As I think I’ve mentioned more than once already, blogging has taken a back seat lately. I’ve been so busy adjusting to my new job, searching for and then signing a lease on a new apartment, trying to get in some workouts, making sure I am eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep, and being with my family that I haven’t had two free seconds, let alone a few hours, to dedicate to the blog. Lucky for me (and you), I made these cupcakes while I was still in Oaxaca. I wasn’t 100% sure about them so I decided to test them again here at home and they turned out great!
I took my leftover cupcakes (sans cream cheese frosting) to work the next morning and they were all gone before 10 am. I was a bit nervous that people wouldn’t like them because they use whole wheat flour and a very little amount of sugar, but to my surprise they were gobbled up. And to make things even more satisfying, I got a couple different compliments on how they were perfect for breakfast because they weren’t overly sweet.
The main reason why I used just a touch of sugar was because I knew the cream cheese frosting would need more and I didn’t want these to be your traditional cupcake. So although these are called cupcakes, I think they are more of a low sugar muffin with frosting. Who really knows the difference between cupcakes and muffins these days anyways!? If you want to forgo the cream cheese frosting then I highly recommend you throw in some chocolate chips.
The greek yogurt and fresh zucchini make these moist and fluffy, which is perfect when paired with the sweet and tangy frosting. Cheers to “dessert” for breakfast!
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8th teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1 cup grated zucchini, unpeeled
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cupcake mold with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together sugar, Greek yogurt, egg, milk, coconut oil, vanilla extract and shredded zucchini.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined.
- Pour mixture into cupcake molds, filling each ¾ of the way, and bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- While the cake is cooling, make frosting by whisking cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides. Blend in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined, then on medium speed until fluffy. Place in the fridge until cake is room temperature.
- Frost cake, garnish with shredded zucchini and serve.
I always make zucchini bread and carrot cake muffins – must try these instead! Cream cheese frosting is my favorite thing in the world 🙂
Cream cheese frosting is almost TOO good!
These look SO yummy!! I have yet to try zuchinni in my muffins but I am totally pinning this because I need these in my life! Great recipe as always!!
It’s one of those great secret ingredients that you can’t taste but you feel sneaky for getting in your veggies. Hope you like them!
Love this recipe Katie, awesome job. Can not wait to try them myself 🙂
Thanks, Emma! You’re the best.
I love how low sugar these are… I can’t wait to try!
Hey you called for coconut oil in the main recipe but didn’t indicate adding it to the wet ingredients – you them mention it in the icing procedure but have bitter listed in the icing ingredients??? I put oil in muffin mix but ended up with really wet and oily muffins – what’s the best procedure here? Love the recipe, just want less wet result 🙂
Hi Christy- Thanks for trying the recipe! You’re right- coconut oil is for the batter and the butter is for the icing. I updated the recipe. Maybe try reducing the coconut oil to 1 tablespoon and skim milk to 1/4 cup. I think that should do it. It all depends on the type of ingredients and how you measure the flour so there might be some difference. Let me know how it goes!
One of my best friend’s has used this difficult time (global pandemic) to hire a health coach and proceed to completely change her diet and eating habits and she has lost 45 pounds so far. She turned 60 today and I made these recipe for our surprise driveway party at 7 AM in the morning. These were FANTASTIC! I will make them again. AWESOME. Thank you!