Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze

In honor of The Recipe Redux turning 6, we were challenged this month to come up with a small bite dessert. So fun! And a very welcome excuse to bake some cake!

When I first started pondering what to make, the dessert that popped into my mind was the mini-cupcakes at Whole Foods. I have a weak spot for them. I love that they are small enough that I can happily have two (or, let’s be honest, often three) and that they give me a nice hit of chocolate without being too much. So I thought I would try and come up with a homemade version.

If you have been following me for a while, you have probably caught onto the fact that I am a big fan of using yogurt in baking. I like it for three reasons: 1) like buttermilk, it makes things fluffier, 2) unlike buttermilk, I almost always have it in the house, and 3) it adds some protein to whatever I am baking. My love for using yogurt in cakes was firmly solidified a couple of months ago when I came across the yogurt cake recipe on the Kitchn. No beating or stiffening of eggs, only one bowl used, and yet out comes a fluffy, delicious cake—it is a lazy cook’s dream cake recipe! So I adapted it a little to make it a smidge healthier by including some spelt flour and cutting down on the sugar and the outcome was outstanding! (Note: I have found that using whole grain flours, like whole wheat or spelt, in cakes works better in cupcakes than it does in full-sized cakes, it just doesn’t rise quite enough as a big cake because the flours are denser…)

For the chocolate glaze, I also wanted the tangy-ness of yogurt to enliven the flavor and bulk up the nutrition, even if just by a little bit. So I tweaked a Cabot recipe by decreasing the sugar (why does every frosting recipe call for so much sugar?!). All I can say is that if I could eat these cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I totally would. And, in fact, I just might have them for breakfast tomorrow…

Happy Birthday, The Recipe Redux!

Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze

Jessica Braider

Cupcake recipe adapted from: The Kitchn Yogurt Cake Glaze recipe adapted from: Cabot Chocolate Layer Cake

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 48

Ingredients

  

• For the cupcakes:
• 1 ½ cups whole milk plain yogurt
• 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup spelt flour or white whole wheat flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• For the glaze:
• ¼ cup plain whole milk yogurt
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

 

• To make the cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350 and line two mini-cupcake pans with liners.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg and stir until there are no lumps.
• Distribute the batter amongst your muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes. Place them on a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before glazing them.
• To make the glaze:
• Combine the yogurt, cocoa powder and vanilla in a large bowl.
• Using an electric mixer, slowly beat in the confectioner’s sugar until there are no lumps.
• Carefully dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze, turn onto its side, and spin gently to let any drops fall off, then place them on a tray. Place the tray into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the glaze firm up a bit.