Chocolate & Carrots Cupcakes & Peanut Butter Frosting {Giveaway}

Don’t yell at me. I’ve finally made a chocolate & carrots cupcake! This is it, folks! 😀

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you. It definitely rivals the black bean cupcakes in moistness. Plus, the decadent peanut butter frosting on top makes it the perfect balance of naughty and nice! You’ll appreciate the niceness when you read the ingredients!

As an added bonus, the cupcakes aren’t made with any oil or butter. Just substitute apple sauce for that one! 😀 Thanks to Musselman’s natural unsweetened apple sauce, these cupcakes came to life.

Boy, do I wish I could have another bite out of this right about now!

Do yourselves a favor and go make these cupcakes and head down this page to enter to win your very own pack of Musselman’s apple sauce!

Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes

slightly adapted from Yammie’s Noshery

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2/3 cup Musselman’s Natural unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup finely shredded carrot (about two large carrots)

How-To

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
  3. In a bowl, stir the flours, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder together.
  4. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.
  5. Pour into the prepared muffin tin, filling a little more than 3/4 the way full.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Servings: 10 cupcakes

Peanut Butter Frosting

slightly adapted from Jackie Geilhart

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4-1 cup of creamy natural peanut butter (I use skippy)

How-To

  1. With your electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy.
  2. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
  3. Beat until blended completely.
  4. Carefully stir in the peanut butter until just mixed. Don’t over mix.
  5. Pour into a pastry bag or use a knife to decorate the cupcakes!

Giveaway Closed

Winner: Heather who says, “When I was a kid, it was applesauce with loads of cinnamon and a dash of sugar. Now, applesauce is for replacing some or all of the oil in baking recipes!”

Giveaway:

Prizes: 

  • Musselman’s Cinnamon Apple Sauce single-serve cups
  • Musselman’s Natural Apple Sauce multi-serve jar
  • Musselman’s Apple Sauce single-serve cups
  • Special recipe cards

To Enter: 

(Mandatory): Leave a comment on this post telling me how you enjoy your apple sauce or just say hey!

Deadline: May 18, 2012 at 11:59am Eastern Time

 

Extra Entry:

  • Become a follower on twitter (current or new followers)! Leave a separate comment telling me you are a follower.
  • Tweet about this post saying something like:
    I want to win a giveaway from @musselmansapple while I drool over @chocandcarrots cupcakes! http://bit.ly/IxCJKz
    Leave a separate comment telling me that you tweeted.

No purchase necessary to enter. Prizes will only be shipped within the United States. Winner will be selected at random by chocolate & carrots using Random.org. All entries received after the giveaway closing day and time will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If the winners do not reply within 24 hours, another winner(s) will be selected. Giveaways will be mailed to the winners’ address.  This giveaway has been sponsored by Musselman’s. This is a sponsored post.  I received a two packs of Musselman’s natural single-serve cups and one mulit-serve pack as compensation.  All opinions stated are my own.

Related posts:

Gluten-Free Pancakes
Whole Wheat Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Raspberry Pudding for Two {Secret Ingredient}
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82 comments

  1. I love applesauce plain with a little cinnamon! I have made healthy bars with it though and they were pretty good! I need to try this recipe! The cupcakes sure do look delish!!!

    Reply

  3. I love mixing in applesauce and a healthy dose of cinnamon with my oatmeal – apple pie oatmeal!

    Reply

  17. Ooh, they look good! I’ll have to try this version since I think there’s something a little off with mine.

    By the way, I’m now in possession of canned black beans! I went to the only place that seems to sell them in all of Berlin. I got one can for your cupcakes and one can for Miryam’s brownies. Yay! 🙂

    Reply

  23. I eat applesauce at least a few nights every week when I get that late-night dessert craving. I just mix in a little cinnamon and/or PB2 and it not only tastes good but is also a lot healthier than the other options I typically crave.

    Reply

  35. This is so great, Caroline! It’s just the perfect cupcake for your blog and sounds so delicious. I am so happy to hear how moist it is!

    Reply

  37. We loooove applesauce. My mom even makes the homemade variety for Christmas gifts. Mine are long gone.

    Reply

  38. Yayyy! So glad you finally made these! They look amazing. I really enjoy subbing applesauce in baked goods. I like applesauce straight up!

    Reply

  40. I just made some black bean brownies and want to make your black bean cupcakes. I actually loved the black bean brownies, they were awesome so I know I will like your cupcakes. The peanut butter frosting looks superb, and not that bad for you 🙂

    Reply

  46. You are seriously a master of cupcakes – these look awesome. That peanut butter frosting looks incredible 😀 I usually don’t like store bought applesauce(how food snob-y does that sound? hah) but I’m addicted to warm applesauce straight out of the pot with a ton of cinnamon 🙂

    Reply

  47. I don’t know if I’ve ever had apple sauce other than just as apple sauce! This cupcake recipe will definitely change that though!!! YuM!

    Reply

  53. I like a big bowl of applesauce for breakfast, with a little cinnamon, almond extract, and ground flax. Delicious and satisfying!

    Reply

  54. When I was a kid, it was applesauce with loads of cinnamon and a dash of sugar. Now, applesauce is for replacing some or all of the oil in baking recipes!

    Reply

  57. I love unsweetened applesauce mixed with cinnamon. I also like to replace part of the fat in a recipe with applesauce.

    Reply

  58. I know everyones raving about applesauce but I have to say I am excited to try the frosting!!!!!!!

    Reply

  60. I like to mix apple sauce in with frozen raspberries, mangos, bananas and almond milk for a great smoothie!

    Reply

  66. This looks SO yummy. I’m excited to move into a real kitchen so I can make these!
    And I love applesauce… but especially if it’s SUPER cold. It keeps me away from icecream and such. 🙂

    Reply

  79. I made a double batch tonight, added crumbled Reese’s cups on top. Everyone loved them, they were so moist. No one could believe they were made with carrot and applesauce. FYI- my oven cooks hot so mine went in on confection 350 for 18 min. Also, I used my lemon zester to zest the carrots and you couldn’t even tell they were in the batter! The batter isn’t super sweet, but with the sweet icing, it’s the perfect balance!

    Reply

    1. This makes me so happy Jenny! I’m so glad they turned out so wonderful! 😀 Oh, and a double batch was a great idea! Mmm!

      Reply

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