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    Home » Desserts » Cakes & Cupcakes » Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    Nov 5, 2021 · Updated: Jan 28, 2022 by Dee Dine · Affliate links disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    Healthy chocolate cupcakes made with veggie puree instead of oil and eggs. The results are a delicious decadent cupcake that is vegan and gluten-free. Top them with my chocolate buttercream frosting and you have a cupcake that will make you feel great! Watch step by step video in the post below!
    Chocolate Cupcakes

    Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    When you think of making a healthy chocolate cupcake recipe from scratch, rarely does the word "healthy" pop into your mind. But mine are just that while still tasting like the classic chocolate cupcake you know and love. I use pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree, instead of eggs and oil, and that makes all the difference.

    Table of Contents For this Post
    • Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
    • How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes Healthier
    • Common Questions Regarding Chocolate Cupcakes
    • How to Make Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes Moist
    • These Are Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes
    • Chocolate Cupcake Recipe without Buttermilk
    • Steps To Bake Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch
    • What Do Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes Taste Like?
    • Other Cupcakes & Cake Recipes To Try
    • Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    My cupcake is also so easy to make, just toss ingredients in a bowl, bake and frost. I share my awesome chocolate buttercream frosting as well or you can use my super healthy 2-ingredient sweet potato chocolate frosting, recipe here. These cupcakes are moist with a soft tender crumb, and a deep chocolate flavor that you can even eat them without a frosting, muffin style.

    Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes

    Before we dive into the recipe, I'd like to invite you to sign up for my free chocolate course. Five lessons hit your inbox with detail on how to create your own simple healthy chocolate desserts.

     

    Okay, so back to this recipe...

    How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes Healthier

    It's easy to make cupcakes healthier. Here is how:

    1. Be sure to make your cupcakes from scratch. From scratch baking is easy, just combine ingredients, bake and eat. Just as easy as a box mix and far healthier because you can control the ingredients and vastly reduce processed additions.

    2. Use a vegetable puree such as pumpkin or sweet potato instead of processed oil. I also use aquafaba or unsweetened apple sauce instead of eggs. Eggs are not unhealthy but they are not vegan and all my recipes are vegan so I never use eggs.

    3. I keep sugar low in all my recipes, and I use organic cane sugar which has no bone char and is fair trade which means workers who package the product are treated fairly.

    Common Questions Regarding Chocolate Cupcakes

    Chocolate cupcakes seem like a common recipe but a few answers to common questions will make them an easy recipe as well.

    How to Make Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes Moist

    Make chocolate cupcakes moist by adding a vegetable puree such as pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree, or even zucchini puree. Make zucchini puree by steaming chopped zucchini soft and blend into a puree.

    healthy chocolate cupcakes

    These Are Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes

    Use aquafaba or unsweetened apple sauce to make a chocolate cupcake recipe that is eggless.

    Chocolate Cupcake Recipe without Buttermilk

    You don't need to buy buttermilk for this chocolate cupcake recipe. Just add lemon or apple cider vinegar to milk and wait a few minutes. That is a healthy vegan form of homemade buttermilk.

    Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

    Steps To Bake Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch

    1. Line your cupcake pans with paper liners and preheat your oven to 350 F.

    2. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with hand-mixer or spoon until combined.

    3. Add dry ingredients to another bowl and quickly combine with a spoon.

    4. Add dry ingredients to the wet and stir or mix just enough to combine. Don't over-stir or you'll create a "tough" cupcake.

    5. Fill each cupcake liner about ¾ full and bake for 18 minutes at 350 F.

    Let them cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to rack to cool.

    Pro-tip: Scoop using a medium-sized ice cream scoop for the perfect amount per cupcake liner. That way you avoid adding too little which results in a dry cupcake, or too much which spills over and sticks to the pan.

    healthy chocolate cupcakes

    What Do Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes Taste Like?

    OMG, they are so fluffy and chocolate-y. You will not taste any veggie puree and the texture is perfect, just like a chocolate fudge cupcake from a bakery shop.

