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Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze

June 22, 2017 By Jessica Braider 2 Comments

In honor of The Recipe Redux turning 6, we were challenged this month to come up with a small bite dessert. So fun! And a very welcome excuse to bake some cake!

When I first started pondering what to make, the dessert that popped into my mind was the mini-cupcakes at Whole Foods. I have a weak spot for them. I love that they are small enough that I can happily have two (or, let’s be honest, often three) and that they give me a nice hit of chocolate without being too much. So I thought I would try and come up with a homemade version.


If you have been following me for a while, you have probably caught onto the fact that I am a big fan of using yogurt in baking. I like it for three reasons: 1) like buttermilk, it makes things fluffier, 2) unlike buttermilk, I almost always have it in the house, and 3) it adds some protein to whatever I am baking. My love for using yogurt in cakes was firmly solidified a couple of months ago when I came across the yogurt cake recipe on the Kitchn. No beating or stiffening of eggs, only one bowl used, and yet out comes a fluffy, delicious cake—it is a lazy cook’s dream cake recipe! So I adapted it a little to make it a smidge healthier by including some spelt flour and cutting down on the sugar and the outcome was outstanding! (Note: I have found that using whole grain flours, like whole wheat or spelt, in cakes works better in cupcakes than it does in full-sized cakes, it just doesn’t rise quite enough as a big cake because the flours are denser…)

For the chocolate glaze, I also wanted the tangy-ness of yogurt to enliven the flavor and bulk up the nutrition, even if just by a little bit. So I tweaked a Cabot recipe by decreasing the sugar (why does every frosting recipe call for so much sugar?!). All I can say is that if I could eat these cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I totally would. And, in fact, I just might have them for breakfast tomorrow…

Happy Birthday, The Recipe Redux!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze
 
Save Print
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
15 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
Cupcake recipe adapted from: The Kitchn Yogurt Cake Glaze recipe adapted from: Cabot Chocolate Layer Cake
Author: Jessica Braider
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 48
Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes:
  • 1 ½ cups whole milk plain yogurt
  • ⅔ cups extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup spelt flour (or white whole wheat flour)
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • pinch freshly ground nutmeg
  • For the glaze:
  • ¼ cup plain whole milk yogurt
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
  1. To make the cake:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 and line two mini-cupcake pans with liners.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  4. Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg and stir until there are no lumps.
  5. Distribute the batter amongst your muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes. Place them on a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before glazing them.
  6. To make the glaze:
  7. Combine the yogurt, cocoa powder and vanilla in a large bowl.
  8. Using an electric mixer, slowly beat in the confectioner’s sugar until there are no lumps.
  9. Carefully dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze, turn onto its side, and spin gently to let any drops fall off, then place them on a tray. Place the tray into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the glaze firm up a bit.
3.5.3226

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Filed Under: Baked Goods, Dessert Tagged With: birthday, chocolate, cupcakes, dessert, spelt, the recipe redux, yogurt

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Comments

  1. Karman | The Nutrition Adventure says

    June 27, 2017 at 4:04 am

    Wow! Looks great! Great adaptations 🙂

    Reply
    • Jessica Braider says

      June 27, 2017 at 11:03 am

      Thanks so much! We definitely enjoy them! 🙂

      Reply

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Jessica Braider

Hi! I'm Jessica. I love delicious food that is simple and easy. As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and tastier! Read More…

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