Original Multigrain Cereal
- 2 tbs sweetened coconut flakes
- small dash cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Line a regular sized muffin tin with 12 muffin liners, or spray with nonstick spray. (Note: my muffins wanted to stick to the liners a little, so maybe just spraying the pan is better?)
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and Truvia. Mix.
Beat in egg. Add almond milk, lemon curd, and vanilla. Mix well. Batter will be thick.
Distribute about half the muffin batter evenly across all 12 muffins. Then place a small spoonful of strawberry jam in the center of each. Cover with remaining muffin batter.
Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.
While muffins are baking, prepare topping: in a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt Earth Balance in microwave.
In another small bowl, crush the Life Cereal to crumbs. Add coconut flakes and cinnamon and toss.
When muffins are done baking, immediately spoon melted Earth Balance over the tops of each one. Then sprinkle on the cereal/coconut mixture.
Enjoy warm.
Image credits: (In order from top of post to bottom) ( All pictures of donut muffins are my own!) : http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2011/03/the_mystery_of_the_pink-sprink.php; http://gnostical-turpitude.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html; http://www.fitnesstri.com/eat-a-rainbow-wellness/
Hidden Treasures
Often the best, most interesting and wonderful things in life are also the hardest to find. True friends and soul mates are hard to find; likewise, buried treasure, and exotic species are quite elusive, and can avoid discovery for generations. But as hard as these entities are to allocate, they are all the more valuable once found.
Recently I read about the po’ouli bird, a species likely related to a honeycreeper that was first discovered by University of Hawaii students in 1973. Here’s a pic:
The po’ouli is structurally dissimilar to any other living bird species, and nests in the rainforest in trees with a name so hard to pronounce I won’t even try, (though I’m sure it sounds beautiful in the native language) and dines on pesky creepy-crawlies such as spiders (go, po’ouli birds!) When it was discovered, the species was already endangered. Despite efforts to conserve and regrow the existing population, it continued to dwindle until there were only three known individuals alive in 1997. Desperate attempts to get these lonely survivors to produce offspring were made, but to no avail.
Today, there are only two males left, and the chances of expanding the population using tissue samples or some other artificial method are slim, as no females are left. Due to habitat loss, disease, loss of prey species, and other factors likely highly influenced by humans, the po’ouli bird is now practically extinct. This rare and beautiful creature has been like a fleeting dream fluttering across the stage of human knowledge between its discovery so late and its disappearance too soon.
I imagine it was very exciting for those University of Hawaii students to come upon an undiscovered species quietly existing in the heart of the forest right by their school. All life is a treasure, but a scientific and historical treasure indeed was the discovery of this understated bird. And to let the population dwindle to a measly few individuals keeping the species of po’ouli alive, hanging on by a thread to the earth as it turns away, led by the rope of human ignorance, this sad occurrence is akin to a pirate’s lifetime of gold and jewels being devoured by a black sea wave and buried under thousands of leagues of murky scum. A treasure, first unknown, then under-appreciated, now lost if we do not act at once. The most valuable treasure is the one that is taken for granted until it is gone.
Now, onto a cheerier discussion of a much different type of elusive treasure…the legendary perfect crumb muffin! You know, that delicious-yet-super-fattening muffin with the brown sugar/cinnamon crumble on top that fills your mouth with sugar and brightens your whole day yet simultaneously causes you to feel extremely guilty for eating the soft, moist baked treat covered in sinful streusel? I have tried several times to make a healthier version of crumb-topped baked goods at home, but I can never get it just right the way they do in bakeries…either the crumbs roll right off the muffin, or they sink into the batter while baking heretofore losing the delightful texture of grainy crumbly bits. They just don’t want to stay put on top of the muffin!!! As you might imagine, these repeated failures have frustrated me to the point that I’ve vowed to myself never to try and make a crumb muffin again, lest I suffer the annoyance of misbehaving crumb topping on yet another occasion. Yet the inexplicable call of the crumb muffin beckons me to the kitchen, over and over throughout the years, armed with a new recipe or technique, somehow sure this time will be different, this time I will conquer the great and terrible crumb muffin and pull something magical out of the oven. This time the crumbs will neither sink into the batter, nor roll away.
