Amp up your breakfast with these morning cupcakes loaded with protein and topped with a sweet yogurt frosting!
To heed Kate Spade, we’re eating cake for breakfast and we’re doing it in nutritious style. For every holiday that comes around, I tend to highlight the festivities in the morning. Mornings are the best time to set the mood for the day and breakfast is my favorite place to start. This is when I’m fresh and wide-eyed and ready for something sweet.
What better way could we celebrate spring than with cake? So, I made Vanilla Blood Orange Breakfast Cupcakes. These are healthy cupcakes that you can happily call breakfast. These little cakes are slightly sweeter than your regular muffin but not tooth-achingly sweet that you’ll be uncomfortable about eating them in the morning hours. They are a dense-like muffin, with a vanilla, orange and honey flavor. This is complimented nicely with the brightness of an orange yogurt frosting. These cakes are sweetened with honey and erythritol. Honey provides delicious flavor and a moist texture while erythritol helps keep the calorie count lower than your typical cake recipe. Blood oranges lend a natural pink food coloring to these cupcakes, making them not just healthy and all-natural, but pretty and pink, too!
Instead of eating your usual fruit, yogurt and OJ in the morning, transform them into something pretty and cheerful. These would be lovely on any Sunday brunch table during the Easter season or as a healthy birthday treat for a loved one. Breakfast cake is always a good idea! Please enjoy!
Vanilla Blood Orange Breakfast Cupcakes
1/4 cup Honey
2/3 cup Erythritol
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Large Organic Eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Blood Orange Zest
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons Fresh Blood Orange Juice
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 cups Natural Cake Flour
1/3 cup Coconut Milk
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pans with liners and lightly spray with cooking spray. Place oven rack in middle position of oven.
In an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, add the sweeteners and butter and mix until completely smooth and creamy. Add the eggs and beat until incorporated and fluffy. Add zest, extract and orange juice. Mix until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients, the rising agents, salt and flour. With the mixer on low speed, add half the dry ingredients, alternating with the coconut milk. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and add the rest of the coconut milk, scraping sides of bowls in between mixings. The batter will be thick.
Fill each muffin tin about 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup of batter for each cupcake). Bake for 14-18 minutes, until golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, but moist.
Sugar-Free Blood Orange Yogurt Frosting
3/4 cup 0% Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Blood Orange Juice, plus some pulp for extra color
4 Tablespoons Cornstarch, plus more for desired consistency
2 Tablespoons Agave Inulin or Probiotic Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Stevia Extract, to taste
1 Vanilla Bean
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, juice and cornstarch. Mix well until smooth. Remove vanilla seeds from bean and add all the rest of the ingredients until smooth. This frosting recipe can be adapted to your preference – if you want a stronger pink color from the oranges you will need more powder and perhaps more stevia. Play around with it to suite your taste!
Another frosting option is this Vegan Whipped Cream. Add some blood orange juice to it, plus more agave inulin to reach your desired consistency. Enjoy!
Yields 1 dozen cupcakes
Note:
Erythritol can dry baked goods a little quicker than regular sugar, so please enjoy these cupcakes within 2 days of making them for best enjoyment. Cupcakes can be frozen, unfrosted for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Alexa says
I made these cupcakes and they were delicious!! Thanks for the healthy cupcake recipe.
Winslet says
What a beautiful breakfast recipe this is! I will be making it tomorrow morning in my breakfast. I am a baking lover and love try new dishes.
hanna says
Oh my gosh, these are beautiful!