Diet Cupcakes- Almost!

My last post was about superifically-calorified cupcakes. These, on the other hand are practically calorie-free. Okay, so not quite but they are "slimmed down." 

A friend of mine was having some challenges with her three-year-old son's escapades, so I figured she needed a treat. I had just cleaned out the refrigerator and knew I had some strawberries, and I had some chocolate frosting that I'd made a couple days earlier. Why not put them together? By the way, you know it's time to clean the fridge when you have absolutely no idea what is inside a particular container and/or your plasticware drawer (I'd say Tupperware, but it's actually all Rubbermaid or Snapware) is empty!  

Another friend of mine was celebrating a birthday, so she got a plate too. 

Another friend has a two-year-old boy who is my best pal, so they got a plate too. The first friend wasn't home (she was the reason I turned the oven on in the first place!) so I picked a different friend and it seemed to brighten her evening a lot. I'll try the first friend again tomorrow. My idea came from here, but I've changed the recipe a lot. Still, let's give credit where credit is due. My eighth-grade history teacher, Mr. Beglinger always said, "Fair is fair." So thanks to Lizzy Early over at Your Cup of Cake for the recipe idea. Anyway, let's get to how I slimmed these down. 

Neapolitan "Diet" Cupcakes

3 eggs 

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup strawberry greek yogurt (I use Dannon Light and Fit, 2X protein, 0% fat- so that's 80 calories and 12 grams of protein!)

1/2 cup strawberry jam (I used my homemade freezer variety) 

1/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 box chocolate or devil's food cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together all the ingredients except the cake mix until the mixture is blended. Add the cake mix and beat at low speed until it's moistened, then beat on medium speed for two minutes.
I use a medium-sized cookie scoop to put the batter into the cupcake liners. It makes the process a breeze. Bake cupcakes for 17-21 minutes (mine were just right at 19 minutes) or until toothpick tests clean.
Cool in pans for about one minute and then remove the cupcakes to either a cooling rack or a couple of 9x13 pans and cover them with plastic wrap while you make your frosting.
I used the chocolate frosting from this post and then I made some vanilla frosting too.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (or if using milk, start with only 2 T and add a little more milk if necessary, until you reach your desired consistency)
Fresh strawberries for garnish
Beat butter and cream cheese for three minutes. Add vanilla extract and then the powdered sugar. Beat until creamy and there are no sugar lumps remaining. Add cream or milk and whip until it's smooth, about three minutes.
I have a nifty bag that you can fill with two different frostings and then place that bag into another bag with a tip and then you can just pipe away and get the two-toned effect. If you don't have a nifty bag but you do have regular bags, put one flavor in a bag and the other flavor in another bag and then put those two bags into a third bag that has a tip on it and you're all set. Pipe away and top with a fresh strawberry half.
Now go take them to a few of your favorite friends, or treat yourself. Way less guilt on these if you do eat them all because of the applesauce and greek yogurt!
The app, My Fitness Pal, counts these at 98 calories (without the frosting!). They'd be even less if I left out the strawberry jam (86 calories).