Needless to say, this different, special day has not arrived yet. But like a scientist whiling away his life searching for a new species, like a pirate traversing the world ocean in search of mythical treasure, I have some sort of irrepressible urge to continue trying, until the day I prevail. Or the day my oven breaks, whichever comes first. That’s what drove me to make these crumb muffins last week. An image of banana blueberry muffins with that impossible, magical cinnamon crumble topping popped into my head, and I simply could not get rid of it. The only thing to do was bake the muffins, and hope that this time would be different. I mixed up the batter with banana, blueberry, steel-cut oats, tart yogurt and cream cheese, and other good stuff. I popped them in the oven, took them out around halfway through the baking process to gingerly adorn each one with a sprinkling of my crumble topping, placed them back in the oven, then crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Maybe this batch would be my perfect crumb muffins, my treasure.
When the timer shrieked I whisked the muffins out of the oven and saw at once that treasure…these were not. At least, in terms of looks. The all-important crumble wasn’t looking so crumb-y: it had sunken a bit into the center of each muffin, making them look more like little depressed volcanoes than chipper crumb muffins. Glumly I snapped a few pictures on the off-chance they’d taste all right, though I already knew they weren’t the treasure muffins I was hoping for.
As it turned out, they tasted marvelous! The tart flavor of the yogurt and cream cheese came through only faintly, I was hoping for a bit more tart flavor, but they still tasted great, mostly like delicious banana, flavorful blueberries, nourishing whole grains and oats, and a nice, melty layer of sugar and spice on top. My mom said they tasted “healthy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Maybe I’m used to things tasting “healthy,” but personally I prefer the hearty texture of a homemade healthy muffin to a light, buttery bakery one made heavy with guilt. When served warm, with the not-so-“crumb”-y topping rolling down the sides and melting in your mouth, these muffins are the perfect breakfast treat! Even if they don’t look perfect, they are a true treasure for the tastebuds. And a treasure in terms of nutrition as well: the batter is packed with real fruit and whole grains, and they are low in fat and calories – one filling muffin is less than 200! Since they have steel cut oats and whole wheat pastry flour, instead of just finely ground white flour, their glycemic index is lower than that of many traditionally-baked muffins.
The take-away? Looks aren’t everything. Look carefully at your trash and you may find treasure where you least expect it. Protect your treasure well, whether it be in the form of gold, endangered animals, or a muffin on your plate that you don’t want anyone to steal!
Here’s the recipe I used. If you know a better technique for baking perfect crumb muffins, please do let me know in the comments!
Banana Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Based on recipe from babylovingmama.com
Makes 12 regular size muffins
Ingredients:
muffin batter
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup dry steel cut oats
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- dash cinnamon
- 2 large bananas
- 1 egg (I used 3 tbs Lucerne brand egg substitute)
- 2 tbs organic light agave syrup
- 2 Laughing Cow brand Smooth Sensations cinnamon cream cheese spread
- 1 Chobani brand strawberry banana flavored 2% milkfat Greek yogurt (or use your favorite brand of lowfat or nonfat Greek yogurt.)
- 3 tbs skim milk
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
“crumb” topping
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbs whole wheat pastry flour
- pinch cinnamon
- 1 tbs Earth Balance Whipped Buttery Spread (or use original; we just happened to have whipped in the house)
- 1/2 tsp organic light agave syrup
- 1 to 2 tsp water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Line a regular-sized muffin tin with 12 paper liners, or spray with nonstick spray.
For Muffins: In a large bowl, combine the flour, steel cut oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix.
