Simple Foods: Cupcakes

Cupcakes have to be one of the best inventions ever! A perfectly sized sweet treat in it's own little wrapper,  no plate, knife, or fork required - how wonderful is that!? The only problem is...it's sooo easy it is to have more than one.

Anywho...
I was baking cupcakes for a friend's birthday the other day and thought I'd share my tips on how I simplify the baking process...and how I simplify (reduce) the calories (aka it's really just a reason to feel better about eating more than one).

First, I'm just going to put it out there...using a box mix is OK. I know there's a lot of stigma behind baked desserts not being 100% homemade, but in the case of the creation of cupcakes, I am absolutely comfortable admitting that I use a box mix and am proud of it.

Tip #1: To cut down on the number of calories, I substitute vanilla yogurt or greek yogurt for oil. People have told me they use apple sauce instead of oil, but I prefer using yogurt. Unless you have a lactose intolerance, I find that yogurt is the better, more tastier option. (PS if you're making brownies, you can substitute black beans for oil. I know it sounds weird, but it totally works and I personally think it makes them taste even better!) And...my friend just sent me a link to a new idea for "healthy" cupcakes. Check it out. I think I'll try this recipe this weekend: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/pineapple-bliss-cupcakes.html

Tip #2:  Add fruit or candy pieces to the batter to add excitement to your box mix cupcakes. Think of it like this: you just reduced the number of calories by substituting yogurt for oil, so now you have a few extra calories to play around with. :)

After you've distributed the cake batter into the cupcake cups, add a peanut butter cup (unwrapped, of course), a strawberry, some chocolate chips, or whatever you can think of to each unbaked cupcake. Take that Martha Stewart!

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Tip #3: Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 size measuring cup to evenly distribute your batter. I hate when I bake cupcakes and 1/3 is spewing over the top and the other 2/3 hasn't even made it past the top of the cupcake paper. I finally decided to use one of those ice cream scoops that has the little trigger to release the ice cream and it works like a dream. The trigger that releases the ice cream also works great for getting all the batter out of the scoop every time.

Tip #4: If you find yourself with a cupcake tray only half full of cupcake papers and batter, have no fear. Just fill up the empty cups with water (and no cupcake papers) to keep your pan from burning and becoming discolored. The water will evaporate because of the heat instead of just heating and heating the metal and potentially ruining your pan. 

 

That's my Suzi Homemake tip of the day!  And now for some cupcake randomness....

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 I MUST make these.