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Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
7 Reviews
From: EatingWell Magazine, September/October 2015
These healthy chocolate cupcakes get a soft, moist texture from their not-so-secret ingredient: beets. The beets act as a natural red food dye, plus they bump up the fiber. Use red beets to give the cream cheese frosting a vibrant pink hue.
- By: EatingWell Test Kitchen
Ingredients 12 servings
for serving adjustment
Serving size has been adjusted!
Original recipe yields 12 servings
Nutrition per serving may change if servings are adjusted.
- 2 cups diced peeled beets ( ½-inch; about 2 medium)
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup canola oil or grapeseed oil
- 1¾ cups packed confectioners’ sugar, divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 5 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
Preparation
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Active
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Ready In
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 ( ½-cup) muffin cups with paper liners.
- Bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a large saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add beets, cover and steam until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a blender. Add buttermilk and puree until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the beet puree. Pour the rest into a large bowl.
- Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, oil, 1 cup confectioners' sugar and vanilla into the beet puree in the large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
- Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- To prepare frosting: Combine the remaining ¾ cup confectioners' sugar and cream cheese with the reserved beet puree in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Top each cooled cupcake with a generous 1 tablespoon frosting.
- Make Ahead Tip: Store unfrosted cupcakes at room temperature for up to 1 day; refrigerate frosting for up to 1 day.
- Equipment: Muffin tin with 12 ( ½-cup) cups; paper liners
- Gluten-free Variation: Swap a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend for the white whole-wheat flour and use gluten-free vanilla extract.
- DIY Muffin Cups: Make your next batch of muffins or cupcakes the ultimate grab-and-go treat by lining your tin with muffin liners. No liners? No problem. Use 5-inch squares of parchment paper, coat each muffin cup with cooking spray, and push each square into the cups using a small can or bottle, pressing the paper up the sides. (It’s OK if some of the paper is sticking out over the rim.) Fill each cup as directed.
- Serving size: 1 cupcake
- Per serving: 221 calories; 8 g fat(2 g sat); 3 g fiber; 34 g carbohydrates; 5 g protein; 30 mcg folate; 25 mg cholesterol; 20 g sugars; 17 g added sugars; 136 IU vitamin A; 1 mg vitamin C; 52 mg calcium; 3 mg iron; 264 mg sodium; 194 mg potassium
- Carbohydrate Servings: 2½
- Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, ½ vegetable, 1½ fat
Reviews 7
April 30, 2019
By: Melany Lang
I made a few substitutions, 1 cup white all-purpose flour, used organic sugar and reduced it to 2/3, subbed kefir for buttermilk. I think I reduced the sugar too much, ha ha, but the cupcakes turned out great. They were so fluffy and the earthiness of the beet/cocoa combo was delightful. My 8-year-old wanted to eat them all up.
December 02, 2018
By: hjguill
I did use gluten free flour, and they came out delicious. I ended up forgetting to save some of the beet puree for the icing, so we went with a buttercream frosting instead. Still yummy. Well written recipe - very easy to follow. Thank you. Oh yeah, and my three-year-old loved them!
July 04, 2018
By: Janelle
I would probably eat these for breakfast... They weren't sweet enough to call them a cupcake, more like muffin territory for me. Maybe with some chocolate chips thrown in it would be more sweet, but this just wasn't quite there for me.
January 29, 2018
By: Pat Schundria
This is a fabulous yummy moist cupcake, and the icing is to-die-for, just fabulous!!
July 30, 2016
By: krazyakres
I was given these cupcakes last year by a friend and decided to give them a try this year. The first time, I made cupcakes. The second time, I put the batter in a bread pan. It made an amazing loaf of quick bread. It is extremely moist and earthy. But if you are used to things with a more natural flavour you want to be offended by it at all. My 10-year-old loves them, so I wouldn't think children would be turned off by the flavor, either.
February 14, 2016
By: t
Title was appropriate and describes the cupcake well.
I'll admit I don't have a very clean palette yet. I do think this is a good recipe, probably better for adults than for children that are used to grocery store cupcakes. It went over well with the group of adults I served it to and they were surprised that beets were the main ingredient. It wasn't very red though. The icing was nice and sweet. I made these as mini cupcakes and used my all purpose gluten free flour mix. I might experiment with this a bit and try adding some Stevia to the batter and maybe some coffee or mini chocolate chips to drown out the musty root vibe.
Pros: Good texture, not too heavy.
Cons: Cupcakes had an earthy taste. Not sweet enough for me.
September 01, 2015
By: EatingWell User
Used 1pkg Love pre-cooked beets shredded...1-3/4c. Also forgot to separate sugar...all went into batter. Don't think it mattered. I don't use frosting on cakes anyway so the cake was a little sweeter. Beautiful shaped cakes...Highest I have ever made... Reminded me of how Devil Dogs used to taste in the old days.....
