I am usually a make-it-from-scratch type of baker who shies away from cake mixes. Call me a cake-snob, but I think it’s worth it to put in the extra time and effort because I love the fresher taste of baked goods made from real, unprocessed ingredients. However, I can’t help but bend this rule when it comes to The Cake-Mix Doctor baking book. This cookbook is always a great fall-back when I need a slightly easier and quicker cake recipe that will still be a delicious crowd-pleaser.

We visited Penn State this past weekend to attend the soggiest tailgate ever, but also to celebrate my good friend Brittany’s birthday! Brittany shares my love for anything with chocolate and peanut butter, so I baked up some rich chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting in honor of her birthday. Both recipes came from The Cake-Mix Doctor book, but I made some slight modifications to make them a (tiny!) bit healthier.

Happy Birthday Brittany!!!

Recipe:

Makes 21 cupcakes

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil’s food cake mix

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup fat free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup water

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup creamy reduced-fat peanut butter

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature

3 to 4 tablespoons skim milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with 21 liners. Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, yogurt, applesauce, water, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, stopping once to scrap down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides of the bowl again if needed. Pour the batter into the line cupcake pans, filling each liner no more than 3/4 the way full.

Bake cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans and place on the wire rack to cook completely, at least 15 minutes.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Place the peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and the vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well combined, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 tablespoon milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

Nutritional Information (per cupcake):

Calories: 231

Fat: 13.7g

Saturated Fat: 4.9 g

Carbohydrates: 23.4 g

Protein: 6.0 g

*Okay, I’ll admit it: generic cupcakes have been Photoshopped into these two pictures in a lame form of improvisation for not having taken pictures. To the cupcakes’ credit, however, the reason I don’t have pictures is because they got gobbled up by tailgaters before I could snap a photo!

I pieced together two different Martha Stewart recipes to create these delicious cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out perfectly light and sponge-y while the mocha frosting turned out very rich and chocolate-y. They were the perfect ending to a delicious dinner of spinach salad (thanks Amanda!), stuffed shells (thanks Meredith!), and a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon (thanks Michelle!).

Recipe:

(adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook by Martha Stewart)

Makes 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cake flour, sifted

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

1 cup sugar

Mocha Frosting

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Pinch of salt

Instructions:

Tiramisu cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.

Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Mocha Frosting:

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (bot not touching) simmering water. Stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely. Set bowl on counter-top and let chocolate cool to room temperature, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine cocoa powder, instant espresso, and boiling water in a small bowl and stir until cocoa and espresso powder are dissolved.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, confectioner’s sugar and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add melted chocolate; beat on low speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture.

If the frosting seems thin, allow it to harden in the refrigerator for an hour. Frost cupcakes when they are completely cool. Decorate with Mini Merengues, if desired.

Nutritional Information (per cupcake):

Calories: 254

Fat: 15.1g

Saturated Fat: 8.0 g

Carbohydrates: 27.9 g

Protein: 3.2 g

These bite size treats are fat-free and super low in calories, so they are a great way to get a little bit of sweetness without going overboard! They can be eaten alone as a light dessert, or used to decorate your favorite cakes or cupcakes.

Recipe:

(adapted from www.marthastewart.com)

4 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Place whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a bot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Attach to mixer. Whisk on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture is cool, about 10 minutes. Whisk in vanilla. Use immediately

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Fit pastry bag with coupler and star tip, and fill with meringue. Pipe 1″ stars onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until meringue is dry by not brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

Nutritional Information (per star):

Calories: 35

Fat: 0.0g

Saturated Fat: 0.0 g

Carbohydrates: 8.4 g

Protein: 0.6 g

In case you didn’t get your fill of coconut with my last post, here’s an adaptation of Martha Stewart’s Coconut Layer Cake recipe. I mini-fied this recently for some guests and we all agreed these cakes were great summer treat – very light and refreshing. We had a hard time getting our guests to go home after serving them these!

An added bonus to the deliciousness of these cupcakes is the healthy dose of coconut afforded by each cupcake. Although coconut was once vilified for its high saturated fat content, we now know that the saturated fat in coconut is actually different (specifically, healthier!) than other saturated fats, and consumption of the type of fat provided by coconut promotes a more favorable HDL/LDL (i.e., good cholesterol to bad cholesterol) ratio. Recent research has also shown coconut oils have antiviral, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiprotozoal properties as well as a variety of other important, health promoting nutrients.

