Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Posted by Holly Nelson on Saturday, August 13, 2011 Under: Tummy Yummy Recipe of the Week

cupcake:
1 1/2 C strawberries, chopped small
1 1/2 C sucanat (or white sugar)
6 TBSP milk
3/4 C vegetable oil
3 tsp pure vanilla
6 egg whites, room temp!
2 1/4 C flour~ I use bread flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, room temp ONLY!
3 TBSP honey
3 packets stevia(or sugar)
3/4 C nonfat, plain Greek yogurt *MUST be Greek!
zest from a whole lemon

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees, rack in center. Line muffin pan with baking cups and spray with cooking spray.
2. Finely chop strawberries, put in medium bowl with juices. Add sucanat or sugar and stir, mashing the strawberries a little. Add milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. In kitchen aide mixer or metal bowl with hand beaters, beat egg whites on high speed until it forms soft peaks.
4. Large bowl: whisk flour and baking powder. Stir in strawberry mixture. Mix well. Gently fold in the egg whites with rubber spatula.
5. Using a 1/4 c measuring cup, fill baking cups with batter. Bake for 15 minutes or until done. Set cupcakes on a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1. In kitchen aide mixer or hand mixer, beat cream cheese, honey, stevia (or sugar), 1 tsp vanilla until creamy. Then blend yogurt and lemon zest. Cover and chill until ready to use.
* Your frosting will probably look much better than mine! I used regular yogurt and it was too thin. I should have used Greek, but I didn't have any.

Once cupcakes are completely cooled, frost and add a slice of strawberry. ENJOY!