Place the bananas in another large bowl, and mash them a bit with a fork. Then add the egg substitute, 2 tbs agave, and 2 Laughing Cow cheese wedges. Combine using an electric mixer until all the ingredients are pretty well incorporated (my mixture was still somewhat lumpy.)
Pour wet mixture into dry. Add the yogurt and 3 tbs skim milk. Stir just until combined. Add blueberries and mix gently.
Pour muffin batter evenly into muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full or more (these muffins are pretty big but don’t rise too much during baking.) Bake for about ten minutes before you add the crumb topping, and 6-8 minutes after (16-18 minutes total.)
For Crumb Topping: In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 2 tbs whole wheat pastry flour, and cinnamon. Toss mixture. Cut in 1 tbs Earth Balance in little pieces. Mix with your fingers until mixture becomes crumbly. (Mine was way too dry so I added an extra 1/2 tsp agave and a few drops of water, which gave it more of a crumbly texture, so do this if needed.)
After muffins have baked at 375 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top of each muffin. Return to oven for another 6-8 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Serve these muffins warm to those people you treasure in your life!
Po’ouli bird photo credits: (in order of appearance)
http://www.nature.com/news/2002/020509/full/news020506-4.html
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2005/2005-05-19-insltr.asp
Cartoon muffin pic from:
Lemon Blueberry Muffin Batter Smoothie
Anyone who has watched the original film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” has probably been at least slightly imprinted with some strange feelings about blueberries. Have you seen the movie? Remember Violet Beauregarde – that gum-chewing chatterbox who popped a piece of prototype gum into her mouth and began to turn blue and round like a blueberry? I for one watched the movie so many times that that scene is forever burned into my memory: the Oompa-Loompas had to roll the girl out of the room, she had grown so rotund. I must have developed a kind of horrified fascination for the idea of a child turning into a blueberry, for I wrote several short stories and drew a gallery of sketches of scenes based on the frightful metamorphosis portrayed in the movie. I did feel a bit reluctant to eat blueberries after the first time I saw that scene, but the hesitation was washed away when my mom offered me some of the offending fruits bathed in coffee creamer.
If you don’t want to end up like Violet Beauregarde (and most of us don’t), here’s some good news: there are plenty of healthy and delicious ways to consume blueberries without ballooning into a ball or turning blue. Why, blueberries are pretty much designed for the health-conscious, as they are very low in calories and high in vitamin C and fiber. Recently, the American Chemical Society proclaimed that eating berries can benefit the brain, particularly with the prevention of age-related memory loss.
All around, blueberries are a true super fruit. But as with many other foods, people have found ways to turn an innocent health food into a dangerous dish of dietary doom: blueberries are drenched in cream, dumped in sugary pies, and mixed into muffin batter riddled with butter, oils, white flour, refined sugar, all the other things health nuts try to avoid. In answer to a common question: no, the fact that a muffin has blueberries in it does not make it healthy. Not unless that muffin also happens to be made the smart way, with fat substitutes, low GI flour, and real, whole ingredients. Better yet, scrap the whole baking step, and dump the tasty soul of a muffin into the body of a nutritious smoothie. You’ll leave behind a lot of the carbs and sugars found in a baked muffin, and keep the delicious taste and healthy berries.
This smoothie was a successful mish-mosh of unbaked muffin and ice-cold drink. With a generous helping of both fresh and dried blueberries, it turned out a lovely shade of blue-purple. But don’t worry – the color will not manifest itself in your skin after drinking this smoothie. Nor will you grow round, your belt exploding off as Violet Beauregarde’s did in the movie. Nope, this is a smart snack to help you stay slim, packed with filling protein and fiber. Silly Violet should have been a smoothie enthusiast instead of a gum-chewer; it would have saved her a lot of heartache. As a child watching that film, I think I must have resolved to learn from the rotten childrens’ mistakes. That’s probably why I always strive not to drink out of a brown river, and why I’d choose a smoothie over gum any day.
