These delicious treats were actually a result of a mistake in the kitchen (Hey! It happens!!). They are a little sweeter than a traditional muffin, and just a little less sweet than a cupcake. They are, without a doubt, one of the best “mistakes” that I have ever made! If you bake them in a standard (12-cup) muffin tin, they have only 62 calories a piece!! So even if you decide to make them in a jumbo (6-cup) muffin tin, they will still only have a modest 124 calories each. If you would rather serve them as a light and scrumptious dessert, add a little fat free icing or whipped topping – or even fat free frozen yogurt. Trust me when I tell you that a “blunder” in the kitchen has never tasted so heavenly, deliciously amazing!!
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6ounces vanilla fat-free yogurt
3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 package frozen (or jarred) pitted, unsweetened dark sweet cherries, thawed and drained (keep 12 cherries aside for garnish)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan with cooking spray (or line with baking cups) and set aside.
Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in medium bowl and mix well, then stir in the yogurt and almond extract.
Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter until just blended. Gently fold in the cherries and divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until tops are puffy and edges are set – the centers will still be slightly “moist” when you remove them from the oven, but they will firm up while cooling.
If you plan on having the “muffin” version serve as is (once cooled). For the cupcake version, frost with fat free icing or whipped topping and garnish with a cherry (or any other decorative topping you would like.)
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Makes 12 cupcake-muffins. Per cupcake: 62 calories, less than 1 g total fat, less than 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 12 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, less than 3 added sugar, 3 g protein, 79 mg sodium, less than 1 mg cholesterol
6 responses so far ↓
1 Thecpa // Aug 25, 2007 at 11:37 am
Shannon,
You have mentioned whipped topping in other recipes. Do you have a recipe for whipped topping or fat free icing?
As soon as I pick up some cherries this recipe will be in my oven. Thanks!
2 Shannon // Aug 25, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Janet,
When I’m in the mood for vanilla frosting, I like the frosting on the “guilt-free carrot cake”( which has a mild cream cheese flavor), the banana cream pie frosting, or even the cream used on the breakfast-bite pancakes. For chocolate, I use the moist mocha cake frosting.
If I am in a real hurry, I will use fat-free Cool Whip (only in a pinch, cause it does have quite a bit of sugar). There are also some great fat-free icings and frostings that I have found at “health” food and specialty supermarkets.
3 tragicw/capitalT // Sep 15, 2007 at 12:37 am
i made these like 5 minutes ago and their super good. my mom let me borrow her baby muffin pan so i cut the cook time in half and made 24 mini cupcakes!
4 Beth // Oct 17, 2007 at 11:09 am
Hi Shannon, I made these last night, and they tasted great! But… I used a 6 cup- jumbo muffin pan instead of a standard 12 cup, and the muffins still came out regular muffin size. Does that sound right? Any idea what i could do to make them plump up while they cook to the jumbo size next time without changing the nutritionals much? Maybe use skim milk instead of yogurt?
Thanks!
5 Jessica // Jan 14, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I’m not a big fan of cherries… is there something else you could recommend to replace those with? Thanks in advance!
6 Shannon // Jan 15, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Jessica –
You could really use any fruit that you would like. A lot of pie fillings and jarred fruits come in a variety of “light” versions and in tons of flavors. Pretty much any thing that compliments chocolate will work – raspberry, peach, blueberry, strawberry, etc. The only one that I would not recommend is apple, only because there are many more flavors out there that are better compliments to chocolate.
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