Healthy Cupcake Success!!

Here is the recipe for the healthy cupcakes I made yesterday. They turned out very good, but next time I think I may add more blood orange juice to kick up the flavor some more, and add zest to the batter as well. They turned out moist and fluffy, which I was surprised with considering the lack of fat in it. Things I may try in the future to get the fat and calorie count down even further: fat free sour cream, and reduce the sugar blend by a half cup. I have added the nutritional info at the bottom of the post. The nutritional info will vary depending on how much of the frosting you put on each cupcake. I normally like to put a piped swirl on top, but that uses a lot of frosting, so this time I just spread it on the top and topped with some orange zest.

Light Blood Orange Cupcakes

2 cups Cake Flour
1 cup Flour
2 cups Splenda Baking Blend
1 tbsp Baking Powder
¾ tsp Salt
½ cups Light Butter
½ cup sour cream, low fat
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
½ cup Skim Milk
½ cup Blood Orange Juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter mix until just coated with flour.

Add in yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract in three parts, scrapping down the bowl between each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.

Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they form a stiff peak. Fold in ¼ of the stiff egg whites to the batter. Once incorporated fold in the rest of the egg whites/

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17-20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz. 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Beat cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beat until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Tip: Your cream cheese frosting with come out perfectly smooth is you use the cream cheese nice and cold, right out of the fridge.

Nutritional Information
Calories 202
Total Fat 5 g
Cholesterol 15.4 mg
Sodium 85.2 mg
Potassium 38.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 33.7 g
Dietary Fiber 0.3 g
Sugars 23.7g
Protein 3.1 g