Drinking this smoothie was almost like sipping a hearty blueberry muffin through a straw. It had all the satisfying comfort of homestyle muffin batter, plus the refreshing chill and invigorating flavor of zesty lemon. It was very thick and filling, and I knew I could feel good drinking it because it was truly a delectable glass full of calcium, protein, fiber, and antioxidants. I highly recommend setting aside some time in your busy morning to blend up this smoothie. It doesn’t take too much time to throw together, and it’ll take you scarcely as much time to slurp it all up!
Lemon Blueberry Muffin Batter Smoothie
makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
smoothie
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 container Chobani brand lemon flavored Greek yogurt
- 2-3 small ice cubes
“muffin batter”
- 3 tbls whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp Earth Balance Whipped or Original Buttery Spread
- 1/2 tbl lemon curd
- 1/2 tbl honey
- 1-2 tbls water
- 1 tbl dried blueberries
Directions:
Place all smoothie ingredients in blender.
In a small bowl, combine “muffin batter” ingredients. (If you like, reserve dried blueberries for garnish.) Texture will be sticky and not at all like muffin batter…so just throw it in the smoothie and smash it all together!
Blend until smooth. Pour into desired glass. If you reserved the dried blueberries, add them on top as garnish. Sip with the soundtrack of the Oompa-Loompa song!
Sources: Nutrition info: http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-blueberries-i9050, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120307145825.htm
Violet Beauregarde Image: http://cher-homespun.blogspot.com/2011/08/flattery-is-like-chewing-gum-enjoy-it.html
Pumpkin Coffee Cake in a Mug
One of my early memories is a childhood trauma that occurred when I was below kindergarten-age. I happened to wander into the living room late on evening when my dad was watching an incredibly violent, frightening show on t.v. I hugged my blankie, paralyzed, my eyes glued to the screen though my itty-bitty legs were itching to bolt and escape the horror that was unfolding as a mentally ill character chopped off his own arm with a kitchen utensil.
This show affected me for life. I dreamt about the sallow-complexioned guy cutting off his arm, and the arms flooding the room and bouncing out the door to go attack people or something. I was afraid of spatulas for years, as this was the televised maniac’s weapon of choice. And for ages I strove to avoid ever catching another glimpse of the hated, traumatizing show that had scarred my life – Spongebob Squarepants.
I wasn’t able to watch one second of that show until I was fifteen or so. Then my little brother showed me his favorite episodes on Netflix. I was a little afraid to watch such a terrifying cartoon, but I decided to be brave. Through watching Spongebob as a young adult far out of the target age range, I was able to finally realize how funny it was. I mean, really. It’s not like my favorite show or anything, but I did develop a certain fondness for the talking yellow sponge and pint-sized mad scientist Plankton and penny-pinching Mr. Krabbs. Sandy the Squirrel gets on my nerves big time. But the point is, the very same show I find charming now was one of the scariest things ever for me as a child actually in the average age-range of Spongebob‘s audience.
I don’t know if I was just overly sensitive, or if Spongebob really should be kept away from innocent young children. Honestly, I find there are many subtle aspects to each character that are very adult concepts. For example, Squidward is the classic wannabe artist with a “temporary” job until his clarinet career takes off. Except his temporary job has morphed into an infinite future of degradation and torture (for him, being with the cheerful Spongebob is torture.) The character of Squidward, when analyzed more deeply, is a symbol of unachieved dreams. Squidward thinks he is unique and talented, but no one else in his society agrees. So he becomes gloomy and cynical, trudging to work and having no real purpose in life except to be bitter towards everyone around him.
On the flip side, Spongebob is clearly mentally defective and doomed to spend his whole life as a child in an adult’s shoes. He does not dream of anything beyond his job at the Krusty Krabb. In fact, he takes the job very seriously and does his best to excel at it, earning him fame as the best Krabby Patty maker in Bikini Bottom and the friendships of the fish all around him (except, of course, when they periodically turn into an angry mob and chase him with torches.) The point is, Spongebob not only accepts his place in the world, he breathes all his uniqueness and talent into it, making him an irreplaceable fry-cook and truly lovable (though mentally challenged) character.
