Keep Your New Year's Resolutions!

Just because you made a New Year's resolution to eat better or more healthily or to lose weight does not mean you can't have your cupcakes anymore. Really! All you have to do is substitute a few key ingredients and watch the calories disappear. This week I made a lower calorie carrot cupcake just by swapping a few things.

Lower Calorie Carrot Cupcakes

Carrot Cake

1 box white cake mix
3 C carrots grated (about 6-7 medium carrots)
3 egg whites
1 1/2 C applesauce
1/3 C water
1/4 C dried cranberries (I use the Ocean Spray Craisins)

After you grate the carrots, squeeze the excess moisture out by wrapping them in a paper towel and squeezing them over the sink. They don't have to be bone dry, but you'll be surprised by how much water comes out! Combine the cake mix, egg whites, applesauce, and water. Stir in the dried cranberries. Stir in the grated carrots. Bake at 350 for about 20-24 minutes (the excess moisture means they will need a few more minutes in the oven).

What did I substitute? 3 egg whites for 3 whole eggs (a calorie savings of 159 calories). Applesauce for vegetable oil, which saves 339 calories. Craisins for raisins which saves 35 calories. These few easy substitutions just saved you 533 calories, which comes to 22 calories saved per cupcake.

Another really easy way to save calories is to cut out the frosting. Don't get me wrong, I love frosting, but the vast majority of the calories hide in the frosting (cream cheese, butter, sugar, all of the good stuff). Or you can limit the amount you put on. One way to do that is to make the frosting into a filling. You will most likely only be able to get 1, maybe 2 tablespoons of frosting into the cupcake, as opposed to the gobs that would normally go on top of it. To keep the cupcake from looking too bare, sprinkle some large crystal sugar on the top.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz Neufchatel 1/3 fat cream cheese (softened)
1/2 C butter (softened)
2 C powdered sugar
2-4 T milk (until it reaches the consistency you want)
2 t vanilla

Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Stir in the vanilla and add milk until you have the consistency that you want. (Some like thinner frosting, some like thicker).

Frost the tops of the cupcakes, or cut out a small hole in the middle of the cupcake and fill with the cream cheese frosting. Replace just the top of the cut out portion of the cupcake to hide the filling if you aren't going to frost the tops as well.