Healthier EASY Cupcakes

Refined sugar free and full of good-for-you ingredients

My daycare director tasked me with “Cake/Cupcake” for the holiday party this week… hmm wonder why?? She also requested they not be sugar bombs and in her words “some flavor! Kids like flavor!!!”. And I get it, this is the season of TOO much sugar and I knew just what to make. I have this base recipe that I make muffins out of. It’s gluten free, refined sugar free and has ingredients like extra virgin olive oil and greek yogurt that add actual nutrition. That recipe has almond flour in it and granted no nuts are allowed at school, I’ve swapped in all-purpose flour here. But you’ll see below I give the option. If you use almond flour, they wont puff as much, but they are still delicious. These have oats in them that need to be ground into a flour before mixed into the batter. So I’ve adapted the whole recipe using a blender. You grind the oats then mix all the wet ingredients in a blender. Don’t have a blender? That’s ok. Grind the oats in a food processor (or buy oat flour!) and use a whisk to the other ingredients.

Great add ins & Make ahead tips:

• Skip the frosting and make muffins. This recipe works great as a muffin too. I like to top the batter with something like hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds so the top looks cute.

• Add chocolate chips! You could add fun ingredients like mini chocolate chips if you think it would make your family happy.

• Make the muffins/cupcakes 2 ays ahead and keep them in the refrigerator. I make a batch of these and keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s an easy grab-n-go breakfast.

• Make the frosting 1 day ahead. You can make the frosting ahead and refrigerate. Just be sure to let it come to room temp before you frost the cupcakes.

Banana Oat Muffins/Cupcakes

makes 12-14

• 2 cups rolled oats (a.k.a. old fashioned oats)

• 1 cup almond flour or all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 2 very ripe bananas

• 1 cup (8 ounces) greek yogurt 

• 2 large eggs

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (you could use butter, ghee or coconut oil here)

• ¼ cup maple syrup or honey

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• Frosting (recipe below)

1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Line a muffin pan with liners.

2. Place the oats in a blender and blend until a flour forms. Dump that into a big bowl and add the almond flour (or all purpose), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

3. Without washing out the blender, add the banana, greek yogurt, eggs, olive oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Blender until smooth. Pour into the large bowl with the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, stir together until a thick batter forms.

4. Divide the batter among the pan. You can fill them fairly close to the top, leaving about 1/4” of room. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes then lower the heat to 350° and bake for another 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool COMPLETELY before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

makes enough to frost 12-14 cupcakes

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (you can use maple syrup or honey but I would use 2 tablespoons and your frosting will be a little less thick)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I use trader joes vanilla bean paste here)

• tiny pinch salt

1. Using either a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, a handheld mixer or a whisk and some arm strength, beat all the ingredients together for about 1-2 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.