Though the little five-year-olds being exposed to Spongebob Squarepants are probably more focused on him cutting off his arms with a spatula than on analyzing his character, the message inscribed between the lines of this crazy kids’ show must be intended to enter the young viewers’ subconscious and teach them from a young age how to truly succeed in life. The key, according to the writers of Spongebob Squarepants, is to have a positive attitude and care about what you do. I think that’s a message we can all benefit from, as we get older and seek a “good college” so we can get a “good job”. No matter what career we choose, it is good if we believe it is, and put our talent into it.
Or maybe I’m wrong, and the message really is: be careful when using a spatula unless you have regenerating extremities like a cartoonified yellow sponge. I may never know. But either way, be careful in the kitchen while pursuing your dreams!
Now that I’ve started school, I am again drenched with a torrent of stress and homework to supposedly help me work my way to a “dream career.” While my dream career certainly isn’t flipping burgers at a fast food joint, it is also not one of those high-pay, low-fun jobs that make you yawn just to hear the job description. I hope to pursue a career that allows me to follow my dreams and inject my personal creativity into what I do.
This is a back-to-school coffee cake that you can make for breakfast in a hurry. It has the flavors of fall, what with the pumpkin, cinnamon streusel, and melty chocolate chips. And I infused it with my creativity by coming up with the idea myself. Spongebob would be proud!
This cake is also spatulaphobic-friendly, as there is no spatula usage necessary to make this cake. (FYI I have recovered from my spatula terror and am doing well, but if you personally find yourself afraid of cutting your arm off due to a traumatic children’s show I understand.)
Pumpkin Coffee Cake in a Mug
based on this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie
makes one serving
Ingredients:
cake
- 3 tbls whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (i used a pinch of each)
- 2 tbls pumpkin butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbl water
streusel
- pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg
- 1 1/4 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin butter
mix-ins
- 15 semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 tbl)
- 1 tbl chopped walnuts
Directions:
For cake: In a mug, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, brown sugar, pumpkin butter, vanilla, and water. Mix well, making sure there are no dry spots. Stir in most of the chocolate chips and walnuts, but reserve some of each for the topping.
For the topping: In a tiny bowl, combine the streusel ingredients and mix well.
Microwave mug for 30 seconds. Add streusel topping and sprinkle on the remaining chocolate chips and walnuts. Microwave for another 15 seconds.
Bon appetit! (I promise you this mug coffee cake is better than a Krabby Patty!)
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Red Velvet Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
Raise your hand if you like red velvet. Is that everyone? Yep. Good.
Can you guys believe there are people out there – no one among us, of course, but some people – who don’t like red velvet cake? Shocking, I know. They don’t know what they’re missing.
Red velvet is the most regal of the cake flavors, and one of the most interesting, with that flavor that’s not quite chocolate, not just sweet…it’s complex. Unfortunately, some modern bakeries like to ruin red velvet cakes by making them with just red food coloring, diminishing some of the interesting flavor. That flavor comes from the beets that are traditionally used to give the cake moisture, sweetness, and a special fruity twist you won’t get from red food coloring made out of chemicals. (Blech.) There is some dispute as to when red velvet cake came about, but one idea is that it was invented during the Depression Era when people didn’t have enough sugar, and so used beets to sweeten their chocolate cake. I tried using beets as well, with the great result of this amazing, flavorful cupcake!
I didn’t use any food coloring, and as a result my cupcakes were more brownish than a true red. I didn’t want to use the food coloring at most grocery stores that’s made of chemicals, so I went to Whole Foods to look for organic red food coloring. But they didn’t have it and I resolved that organic food coloring was most likely made out of chemicals as well, just grass-fed, cage-free chemicals. Which is great, but not as good as leaving them out altogether.
