Healthier Funfetti Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Yields: 12 cupcakes

These cupcakes are perfect for celebrations of any kind! They’re supremely tender and filled with festive sprinkles, then topped with gorgeous swirls of delicious chocolate frosting. Leftovers will keep for at least 3 days (if not longer!) if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

for the cupcakes
2 ¼ cups (270g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
2 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla stevia
½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup (240mL) nonfat milk
¼ cup (48g) naturally dyed sprinkles (see Notes)
for the frosting
2 cups (480g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
2 servings (16g) sugar-free, fat-free instant chocolate pudding mix (see Notes)
⅝ tsp vanilla stevia, or adjusted to taste

To prepare the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 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, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla, and vanilla stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Gently fold in the sprinkles.
Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners. Bake at 350°F for 20-22 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.
While the cupcakes bake, prepare the frosting. Add the Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, instant pudding, and vanilla 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 chocolate frosting on top just before serving.

Notes: For the gluten-free flour, use the following blend: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends should work as well, if measured like this.

Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.

I highly recommend using the vanilla 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 ¾ cup (180mL) of agave, honey, or pure maple syrup for the vanilla stevia. Reduce the milk to ¼ cup (60mL) if using any of those liquid sweeteners. (The batter should be fairly thick, similar to muffin batter.) If you prefer not to use the vanilla stevia in the frosting, then substitute 1 ½ teaspoons of this powdered stevia OR ¼ cup of Truvia or granulated sugar.

Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.

For the naturally dyed sprinkles, I used these. (← I ordered them online there too!) You must use jimmies (the long, thin sprinkles) or confetti-style (large circles, stars, or other shapes). Do NOT use nonpareils (the tiny spheres). Nonpareils completely dissolve and turn your cupcake batter gray in color, while the jimmies and confetti-style sprinkles maintain their shape and color.

If you like more sprinkles in your funfetti cupcakes, increase the amount by an additional 1-2 tablespoons!

You just need the dry instant pudding mix—don’t prepare it according to the package directions! For a more classic spreadable (not pipe-able) chocolate frosting that does NOT use instant pudding (and is clean-eating friendly), use this recipe of mine.

{gluten-free, low fat, lower sugar}

Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2017/10/17/healthy-funfetti-cupcakes-with-chocolate-frosting/