Healthy Thanksgiving Cupcakes - Recipe

If one of your holiday goals is to serve healthy foods, cupcakes is your dessert.

Turkey Cupcakes

I found a recipe for some really cute Turkey Cupcakes at gather.com, but wanted to find a way to make the recipe healthier. The original recipe calls for pre-packaged cake mixes and frosting, but making the batter from scratch is not difficult and much healthier for you!

Instead of using the box mix, simply use the following pumpkin chip cupcake recipe (you get the holiday pumpkin flavor and the scrumptious chocolate flavor).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup egg substitute (or egg whites)
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 2 -15 ounce cans of pureed pumpkin (or fresh pumpkin puree)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Prepare muffin pans (this recipe should make 24 regular sized muffins).
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites/substitute and sugar together until frothy.
4. Add the pumpkin puree and beat until smoothly combined.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and flour mixture.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces light cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, add the vanilla.
2. Gradually beat in the sugar and cocoa until combined.