My mom is not a fan of red velvet (yes, it’s unbelievable) but she liked these cupcakes and described them as robust and somewhat fruity. I agree that they have a hint of fruity flavor, just enough to add a layer of depth to the taste. They are also dense and earthy, making them more filling.
Red velvet and pumpkin…does that sound like a weird combination? Perhaps, but it turns out to be a match made in heaven. These cupcakes are filled with sweet pumpkin butter, and topped with a delicious pumpkin cream cheese icing. Oh, and did I mention the icing has chocolate in it? I really just added the chocolate because the icing looked gross without it. But the chocolate definitely adds something to the cupcake. I’ve always thought red velvet should be paired with chocolate more often.
These cupcakes really hit the spot, as well as being nice and satisfying. The flour is all whole wheat pastry flour, and they are sweetened mostly by agave with just a touch of brown sugar. I’m not sure it even needs the brown sugar, maybe it could be replaced with agave or muscavado sugar. The beets provide fiber, vitamin C, and folate. Research has also suggested that the betacyanin in beets that gives them their red color may also help prevent the growth of cancer cells and even help guard against heart disease. So hooray for beets! Here’s a way to sneak them into your (or your children’s) diet disguised as dessert. Much better then baking brownies with spinach mixed in – gross!
So go ahead and try this recipe for healthy cupcakes fit for a queen.
Red Velvet Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
based on recipe from eatingwell.com, also inspired by Desserts with Benefits
Makes 12 regular sized cupcakes
Ingredients:
for cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- dash of cinnamon
- 1/2 cup organic raw agave syrup
- 5 small to medium beets, roasted, peeled, and pureed in blender (I bought some beets that were already roasted and peeled)
- 2 tbls brown sugar
- 2 tbls Peanut Butter & Co. brand White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter
- 2 separated eggs
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 2 tbls cherry jam (I used Crofter’s brand Morello Cherry Premium Spread)
- 2 tbls plain coconut milk
- 6 ounces Lucerne brand plain Greek yogurt
for filling
- 1/4 cup pumpkin butter ( I used Kozlowski brand)
for frosting
- 4 ounces low fat neufchatel cream cheese (I used Lucerne brand)
- 2 tbls Libby’s Pure Pumpkin puree
- 1 tbl agave syrup
- dash cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
For cupcakes: To make buttermilk substitute, combine two tablespoons of coconut milk with 6 ounces of Greek yogurt. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a regular muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In another large bowl, combine agave syrup, brown sugar, White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Mix well with a hand mixer.
Pour this mixture into the flour mixture. Add your buttermilk substitute and the beet puree, and mix well.
In a small bowl, use hand mixer to beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites gently into batter. (Honestly, I was too impatient to wait until peaks formed, so I just poured the egg whites into the batter when they got bubbly and it turned out fine.)
Pour a little bit of batter into each paper liner, filling it a little less than halfway. Add about one teaspoon of pumpkin butter to the center of each cupcake on the surface of the batter. Cover this over with more batter.
Bake in prepared oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.
For Frosting: In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1 tablespoon agave syrup, the pumpkin puree, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gently blend with a spoon, trying not to break up the cream cheese into chunks. WARNING: This mixture will look unappetizing.
Place 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips into another small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about a minute to a minute and a half, stopping every 30 seconds or so to stir with a spoon.
When chocolate chips are melted, remove from microwave. Pour gross cream cheese/pumpkin mixture into chocolate and blend until it’s thoroughly combined and doesn’t look so gross. In fact, now it will look kind of good…
When cupcakes are completely cooled, spread frosting evenly on top of each one. Now the cupcakes are finally ready to eat – yum!
Sources: http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/3-reasons-you-should-be-eating-red-beets.html#b, http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/theres-no-beating-the-beet
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