January Cupcake of the Month: (Kind of Healthy) Chocolate & Peanut Butter
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Since finishing the weekly unusual Kitchen Adventures, I felt the need to add some structure to blogging so I wouldn’t fizzle out. I’m happy to announce that in addition to Slow Cooker Mondays, every month I will be posting a special cupcake of the month.
This month was a tad restricted by my abstaining from refined sugars, but you may remember the chocolate chickpea cake I shared recently. It was so good that I had to make it again, and this time I baked it in a cupcake tin and omitted the nuts. The result? Moist chocolate cupcakes that are actually pretty good for you. They were too plain and healthy to be called a cupcake, so I followed Andrea’s suggestion from the cake post and made some rich peanut butter frosting. That really put them over the top as a delicious dessert – definitely the best dessert I had all month. Plus, I still think these are pretty healthy, especially compared to typical cupcakes (there’s no refined sugar or butter in the cupcake or frosting).
Requests and suggestions are always great! What’s your favorite cupcake flavor?
Recipe:
Chocolate Chickpea Cupcakes
Makes 15 cupcakes
- 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained
- 2/3 C orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 C honey or agave nectar
- 2/3 C cocoa
- 1/2 t of baking powder
- 1/4 t of baking soda
- 1 t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with liners.
Blend chickpeas and orange juice in food processor until smooth. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, blending in between. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Mix in chickpea mixture. Fill each cupcake liner around 3/4 full and bake 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1 C all-natural peanut butter
- 1/2 C AP flour
- 1/2 C honey
Place peanut butter and flour in a large bowl. Bring honey to boil in a small saucepan. Pour honey over peanut butter and flour and mix until thoroughly combined. If frosting is too thick, you can add milk until it reaches the desired consistency.
Note: this frosting is thick and rich – have a glass of milk nearby, you’ll need it!
No. 1 — January 26th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Save me some!
No. 2 — January 26th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
oh wow, chocolate and chickpeas combo! never tried them and it surely looks super delicious
No. 3 — January 26th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
A refined sugar-less icing? This is incredible! Your cupcakes look delicious and I definitely appreciate that you don’t use regular refined sugar, I’d like to cut down our reliance on it but I biggest downfall has always been baking. I’m a little leery of agave (even though I do like it) since I’ve read a few articles that it converts in the same manner as high fructose corn syrup… figures, right?
No. 4 — January 26th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Chickpea cupcakes? Now THIS is innovative!
No. 5 — January 26th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
What a fantastically inventive recipe! I can’t wait to give these cupcakes a try. I’ve never thought of using beans in a cake recipe before. Brilliant and healthy! Thank you so much for sharing with me tonight…and thanks for your sweetness on my blog…it means so much to me!
No. 6 — January 26th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
I love that you turned your unusual chickpea cake into cupcakes. So cute and not as sinful as your usual chocolate cupcake.
I still haven’t had a chance to try your chickpea cake yet as we are in the middle of moving house, but will soon.
No. 7 — January 26th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
My son’s girlfriend makes incredible cupcakes. I’ve sent your recipe along to her. She’s the baker in the family. She’ll love this and can make it for me.
Kristi
No. 8 — January 26th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Wheels – I ate the last one today but next time you’re coming to town give me a little notice and I’ll make some just for you!
Joy – I haven’t heard that about agave. I have heard mixed things about it though, so maybe I should stick to honey and maple syrup. Thanks for telling me.
No. 9 — January 26th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Ooo, I love that these are kind of healthy! My husband wouldn’t though… but that’s part of the fun of it. Sometimes I’ll health-ize things just to see if he would even be able to tell the difference. Thanks for this recipe!
No. 10 — January 26th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Oh yummy looking cupcakes! I have never used flour in a frosting. How cool!!!!
No. 11 — January 27th, 2011 at 2:06 am
It’s something amazing! Chickpea cupcakes? I never heard about something like that but thats why I like it
No. 12 — January 27th, 2011 at 7:18 am
Thanks everyone! It’s amazing to eat a rich chocolate cupcake and know it’s not terrible for you!
Roxan – give it a try and don’t tell your husband. I bet you he won’t know the difference.
No. 13 — January 27th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Chickpeas! Really?! So that means I can have extra cupcakes…I mean these are a good source of protein right?
No. 14 — January 28th, 2011 at 3:40 am
Love this recipe for so many reasons. will bookmark. I love standard triple chocolate cucpakes, but the best cupcake I ever had was a “Haute Chocolate” cupcake from Bakery Gingham in Colombus, OH. Started my love for cupcakes!! Like a piece of fudge in cucpake form, AMAZING!
No. 15 — January 28th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Congrats on staying away from sugar – these cupcakes don’t need it! I’m really looking forward to seeing what other sort of sugarless dessert you come up with. It really inspires me! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
C&C Cakery recently posted C&C does the 2nd Annual Cupcake Throwdown
No. 16 — January 29th, 2011 at 1:24 am
Delicious and healthy as well! Nice recipe, thanks for sharing.
Eftychia recently posted Black Eyed Beans cooked in Fresh Tomato Sauce
No. 17 — January 29th, 2011 at 6:59 am
Stephanie you are so right, these look delicious! I cannot wait to try these…PB and Chocolate are my favorite sweet combination! I am so glad to find more healthy recipes that I can actually try out without feeling guilty. Thanks for checking out my site too
No. 18 — January 29th, 2011 at 8:07 am
I’m going to have to try these!
Fresh and Foodie recently posted Happy Birthday Cake
No. 19 — January 30th, 2011 at 6:04 am
I love it when savory ingredients are used in dessert recipes- they add so much flavor compared to the normal flour, sugar, butter, etc. These look delish!
No. 20 — January 30th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Ive recently seen several recipes that involve chick peas or beans in cake and brownie recipes and am dying to try it! Id love to feel the texture. These look and sound great.
No. 21 — February 2nd, 2011 at 7:37 am
Wow, I never would have thought to make a frosting that way. Is it creamy?
No. 22 — February 2nd, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Lauren – it is creamy and very thick. Definitely needs a glass of milk to go along with it!
No. 23 — February 11th, 2011 at 10:33 am
[...] to do so), it wasn’t too bad. The hardest part was satisfying chocolate cravings (done, done and done) and refusing dessert when others were eating it. (Honestly, I did end up cheating: the [...]
No. 24 — April 28th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Was wondering what is AP flour for the frosting?
No. 25 — April 29th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
@Jennifer – all purpose flour, it thickens the frosting
No. 26 — December 5th, 2012 at 8:45 am
[...] *recipe adapted from 52 Kitchen Adventures [...]