Healthy Red Velvet Cupcakes
My healthy red velvet cupcakes use natural food coloring instead of artificial dyes and come in at under 200 calories per cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I make them with whole wheat pastry flour, applesauce, and low-fat buttermilk for a moist texture without all the oil found in traditional recipes. They're ready in 45 minutes and taste just as rich as the bakery version.
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 190kcal
Ingredients
For The Cupcakes
- 1½ cups cake flour sifted
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour sifted
- 2 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¾ cup oil canola, avocado, or olive oil
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ tsp natural red food coloring
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp distilled white vinegar
For The Frosting
- 8 oz low-fat cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa and salt.
- In another large mixing bowl, beat sugar, applesauce and oil until combined. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food coloring and vanilla.
- Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk (a half a cup each time), and whisking well after each.
- Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix until combined, about 10 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Mix frosting ingredients together in a bowl (you can use a beater to speed it up).
- Let cupcakes cool completely, then frost with low-fat cream cheese frosting.
Notes
Top tips for making Healthier Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately - don't skip this process!
- Make sure you don’t overfill the cupcake liners, otherwise the cupcakes will overflow.
- When measuring your cake flour, sift the flour first, and then spoon it into your measuring cup. Then level it off with the back of a knife.
- Once you have whisked together the dry ingredients, sift them to ensure there are no lumps.
- Make sure the oven is fully pre-heated before you put the cupcakes in
- When the cakes are baked, an inserted toothpick should come out clean
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.2g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1.8g | Sodium: 145.1mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 14.5g