Earlier this month, my parents drove down to Southern California to visit my grandma and me for a couple of days. On their first full day, Mom and I decided to drive to Coronado for a late lunch.
We ended up at the Panera I had dined at a few weeks earlier, and after ordering fresh seasonal salads (we’re obsessed with the strawberry poppy seed one!), we snagged a table on the back patio. A short while later, our meals arrived, and we ate them outside while soaking up the beautiful warm spring weather.
After finishing, we walked a few blocks down the road to the beach. Mom had planned ahead and brought a blanket, so we spread it on the sand and watched the waves gently roll in and out, plenty of young children running in and out of them and building castles in the wet sand with their plastic buckets.
Feeling refreshed, we drove back home, visited with Dad and Grandma a bit, and then headed back out again that evening for dinner. Grandma generously treated us to a meal at a cute French-themed restaurant, where we sat outside again and enjoyed lots of delicious and gourmet dishes.
We started with their famous roasted Brussels sprouts, sprinkled with shaved Parmesan and a balsamic reduction. As the main course, I decided on an arugula and pomegranate salad topped with grilled shrimp, and we also ordered two flatbreads for the table, one with pears and cambozola and the other with short ribs and a horseradish cream sauce.
I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of those two restaurant meals, but by the time my parents left town, I ended up with one forlorn and forgotten about, very ripe, almost black banana on my counter from eating out so much. After a minute of thought, I held off tossing it in the trash and decided to turn it into…
These Healthy Small Batch Mini Banana Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting! They’re supremely moist and tender with lots of naturally sweet banana flavor, and the creamy frosting is the perfect finishing touch.
What makes these cupcakes even better? They contain no eggs, refined flour or sugar! The frosting also has no butter, powdered sugar or food coloring. That gorgeous pink color is all from strawberries! And each little cupcake, including the frosting, is just 41 calories!
So let’s go over how to make these healthy small batch mini banana cupcakes with strawberry frosting!
You’ll start by making the cupcake batter, which begins with white whole wheat flour. That sounds a little bit like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But as confusing as it sounds, white whole wheat flour isn’t just a mix of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour!
Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture. This lets the moist and tender texture, along with the fruity sweetness, of your healthy small batch mini banana cupcakes really shine!
Just remember, it’s really important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much flour will dry out your cupcake batter, making it look more like bread dough, and it’ll make your cupcakes turn out dry. I promise it’s worth taking the ten extra seconds to measure correctly so your healthy mini banana cupcakes turn out exceptionally moist and tender!
Whereas traditional cupcake recipes often call for ½ cup of oil or butter (if not more!), you only need a mere ½ teaspoon of butter or coconut oil. Yes, just ½ teaspoon for your entire batch. That really helps keep your healthy small batch mini banana cupcakes low fat and low calorie!
Then the rest of their extremely moist and tender texture comes from…
Mashed banana! That’s right. The banana isn’t just there for flavor! It adds just as much moisture to your cupcake batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories. How’s that for a win-win situation?
But that’s not all the mashed banana does in these healthy mini banana cupcakes…
It plays two more roles! The mashed banana replaces the eggs, meaning these healthy mini banana cupcakes are egg free and vegan. Then it also adds lots of natural sweetness to the batter.
Because of this last reason, it’s really important to use extremely ripe bananas. You want bananas that look almost pure brown or black! This is because overripe bananas contain more natural sweetness (and more moisture and a stronger banana flavor!) than pure yellow ones, which means your healthy small batch mini banana cupcakes will be exceptionally sweet, really moist, and totally banana-y in flavor.
So to recap… Mashed banana = fruit flavor + extra moisture + egg replacer + natural sweetness.
That’s my kind of math!
Then to boost the natural sweetness, you’ll also stir liquid stevia and erythritol into your batter. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, stevia is a plant-based no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing overly refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly). It’s also highly concentrated. You just need ¾ teaspoon for your entire batch of healthy mini banana cupcakes!
This is the kind I use because I don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia brands. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
I always try really hard to use as few ingredients as possible for you. I know trying to track down extra items on your grocery list isn’t fun! However, I found that adding just a small amount of erythritol added a big boost of sweetness compared to using additional liquid stevia. I promise it’s worth buying and using both sweeteners!
Hint: Erythritol is another plant-based no-calorie sweetener. I also buy my erythritol online here!
Before you add the batter to your cupcake liners, remember to generously coat your cupcake liners with cooking spray. Low-fat cupcake batters (like with these healthy mini banana cupcakes!) stick to cupcake liners like superglue. It’s nearly impossible to peel them off! Yet by coating your cupcake liners with cooking spray first, the cupcake liners slip right off of your fully baked cupcakes.
