Skinny Cupcakes

If you had to pick your absolute favorite dessert, what would it be? Tough question, right? I go back and forth between soft serve/custard/ice cream, cupcakes, and cookies. They are all soooo good. But right now my weakness is definitely cupcakes. I love how they are the perfect individual serving size, which comes in handy for people (like me) who don't like to share their desserts. Cupcakes are also an amazing dessert because of the frosting. If I could have a cupcake made to order, I'd specify that I'd like a double order of frosting with a little cake on the side. Or, better yet, just give me a bowl of homemade frosting and a spoon and I'm set.

While the cute size and frosting make cupcakes pretty awesome, what's really great about cupcakes is that I've found a way to make them skinny! Yup. No more stressing about logging major hours at the gym to burn off a cupcake because these gems have less than 200 calories per cupcake. You could make these even skinnier by making your cake mix from scratch and using whole wheat flour and splenda.* You could also make mini cupcakes. Lots and lots of skinny ideas.

And these cupcakes only require two ingredients. Super easy. Super cheap. Super skinny. Super delicious. How could you not love this recipe?!

Skinny Cupcakes (idea courtesy of Hungry Girl)
(12 cupcakes)

1 box cake mix**
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line regular size muffin tin with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix two ingredients in a bowl until combined; the mixture will be very thick. Spoon cake batter into prepared muffin tins. Using the back of a spoon, smooth the tops of the cupcakes and make sure the batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

*If you decide to make your cake mix from scratch using the link I provided, just mix the ingredients listed under "Cake mix ingredients". Add pumpkin puree to those ingredients, mix until combined, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

**I've had the most luck with these cupcakes when I use Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. This mix produces very moist cupcakes that have a cake-like texture. Other brands and mixes I've used produce denser, muffin-like cupcakes that are not as moist.

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Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 193.9
Total Fat: 3.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 372.0 mg
Total Carbs: 38.3 g
Fiber: 2.2 g
Sugars: 21.3 g
Protein: 2.4 g

Pros:
-Quick and easy to make
-Only two ingredients
-Easy clean up
-Versatile-try it with different cake mixes, add various mix-ins (such as chocolate chips, nuts, candies, dried fruit), and/or use different frostings

Cons:
-Texture is more dense than regular cake

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Check out some of the link parties that I shared this recipe on!