    Other Cupcakes & Cake Recipes To Try

    Chocolate Dipped Cupcakes (hi tops)

    Healthier Lemon Cupcakes

    Swiss Cake Roll

    Dairy Free Chocolate Cake

    Fluffy Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake

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    Chocolate Cupcakes

    Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    Created by Dee Dine
    An easy healthy chocolate cupcakes using pumpkin puree instead of eggs and oil. It is easy to make, super moist, and vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, egg-free and delicious.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 33 mins
    Total Time 43 mins
    Cuisine vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free
    Servings 12

    Ingredients
     

    Cupcake Dry Ingredients

    • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour or a GF baking flour
    • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder use dutch processed for darker color
    • 1 cup organic cane sugar
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • ½ tsp salt

    Cupcake Wet Ingredients

    • 1 cup almond milk
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • ⅓ cup canned pumpkin puree (Or sweet potato puree)
    • 3 tbsp aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas (Or a flaxseed egg - mix 1 tbsp flaxseed in 3 tbsp water)
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract

    Chocolate Frosting:

    • 4 cups organic powdered sugar
    • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder dutch processed cocoa for darker color
    • 1 ½ sticks vegan butter
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 5 tbsp dairy free milk

    Useful Equipment

    • medium sized ice cream scoop

    Instructions
     

    Prep

    • Preheat your oven to 350 F.
    • Measure out aquafaba (liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas or garbanzo beans) OR mix up flax egg by adding 1 tbsp flaxseed to 3 tbsp of water, stir and set aside for 10 minutes.
      Chocolate Fudge Cake
    • Line cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
    • Activate your milk by adding lemon juice to it and let it sit for 5 minutes.

    Make cake

    • To the large mixing bowl, add in the curdled milk, veggie puree, flax egg (or aquafaba) and vanilla.
    • To another bowl, add the flour/cocoa mixture, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Or add to a strainer to use one bowl.
      Chocolate Fudge Cake
    • Combine the dry and wet mixtures, and mix until combined, but don't overmix.
      Chocolate Fudge Cake
    • Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake liners using a medium cookie scoop.
      Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
    • Bake cupcakes for 18 minutes. Or until tester comes out clean for all of them.
      baked chocolate cupcakes
    • Let cool for a ten minutes in pans, then put cupcakes on cooling rack and allow to cool before frosting.
      healthy chocolate cupcakes

    Make frosting

    • Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vegan butter, vanilla extract and 2 tbsp of the milk to a large mixing bowl. If butter is cold, microwave it for 10 seconds to soften.
      Chocolate Fudge Cake
    • Use a hand-mixer or an electric mixer to combine. Add the remaining 3 tbsp of milk gradually until you have a creamy consistency. You can add more or less milk, but be careful, it can turn too liquidy very fast.
    • Add frosting to a frosting bag with your chosen tip.
      Chocolate Fudge Cake
    • Frost cupcakes
      Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

    Store

    • To store cupcakes in the freezer for a month, pack them unfrosted in a sealed container.
      Once frosted, the cupcakes are fine at room temperature for about 3 days and then they begin to dry out.

    Video

    Notes

    Nutrition is per unfrosted cupcake.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 126kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 3gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 217mgPotassium: 126mgFiber: 2gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 1059IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword chocolate cupcake recipe, chocolate cupcakes, gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, healthy chocolate cupcakes, vegan chocolate cupcakes
    Leave a ReviewLet us know what you think of my recipe!
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    About the Author

    Dee Dine is founder of Green Smoothie Gourmet, a plant based recipe blog, and author of two recent cookbooks, Crazy Healthy with 4 Ingredients and the immunity-boosting smoothie /juice/wellness shot book, 4-Ingredient Smoothies + Juices . On this blog you'll find incredibly healthy easy recipes with hidden veggies for anyone wanting to eat healthier, regardless of diet. Dee has graduate degrees in sciences and journalism, is editor at The Feedfeed and a nutritional expert at WikiHow. More about Dee Dine here.

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    picture of dee dine.I'm Dee, and I make healthy dessert recipes that often include hidden veggies. All are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free. Visit me on Instagram where I always post new recipes first!

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