Nothing says Valentine’s like red velvet cupcakes. But at our house they didn’t make it to Valentine’s day because my kids ate them in about a day! So that is why I made them a bit healthier . . .
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I like to think of myself like a healthier version of the innovative Sandra Lee, eh? Or maybe not, haha!
Here is what we started off with . . . a box of red velvet cake mix (on sale!) and a can of navy beans, no-salt-added.
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Dump the entire contents of the can in a blender and puree water and beans together. Yes, a vitamix would have worked better but if you are like me and don’t have one yet (feel sorry for me, jk) . . .any blender will do.
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Little miss Reese wanted to help . . . cupcakes?! Yaaaaaayyyyyy! Doncha love her shirt?
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In the mixer blend together cupcake mix, eggs and pureed beans
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Wow, pretty red!
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Bake cupcakes according to package directions in muffin tins.
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Now for the icing, instead of using an entire stick of butter, I substituted this for four tablespoons of coconut oil. Blend the coconut oil until it becomes a bit fluffy.
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Add the frosting powder (that came in the package) to the coconut oil.
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We didn’t let the cupcakes cool much . . .therefore icing was a bit runny. Note to self: Be more patient! They may not be decorated beautifully but they are darn tasty!
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Let them cool completely , otherwise the paper sticks to the cupcake and you have to eat the cake off the paper.
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Now you may ask, who cares it is a cupcake, “Why not just make them as is?” I totally agree with you but in our house when my kids devour sweets, I don’t feel as bad when they have a couple. Plus what they don’t know will not hurt them. Just by substituting beans for the oil, we saved about 80 calories per cupcake and 7 grams of fat plus we added 1.5 grams of fiber per cupcake! As for the icing, there wasn’t a big difference in calories but coconut oil is a healthier fat our bodies will break down easier.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredient
1 can navy beans, undrained
1 box red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
Preparations
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Dump contents of can into a blend (water included) and blend well. In a mixer add bean mixture, cake mix and eggs. Bake according to package directions.
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