Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

I wanted to come up with a healthy dessert option for Mother's Day. We all know where the majority of the calories come from when you eat a cupcake...the frosting. This recipe is already low-calorie and low-fat because some of the butter has been replaced with sour cream (so it is still super moist) and the frosting has been replaced with fruit-based icing and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. Making these changes allows this bad-boy to ring in with a calorie count of only 230. So that being said, let's dive in!

The Grocery List:

• 1 stick of salted butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 (8 oz) container of fat-free sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of egg substitute
• 2 cups all purpose flout
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 lb strawberries
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Cool Whip Free
• Cupcake liners

The Prep: 

Start by melting the stick of butter and set aside to let cool. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt) in a medium-sized bowl with a whisk. Also, while the butter is cooling, now would be a good time to slice up some strawberries for garnish. I only used one slice per cupcake, which came to only about 8-9 small strawberries. Make sure you reserve at least 4 medium-large strawberries for the glaze. 

The Batter:

Now that your butter is cooled (or at least, not HOT), it's time to make some batter! Using an electric mixer, whisk the sour cream and melted butter until well combined. Add the sugar and vanilla. Whisk for an additional 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Add the egg substitute and blend for another 2 minutes on medium. 

Once the wet ingredients are mixed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Spoon batter into lined cupcake pan until 2/3 full. There should be enough batter to get you 18 cupcakes.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown on the edges of the cupcakes. Remove them from the pan to cool on a rack.

The Glaze

In a blender (if you have a smoothie blender, it is much easier to work with and you will have easier access to the small amount of puree that you are making), puree the reserved strawberries and the juice of 1 small lemon. The strawberry batch that I had was a touch tart, so I also elected to put in an individual pack of Splenda to cut down the tartness. 

Once blended, you will definitely need to strain the puree. In fact, I double-strained it and still had a few seeds. If you decide to double-strain, as I highly recommend, you will need two small bowls and a medium sized sieve. Work the puree through the sieve into the first bowl and repeat into the second bowl. 

Measure out the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Start by adding 2 Tablespoons of the strawberry puree and thoroughly mix until there are no more lumps. Now that you have the glaze base, you can decide if you want to add any more of the puree to thin the glaze. I ended up using about 3 tablespoons of the puree, but this measurement may vary depending on how thin your specific puree is.

Tear some wax, parchment or even some paper towels to put under your drying rack to prep for the glazing. Dip each cupcake into the glaze (make sure you get a pretty thick coat...but not too thick because then you get messy wrapper like I did!). Let the cupcakes dry for 30-60 minutes or until hardened.

The Garnish

Garnish with a tablespoon of Cool Whip on each cupcake. Depending on the look that you prefer, you can either pipe on the Cool Whip or just add a casual dollop (the look I prefer). Add the previously prepared strawberry slices for the finishing touch. ENJOY!

Did you guys discover any other healthy dessert options for your lovely, health conscious mothers? I'd love to hear what you found!