Healthified Chocolate Cupcakes!

As I was brainstorming ideas for this blog, I thought I’d reference a book a dietitian colleague of mine had brought to my attention awhile back. Check out the book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It’s full of recipes that have “hidden” fruits and vegetables in them. I found this book at Barnes and Nobles here in town.   

As today marks the anniversary of my birth, I thought I’d try out the chocolate cupcake recipe and have some treats to bring to work with me. These cupcakes have hidden butternut squash and pumpkin in the recipe. 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake batter:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree 

1/2 cup yellow squash puree

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I left out the chocolate chips and added ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder instead)

Frosting:

1 8 ounce package reduced-fat cream cheese 

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. Put the pumpkin and squash purees in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the brown sugar, water, oil, and vanilla, and beat until well blended.

3. Now add the flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips, and mix until completely incorporated. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are lightly browned and spring back to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack to cool before frosting them. 

4. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese with the maple syrup, vanilla and salt until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes.

5. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 1 month. 

I did make a couple of tweaks to the recipe. I left out the chocolate chips and added ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. The batter was a little more orange in color than I had expected (due to the added squashes) and I wanted the cupcakes to look a little more disguised. 

Personally, I thought the cupcakes were pretty tasty (as you can see I consumed one prior to getting a picture of the finished product….yum!). Being a dietitian, I realize I may have a palate for “healthified” foods, so I wanted another opinion on the outcome of these cupcakes. Who better than Chef Alex?

He gave it a 7 out of 10. I'll take it. Who says birthday cake can’t be healthy? J

-Dietitian Natalie