Carrot Cupcakes

HG's 14-Carat Cupcakes

Cake Superior!
Carrot cake rules. It's thick, sweet, delicious and slathered in cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmm! But since the nutritional stats on the average carrot cake are pretty horrendous, we decided to create our own guilt-free version. We made ours as cupcakes, 'cuz cupcakes are cute, fun, and, best of all, portion-controlled (it's too easy to cut yourself sliver after sliver with a full cake). But if you want, you can easily whip up a classic cake with this recipe -- just add 10 minutes to the cooking time. Here it is now...

Ingredients:

For cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots, roughly chopped if shreds are long
1 cup (1/4th of box) Pillsbury Moist Supreme Reduced Sugar Cake Mix, Classic Yellow
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
2/3 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
2/3 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice (not drained)
2/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1/4 cup raisins (not packed)
2 tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder

For frosting:
4 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt (or another thick, plain fat-free yogurt)
2/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all dry cupcake ingredients except for the carrots and raisins (in other words -- cake mix, flour, Splenda, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and baking powder). Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, egg substitute, and 1/4 cup water until blended. Add the contents of the medium bowl to the large bowl. Using a wire whisk or fork, blend until just mixed. Then, stir in the carrots, pineapple, and raisins. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray. Evenly distribute cake mixture among the cups, and place in the oven to cook for 20 - 25 minutes (until a toothpick poked into the center of one comes out clean). While the cupcakes cook, combine all the frosting ingredients in a small bowl. Using a whisk or fork, blend until smooth. Place frosting in the fridge to chill. Once cupcakes are fully cooked, remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely. Then plate cupcakes, and spread frosting evenly over tops. Refrigerate until frosting has set and you're ready to serve. Enjoy!!! MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 frosted cupcake
Calories: 130
Fat: 1g
Sodium: 205mg
Carbs: 26g
Fiber: 2.5g
Sugars: 10g
Protein: 5g

POINTS® value 2*