Red. Velvet. Cupcakes. Those three magical words conjure up sweet fantasies of rich, moist cake with its unique flavor that makes you wonder - is it chocolate? Is it vanilla? Or is it something else? The mystery envelopes your taste buds as they tries to analyze and identify the flavors of this mouthwatering morsel of cake, swirling in hints of tartness of cream cheese frosting that cool your tongue after every bite.
The only problem with red velvet cupcakes is that it's a food nightmare - as expected with any type of cake, it's full of white sugar, butter, full-fat cream cheese, and lots of refined white cake flour - this only translates to lots of calories, sugar, and fat. From what I've heard, a typical red velvet cupcake from Crumbs Bakery in NYC racks up to about 900 calories!
I was definitely up for the challenge when I was inspired this week to recreate the red velvet cupcake. Adapting my recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, I made a few healthy swaps - a combination of vanilla whey/casein protein powder and oat flour to replace the cake flour, Truvia Baking Blend for the sugar, egg replacement for the eggs, fat-free cream cheese for the full-fat kind, and decreased the amount of oil and butter.
I had just finished baking these, and these are delicious! The best part is that each cupcake is only 164 calories - what a difference compared to the calorie hog from Crumbs!
Isn't it hard to not be happy after you've eaten your cupcake...?? Enjoy!
(makes 12 cupcakes)
Please note: please have all refrigerated items at room temperature before making this recipe!
For the cupcakes:
4 scoops vanilla protein powder (Quest brand recommended)
2/3 cup oat flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
3 tbsp. Smart Balance Light butter spread
3 1/2 tbsp. canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tsp. liquid or gel red food coloring
1/4 cup liquid egg replacement (Egg Beaters recommended)
For the frosting:
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (Quest brand recommended)
5/8 cup fat-free cream cheese
1/4 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup Truvia Baking Blend
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift protein powder, oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until well-combined. Set aside.
3. In a small container, add 1/2 tsp. distilled white vinegar and milk and set aside for 5 minutes.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk Truvia Baking Blend and butter spread until well-combined. Then add canola oil, vanilla, remaining vinegar, red food coloring and eggs and mix until well combined.
5. Add dry ingredients and milk mixture in four batches to the bowl with the wet ingredients, alternating between dry ingredients and milk mixture, and stirring between batches until the mixture is smooth with minimal lumps.
6. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and pour 1/4 cup of the cake mixture in each cupcake liner.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
8. Cool cupcakes for at least an hour.
9. In a bowl, combine protein powder, cream cheese, greek yogurt, Truvia Baking Blend and vanilla extract until mixture is smooth. Frost each cupcake as desired.
Labels: baking soda, butter, canola oil, chocolate, cream cheese, cupcake, dessert, egg, milk, non-fat Greek yogurt, oats, protein powder, Truvia, vanilla, vinegar
