Delicious Desserts

I went to the Loblaws cooking class with Aidan's grade 1 class today.  The cookies were dyed with yellow, red and blue food colouring.  I came home inspired to make a delicious treat without these nasty additives.  So, I made these cupcakes today.  They have pumpkin in them and sweetened with honey.  They are amazing, delicious and healthy! Each one has just under 200 calories, frosting and all!  Here is a sweet girl eating them up!

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 c. canned organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just pure pumpkin)
1/2 c. almond milk
2 egg whites
1/4 c. grapeseed oil (or any light-flavored oil)
1/2 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. whole-wheat pastry flour (can use gluten free mix)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger

For the frosting:

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tins with cupcake papers or grease the tin itself. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your pumpkin, almond milk, egg whites, safflower oil, honey and vanilla extract. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture and blend well. If your batter is too thick, add a little extra almond milk (about 1/4 c. at a time until you reach a thick, yet runny consistency). Pour into tins, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.


For the frosting:

Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl, and whisk until well blended. Remove cupcakes from oven, allow to cool and spread frosting over the tops.

Makes about 16 cupcakes.