Such a great trick, right?
While the cupcakes bake, it’s time to prepare the healthy strawberry frosting! And it actually starts with another one of my favorite ingredients…
Greek yogurt! Crazy, right?? But I promise it works! This healthy strawberry frosting is made without butter or powdered sugar, yet because of the thick and creamy texture of Greek yogurt, it still has a similar indulgent texture as regular buttercream frosting. (Along with far fewer calories!)
For the fruit flavor, you’ll actually use freeze dried strawberries. Unlike regular dried fruit, freeze dried strawberries are crisp, crunchy, and really airy. This means it’s really easy to grind them into a fine powder. (I use my coffee grinder!)
That fine powdery texture is the key to really great healthy strawberry frosting! Puréed fresh or frozen strawberries would add lots of liquid to the frosting, so it’d be thin and watery, more like a glaze than a frosting. But by adding a dry powder to the Greek yogurt, your healthy strawberry frosting stays thick and creamy!
Then to help make it even thicker, more like a regular buttercream pipe-able consistency, you’ll mix in instant pudding mix. By mixing this in and letting the frosting chill, the instant pudding mix thickens the Greek yogurt even further, creating a luxuriously thick and creamy consistency in your homemade strawberry frosting.
Hint: You’ll also add a little more of the same liquid stevia to the healthy strawberry frosting to help sweeten it without using any powdered sugar!
Then all that’s left to do is wait for your mini banana cupcakes to cool… Pipe your strawberry frosting on top, and…
Enjoy your yummy homemade cupcakes! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ????) I’d love to see your healthy small batch mini banana cupcakes with strawberry frosting!
| Healthy Small Batch Mini Banana Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting | | Print |
- for the cupcakes
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 tsp coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (130g) mashed banana (about 1 large, see Notes!)
- ¾ tsp liquid stevia
- 1 tbsp (15g) granulated erythritol
- ¼ cup + 1 tbsp (75mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- for the frosting
- ¾ cup (15g) freeze dried strawberries
- 1 ½ cups (360g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ servings (12g) sugar-free, fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix (see Notes!)
- 1 tsp liquid stevia, or adjusted to taste
- To prepare the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 17 mini muffin cups with paper liners, and coat the liners with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut oil, vanilla, and banana. Mix in the liquid stevia, erythritol, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until the centers feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the frosting, add the freeze dried strawberries to a blender or coffee grinder, and pulse until they’re a fine powder. Add the strawberry powder, Greek yogurt, instant pudding, and liquid stevia to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Cover the top of the bowl with foil, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, pipe the frosting on top just before serving.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
Remember to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much will dry out your batter and make it too thick, and your cupcakes will also turn out dry and crumbly.
For the best results, use bananas that are almost pure brown or black. Measure the mashed banana with measuring cups! Not all “large” bananas are the exact same size.
I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients (you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine!), and I buy it online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. If you prefer not to use stevia in the cupcakes, substitute 5 tablespoons (75mL) of agave, honey, or pure maple syrup for the liquid stevia. Omit the milk if using this substitution.
Coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sugar may be substituted for the erythritol. (I buy my erythritol online here!)
Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened cashew milk.
For the frosting, I’ve found that not all Greek yogurt brands are equally thick! This is my favorite one for my Greek yogurt frosting because it’s the thickest brand I’ve found, which means your frosting holds its shape so much better when piping it on top of the cupcakes!
This is the instant pudding mix that I used. You just need the dry instant pudding mix—don’t prepare it according to the package directions! You can omit it (for a clean eating option), but the frosting won’t be as thick, and you’ll probably need to spread it on the cupcakes instead of piping it. If you omit the instant pudding mix, then just mix the remaining frosting ingredients together until they’re fully incorporated—don’t beat them for a full 2 minutes!
I’ve found freeze dried strawberries at Target and Trader Joe’s! If you can’t find freeze dried strawberries, use this frosting recipe of mine instead (and substitute strawberries for the raspberries).
For the frosting, if you’re not a fan of stevia, then substitute the equivalent of 2-4 tablespoons of powdered sugar of your preferred granulated sweetener. (I like using 2-4 tablespoons of this confectioners’ style erythritol!) No maple syrup, honey, or agave—they make the frosting way too runny!
For a vegan option, use coconut oil in the cupcakes. Then use your preferred dairy-free yogurt in the frosting. The frosting will be more liquidy, so you’ll need to spread it on your cupcakes with a knife. It won’t hold its shape when piped.
