Roar.
My husband, the monster:
Did you know I was once married to Frankenstein? It’s true! Long before Bella Swan made it fashionable to marry a ghoul, Frankie and I had a one-night stand. I dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween and created a stuffed monster “husband” to carry around all night.
In case you’re curious, here’s a photo of us.
Although we didn’t stay married long (irreconcilable differences), I think Frankenstein would approve of the following mint-chocolate cupcake recipe. Whole-grain, and lower in fat and sugar, these are much healthier than your average cupcakes. And yet, they taste just as delicious.
As I said in yesterday’s post, these cupcakes were made for a good friend’s kindergarten class. I so wanted to throw some spinach in them, to see how they’d turn out. But I didn’t have enough time to make a second batch if the experiment failed.
If anyone is feeling adventurous, please do try adding spinach… and let me know how it goes!!
Monster Mint-Chocolate Cupcakes
(Makes 12 cupcakes)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (regular or dutch)
- 1 cup flour (I used white-whole-wheat. You can use all-purpose, spelt, or even ww pastry.)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pure peppermint extract (or 1/2 tsp, if you only want a very-slight mint taste)
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt of choice (such as SoDelicious)
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 3 tbsp oil (coconut or veg or canola oil)
- optional: add a few handfuls chocolate chips to the batter!
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet. Don’t overmix. Pour into cupcake liners or tins, and bake for 18-20 minutes. (Mine took 19 minutes.) Nutrition Facts per cupcake: Each cupcake will have around 130 calories and three grams of fat, depending on what yogurt you use.
Cupcakes in the photos are topped with this recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting.
For a Mint-Chocolate Parfait:
Try crumbling this over Mint-Chocolate-Chip Ice Milk.
Or skip the parfait idea and just cover these babies in devilishly-delicious green frosting. With chocolate chips. Don’t forget the chocolate chips.
Question of the Day:
Do you remember any of your childhood Halloween costumes?
Some of mine: a Martian beauty queen, devil in a blue dress, purple-people-eater, monster chef, dust bunny (French maid with bunny ears), sand witch (sandwich), and “Indecisive” (where I wore a little bit of everything I could find. That one was really fun). I always hope that one of my friends will throw a party, so I have an excuse to still dress up even though I’m obviously way too old for trick-or-treating. I still have no idea what I’m going to wear to this year’s Halloween party.
I bet my little Princess who has asked to be a Princess for the FOURTH year in a row would love these. We’ve got the pink ruffles and wand and glitter waiting 🙂
Thank you again for a devine looking recipe.
It’s so lovely to know I can bake treats for my family that do not contain huge quantities of fat and/or sugar.
I hope the unpacking is basically done and you have a fiendishly fabulous halloween. 🙂
Hi Katie! Thanks once again for the awesome recipe. I’ll try it with the spinach and keep you posted.
For the frosting, you gave a link that takes us to “Banana Butter”, but then you mention you have used Cashew Butter. I am confused. Which butter did you use? and if CB, can you please share the recipe. Thanks Katie! 🙂
Hi Priya,
I did use the banana butter recipe, just subbing cashew butter for the peanut butter.
Definitely do let me know about the spinach if you try it! 🙂
They look fantastic — I LOVE chocolate and mint! Festive, to boot! Thanks 🙂
Mmmm, these look good, but I was definitely pulling for the spider cupcakes!
I was almost always a cheerleader or popstar. One year I was a teddy bear though, and this year, I’m being a mushroom!
Not a huge mint and chocolate fan… BUT I would try these for sure. 🙂 You managed to make them sound very tasty.
I LOVE Halloween, my best was Amy Winehouse. (RIP)…it was spot on and no one knew who I was… I was so unrecoginizable. 🙂
Mint chocolate is such a good combo! I was a robot for Halloween one year, my most awkward costume. But Halloween’s my favorite holiday so I remember most of them!
Another delicious looking recipe! I love mint, especially in cupcake form!!
You look so different in that picture. I was Simba for my first halloween I think and after that I was usually Cinderella.
Delicious cup cakes. Mint and chocolate is one of the best combinations.
Katie, Oh my gosh. YUUUUMMMM!!!! I love chocolate mint! Have I ever mentioned how obsessed I am with your mint chocolate chip smoothie?! YUUUM!
And for halloween-I always wanted to be a princess when I was little! Always.
Oh. My. God. That is the cutest photo I’ve ever seen.
I wanna add spinach to this :]
Oh my goodness this looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
MINT CHOCOLATE IS THE BEST FLAVOR OF ANYTHING EVER!
I am so saving this recipe to make for my sister–she is all about anything mint chocolate. Plus, she’s eating for two these days, so she needs a little extra 🙂
Spinach in mint chocolate chip cupcakes is the perfect combo! http://skinnyfatgirls.com/2011/10/23/mint-chocolate-chip-cupcakes/
I guess great minds do think alike 🙂