Recipe:

(adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook by Martha Stewart)

Makes 12 cakes

Vanilla cupcakes:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

1/3 cup sour cream

Coconut Cream Topping and Filling:

3 large egg yolks

1/4+1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup + 1 tbsp cornstarch

Pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 ounces (3/4 cup) sweetened angel flake coconut

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Vanilla cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. with two racks centered. Line one 12-cake cupcake pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on low speed to soften. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light in color and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Keep beating while gradually adding the sugar, until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually drizzle in the beaten egg yolks, beating between each addition until the batter is no longer slick. Scrape down the sides of the bowl twice. Beat until mixture is fluffy again, about 3 minutes more. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with the flour. Divide batter evenly among the 12 cupcake wells. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and return to the rack to cool completely, top sides up.

Coconut Cream Topping and Filling:

Place egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set the bowl aside. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring continually until mixture thickens and just begins to bubble, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into the reserved yolks to warm them. Slowly pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook, while continuing to stir, over medium heat until the mixture just begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the coconut and vanilla. Transfer the topping/filling to a medium mixing bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the filling to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Transfer the filling to the refrigerator until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour.

Assembling the cakes:

When the cupcakes are completely cool, peel the cupcake liners off. Using a serrated knife, slice each cupcake in half horizontally to create two layers. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon of the Coconut Cream Topping and Filling on the bottom layer of each cupcake. Cover with the top layer, then place another heaping tablespoon of the Coconut Cream Topping and Filling on the top of each cupcake. Garnish with a quartered strawberry or fruit of your choice for some color and added sweetness.

Nutritional Information (per cupcake):

Calories: 223

Fat: 11.3 g

Saturated Fat: 7.0 g

Carbohydrates: 27.2 g

Protein: 3.6 g

This classic coconut macaroon recipe is super simple – just mix a few ingredients into a single mixing bowl, use a rounded 1/2 tablespoon to divvy up the dough, pop the pans in the oven, and 20 minutes later you have a delicious miniature treat.

Two hints for this recipe:

1. Save the two egg yolks left over from separating the eggs for this recipe – you’ll need them for the next recipe I post!

2. Try to use a more rounded 1/2 tablespoon (in black below) rather than a flatter 1/2 tablespoon (in white below). This will help you create a taller, rounder macaroon.

Recipe:

Makes approximately 32 cookies

1 7-ounce package sweetened flake coconut

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. with two racks centered. Grease two cookie sheets. Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract. Drop by 1/2 tablespoon-fulls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately transfer macaroons from cookie sheets to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutritional Information (per macaroon):

Calories: 33

Fat: 2.0 g

Saturated Fat: 1.8 g

Carbohydrates: 3.5 g

Protein: 0.5 g

I made these a few weekends ago for a BBQ we hosted at our house – they were a hit. In fact, after eating one of these, one guest actually told my husband: “You must have sold your soul to the devil to get her to marry you.” Now that’s a good mini cake.

Recipe:

(adapted from Cupcakes by Susanna Tee)

Makes 48 mini cakes

Mini cakes:

1  5/8 cups all purpose flour

1  1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 ripe bananas, mashed

8 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 tbsp fat-free Greek yogurt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:

8 tbsp butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

sprinkles

Instructions:

Mini cakes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two mini muffin pans with mini muffin liners (or you can do two rounds of mini cakes with a single mini muffin pan). Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the mashed bananas and yogurt. Fold in the flour mixture, then the mini chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the mini muffin liners, filling the liners 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake the mini cakes in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting:

Place the butter in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar and beat well. Spread the frosting on top of each mini cake and top with sprinkles, as desired.

Nutritional Information (per mini cake):

Calories: 94

Fat: 5.1 g

Saturated Fat: 3.2 g

Carbohydrates: 11.2 g

Protein: 1.1 g

These tiny treats are perfect when you want just a little bit of sweetness without a lotta bit of calories. The trick to portion control with these cookies is to use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon when dropping the cookie dough onto the baking sheets.

Don’t forget to make the milk fat-free!

Recipe:

(adapted from the recipes found on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse and Ghirardelli chocolate chip bags)

2 1/4 cups unsifted flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 bag good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375ºF. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat margarine with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color.  Add vanilla and almond extracts, mix well. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 minutes or until golden brown.

Nutritional Information (per cookie):

Calories: 56

Fat: 2.9 g

Saturated Fat: 0.6g

Carbohydrates: 7.0 g

Protein: 0.6 g