{gluten-free, clean eating option, vegan option, low fat, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Small Batch Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting
♡ Healthy Small Batch Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
♡ Healthy Small Batch Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Small Batch Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies
♡ Healthy Small Batch Apple Crumble Bars
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy cupcake recipes!
Oh my goodness! I was SALIVATING over those restaurant meal descriptions, Amy! YAY for eating shrimp now!!! I could seriously eat shrimp EVERY day.
I’ll have to take you the next time you come visit!! I’m 99% sure that the restaurant has some really good GF options. (I’ll call ahead and double check on eggs and dairy too! 😉 ) I could totally eat shrimp every day too. SO good!! 🙂
How can this recipe be modified for 12 normal sized cupcakes?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Nithya! For 12 standard sized cupcakes, double the amounts of ingredients for the cupcakes. Then for the frosting, use 1 cup (20g) freeze dried strawberries, 2 cups (480g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 servings (16g) sugar-free, fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix, and 1 ¼ teaspoons liquid stevia (or adjusted to taste). The cupcakes will take longer to bake, but start checking on them after around 17 minutes. They’ll be done when the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making them!
Hello Amy! I made these in the morning and they were so yummy (I didn’t feel guilty at all)! I’ll try out more recipes during the lockdown ????
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cupcakes Arifah! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — that really means a lot to me! 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what other recipes of mine you decide to try too! I hope you’re staying as safe and healthy as possible!
I wasn’t sure how to measure the pudding mix since you had listed in grams. I’m also a little concerned with the frosting since mine is very dark compared to yours but it does taste good. Now I’m just waiting for my bananas to ripen so I can actually make the cupcakes. Thank you for all these gluten-free fat-free recipes.
I’m honored that you tried making my frosting, Tausha! It means a lot to me that you want to make the cupcakes too! 🙂 If you don’t have a kitchen scale, then 1 ½ servings should be a little less than half of a 4-serving-size box of instant pudding mix. Does that make sense?
Did you use freeze dried strawberries or raspberries in the frosting? If you used the latter, they’re MUCH darker and more pigmented than strawberries, so that could be why your frosting looks so dark! If you used freeze dried strawberries, it could also be that the brand or bag that you used is just darker in color than the ones that I did. As long as you enjoy the flavor, that’s the main thing that matters! 😉
I’m so excited to hear what you think of the cupcakes once your bananas are fully ripe and you’re able to bake a batch!
I did use freeze-dried strawberries. And I believe I came up with the amount that you said for the pudding as well so it’s about the same. Thank you for your reply. I just wish I could have found completely ripe bananas and I have to wait.
It’s my pleasure, Tausha! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 I wish you could’ve found completely ripe bananas too… It’s no fun waiting! I’ve been really lucky with my local grocery store. They sell what they call “red band bananas,” which are bananas that they think are too ripe (or too bruised!) to sell for full price, so they only charge around half. Little do they know that they’re actually doing me a favor when I’m craving these cupcakes or banana bread! 😉 If only your grocery stores would do that too — that would just be wonderful!
I did something wrong my dog was really thick. I made the cupcakes anyway but they’re really dense and dry. Can you give me some tips on the next batch thank you.
Oh no, Tausha!! I’d love to help you figure that out. Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups for the bananas too? How long did you bake your mini cupcakes?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but once I know your answers to all of them, I should be able to narrow down the culprit! 🙂
(I see comments come in on my blog’s backend in chronological order, hence the double comments from me to you! 😉 )
I use a measuring cup for both. I measure the flour using a fork like you suggested. And the only modification I made was I used coconut oil instead of butter.
Thanks for sharing, Tausha! 🙂 When using the measuring cup and fork to measure the flour, did you shake the measuring cup back and forth at all while filling it with flour?
How long did you bake your mini cupcakes? (I didn’t see your answer to that question, but maybe I missed it!) And just to confirm, you used the same liquid stevia and erythritol that I linked to in the Ingredients list, correct?
That my dog was sick. My batter was thick.
Not my dog was sick…..lol….my batter was very thick.
Hi love your baking. Can u substitute the dried strawberries with frozen strawberries I put fresh ones in freezer. The ones u show r not certified kosher need substitute. Thanks an need keep it low carb
I’m so happy to hear what you’re enjoying my baking recipes, Rita! Unfortunately, I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries to make this frosting. I’ve covered why that is in detail in the text of my blog post above the recipe, but I know it can be easy to miss! 😉
If you can only use frozen strawberries, not freeze dried ones, then I’ve shared an alternative frosting that can be made with them in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions).
I’d love to hear what you think of these cupcakes or the frosting (or both!) if you end up making either one!