I woke up this morning with the most intense craving for chocolate. Visions of chocolate cupcakes with mile-high buttercream frosting, gooey chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-swirl ice cream, and moist, fudge-y brownies danced through my mind. But, since none of those things are allowed on my wedding diet, there was nothing immediately available in my pantry or fridge to satisfy those cravings. Probably for the best.
Still, a chocolate craving can never fully be denied, so I went on a hunt for a recipe that would give me a delicious and satisfying dose of chocolate without breaking my diet bank. These Chocolate Dream Cupcake Bites with Whipped Chocolate Frosting fit the bill perfectly, and were just what I needed to appease the choco-monster raging inside me.
As the name suggests, these cupcake bites are a dieter’s (and chocolate lover’s) dream. They aren’t your usual dense, sugary-sweet cupcakes with thick, heavy chocolate frosting. These are airy and light and full of rich but delicate chocolate flavor, and the whipped frosting just melts in your mouth. And, at only 70 calories a pop, these bite-sized treats satisfy without all the guilt usually associated with consuming chocolate treats. Oh, and did I mention that they’re really easy to make? Yeah. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Ovaltine Rich Chocolate powder
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ plus ⅛ tsp baking soda
- 2-1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp apple sauce
- 1 tbsp skim milk
- ⅓ cup whipping cream
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Ovaltine Rich Chocolate powder
- Sliced strawberries (Optional - garnish)
- Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, mix together all your cupcake ingredients (flour, various powders, salt, apple sauce, etc.)
- Spoon 1 tbsp of batter into each mini muffin tin cup.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.
- While your cupcakes are baking, mix up your frosting. In a small bowl, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in powdered sugar and Ovaltine powder, until mixture is uniform in color and texture.
- Pull cupcakes out of the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- Pipe or spoon frosting on top of each cupcake. (I think I piped just under 1 tbsp frosting onto each of my cupcakes.)
- Garnish each cupcake with one slice of strawberry.
- Enjoy immediately, without guilt!
(Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe)
Looks delicious, Tina! Chocolate and strawberries are always a winning combo (diet or not :P)
It’s ok if i don’t use apple sauce?
Yup! I used apple sauce b/c I was trying to cut calories from the cupcakes, but you can substitute that with oil.
In that case, how many oil i can use to replace this sauce?
Btw, thank you for replying so quickly ^.^
No problem! 5 tbsp oil should be fine.