Mini Zucchini Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

The zucchini in my garden has been producing quite well the past couple weeks. I’ve been able to pick at least two good sized zucchinis each week, which makes me very happy. I usually use one as part of our dinner and the other I save to bake something yummy with. Last week I got an itch to bake so I decided to make these delicious Mini Zucchini Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.

The recipe for these dare I say, “healthy” little cupcakes, was inspired by one of my favorite cookbooks, Giada’s Feel Good Food“. Let’s just get something out in the open right now, is it just me or does Giada look AMAZING?! I really hope that when I’m her age I look that lovely.  The original recipe was for mini blueberry cupcakes, but since I happened to have an extra zucchini sitting around I decided to use that instead. I love this recipe because the only sweetener used is honey. Honey is one of my favorite alternative sweeteners to use instead of plain old sugar. I love the floral note that it gives baked goods, something sugar just can’t do. Along with the flavor, it is also sweeter than granulated sugar, meaning you don’t have to use as much to get the same amount of sweetness.

The other unique aspect to these cupcakes is that they are made with a combination of whole wheat flour and almond meal. If you’ve never baked with almond meal it’s worth giving a try. Almond meal is merely almonds that have been ground up into a flour like consistency, however there is no wheat or grains in it. I love the nutty texture and flavor that it gives to baked goods, not to mention a little more protein. While it is more of a specialty type flour, almost all grocery stores carry it. You can even buy it in the bulk foods section at Whole Foods if you just want to experiment with it, and since this recipe doesn’t call for a large amount, that might be a good way to go. So while the cupcakes were super moist and delicious on their own, I knew I wanted to make some frosting to put on top, because after all a cupcake without frosting is just a muffin, am I right? Sticking with the theme of honey I decided to make a simple cream cheese frosting sweetened with honey rather than powdered sugar. Like the cupcake the frosting is pretty healthy as well. It’s made up of light cream cheese, non fat plain Green yogurt, vanilla, and honey, and oh my word is it good! I could totally slather this on so many things, banana bread, zucchini bread, muffins, or even fruit!

So while I’m labeling these Mini Zucchini Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting as dessert, they could totally pass as breakfast. I mean come on, there’s whole grains, protein from the almond meal, vegetables, honey, and dairy. Sounds like a balanced breakfast to me. Plus, just the thought of being able to eat cupcakes for breakfast puts a smile on my face, does it put one on your?!

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Mini Zucchini Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 12 mini cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Honey sweetened zucchini cupcakes that are so healthy you can eat them for breakfast!

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Ingredients

For the Zucchini Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/8 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 3/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 1/3 cup zucchini, shredded
• 1 T. grapeseed oil, or other flavorless oil
• 3 T. plain non fat Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 T. honey
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract

For the Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 ounces light cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup plain non fat Greek yogurt
• 2 T. honey
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
3. In a smaller bowl whisk together the oil, yogurt, egg, honey, vanilla, and zucchini.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together with a rubber spatula until combined.
5. Fill the mini muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full with the batter.
6. Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack.
8. While the cupcakes are cooling, whisk together all of the frosting ingredients until they are smooth.
9. Frost each cooled cupcake with approximately a teaspoon of the frosting.
10. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.