Low Fat Cupcakes or Muffins

These are so easy to make! I rarely condone the use of a cake mix, but these are so good that I let it slide. Using juice or soda instead of the oil cuts out a lot of the fat in the cake batter. Still working on a low fat icing. That is quite a challenge.
I am always trying new variations of this, so feel free to suggest a few. ;-)


Chocolate
1 box moist chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1 c chocolate chips (I prefer Hershey's brand)
8oz diet soda(coke zero or diet vanilla are good ones, but experiment with a few!)

Do not use any other ingredients suggested on the cake mix box. Mix all the above together well and bake according to the instructions on the cake mix box. These are great as bald cupcakes or muffins, but you can add some chocolate icing or buttercream if you want to make them iced cupcakes. You can also add just a few drops of mint extract to the icing or batter to make mint chocolate chip.

This is my favorite chocolate icing recipe.
http://www.food.com/recipe/hersheys-perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-frosting-448818 



Orange Strawberry
1 box yellow cake mix
1 c sliced fresh strawberries
2 eggs
8oz orange juice

Do not use any other ingredients suggested on the cake mix box. Mix all the above together well and bake according to the instructions on the cake mix box. These are pretty sweet so I usually leave them plain, but adding some cream cheese frosting would be a great addition to balance out some of the sweetness. Still perfecting the cream cheese frosting recipe. Here is an easy semi homemade one.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 can cream cheese frosting
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese

Beat together thoroughly until cream cheese is incorporated. Make sure to put this in the fridge before using and keep these cakes cold. The cream cheese frosting is a little thin, but delicious.


Lemon Cakes
1 box white cake mix
1 cup chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
1/2 t lemon extract
8oz diet sparkling lemonade or regular lemonade
2 eggs

Again mix together and follow instructions on box. I would choose a buttercream icing for this one.