Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes

Several months back...okay, maybe more than a year ago... I made cupcakes for a co-workers birthday. Since cupcakes use to kind of be my thanggg on this blog AND it was my first time baking at ACS I had to make sure I tried out a fantastic new recipe. I saw so many recipes on Pinterest that suggested substituting oil for greek yogurt or applesauce so I decided to start with the latter of the two.

Disclaimer: I did this pre-Celiac so I am not sure how this will turn out with a gluten free boxed cake mix, but I can say that it worked like a charm for regular Duncan Hines chocolate mix. You simply replace all other ingredients listed on the box with one cup of sugar free applesauce. That's it! It may sound like it wouldn't bake right, but trust me, it did. They were delicious!

In addition to the twist on the cake recipe, I really wanted to try out the new (at the time) Dunkan Hines Flavor Creations frosting. I decided to go with hazelnut since I thought it would compliment the chocolate and applesauce in the cake. I followed the mixing instructions on the packets and I have to tell you... it was awful!!! Like, I wouldn't feed it to my worst enemy, awful! The frosting was so overly sweet it hurt my teeth. I had no time to start a new batch from scratch so I worked my magic by adding cream cheese to offset the sweetness and a little milk to thin it out a bit. It still wasn't quite right so I also added some cocoa powder and a little bit of confectioners sugar. After a few minutes of mixing and tweaking, I had a decent frosting that I was comfortable sharing with colleagues. Word to the wise: don't waste your time on Frosting Creations. You'll be far better off spending a few extra minutes making your frosting from scratch.

When all was said and done, I had a great story to tell about my experiments in the kitchen and some delicious cupcakes to share at work! They looked fab, don't you think?