Shredded apple replaces some of the oil and keeps the cake moist in these cinnamon-spiked cupcakes. There is a generous amount of fluffy marshmallow frosting to mound or pipe on top for a festive look. Be sure to frost them right after you make the frosting—it stiffens as it stands and becomes more difficult to spread.
The “secret ingredient” in these coconut-infused blueberry cupcakes—mashed potatoes—gives the cake great texture, almost like pound cake. The fluffy frosting is just fun. Because it’s low in calories and fat, you can spread or pipe a generous amount on top of each cupcake to make them look extra festive. The frosting stiffens as it stands, so be sure to put it on the cupcakes right after you make it.
The chopped cherries blend into the ultra-rich chocolate cake, giving these cupcakes a slight cherry flavor while keeping it super-moist with little added oil. The combination of reduced-fat cream cheese and sour cream gives the frosting cheesecake-like flavor with about 40 calories and 3 grams saturated fat less than a traditional cream cheese frosting.
These raspberry-lemon cupcakes are topped with an easy cream cheese frosting tinted pink with a little raspberry puree. For those unaccustomed to the mildly nutty flavor of whole-wheat flour (used in these cupcakes), the flavor of the raspberry puree swirled into the lemony cake makes the wheat flavor undetectable.
These vanilla-infused cupcakes are made with applesauce as a fat-replacer for butter that’s traditionally part of vanilla cake batter. Thickened evaporated milk works as a great base for the rich and creamy chocolate frosting. Dark chocolate lovers, be sure to use bittersweet chocolate.
Cupcakes are the perfect treat to celebrate a birthday or serve for an individual, portion-controlled dessert. Many cupcake recipes, though, are loaded with sugar and fat. Our healthier, lighter cupcake recipes are healthier versions of your favorite cupcakes, including Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Chocolate-Cherry Cupcakes.