healthier mini vanilla cupcakes

I have been looking around for a while for a vanilla cupcake recipe. I have looked on tons of cookbooks, blogs and other places for ideas and finally end up on my own blog!! Not bad I guess.

I got the recipe from my strawberry cupcakes, which I made a while back, and they worked fabulously, they were actually awesome!! Just a few changes and voila!!

I made them for my son’s 6 birthday party and tried them there. I also made another batch for us to keep they were so good. After much looking this will be my go to vanilla cupcake recipe from now own.

You can opt for making regular size cupcakes and you will probably get around 18-20 cupcakes.

You can also see some sprinkles on the mini cupcakes. If you want to make your own home made sprinkles I suggest you visit the link. They are really easy to put together and you can make any color you want.

The major reason I make my own sprinkles is because I hate the waxy taste regular sprinkles have, plus lets not forget they are made with trans fats (hydrogenated fats).

These mini cupcakes are great for birthdays, gatherings, giveaways etc. I love that they are little bite size. No need to eat an entire big one if you just want a taste right?

Enjoy!!


Here you can see the mini cupcakes right before being baked and right after, 10-12 minutes is what you actually need to bake these.

…and here you have them, right before being decorated with the frosting. At this stage you can actually freeze these for future use :-)


These are darling. You  can decorate them how ever you like and if you want you can also make them on regular size cupcakes. You will probably get between 18-20 cupcakes.

Here you can see the sprinkles. Like I said before, if you want home made sprinkles visit the link. They are really easy to make.

One tip I want to share with you is, after the cupcakes have cooled down completely you can actually freeze these for future use. I have done that in the past. When ready to use, just thaw them out and decorate as desire. They are as good as recently baked!!


Aren’t these darling? I really didn’t get to creative, but the sky is the limit!!

Here you can see the cupcakes in the container I used to transport them. I made some for my son’s birthday party and some for a friends gathering. These containers work really well and they were only $1.50 each. I also reuse them until they brake :-)

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healthier mini vanilla cupcakes

Yield: 54 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unrefined sugar, if frosting 1/2 cup will be sufficient, I actually use 1/3 cup
1 1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking soda
1 organic egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup almond milk, I use soy milk
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

Frosting

8 tablespoons butter
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cup - 4 cups confectioner's sugar

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line mini cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a bowl, with a wire whisk, beat egg, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and sugar. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners 3/4 of the way. (I use a small cookie scoop).
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove immediately from the pan after baking and let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, mix all of the ingredients ( I normally use a hand mixer when doing this) and frost cupcakes. Use whichever pattern you like!

Tip: After the cupcakes have cooled down completely you can actually freeze these for future use. I have done that in the past. When ready to use, just thaw them out and decorated as desire. They are as good as recently baked!!

 Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 54 mini cupcakes. 
Left nutrition facts label is using frosting, right nutrition facts label is not using frosting.

42 comments

  1. These are perfect Miryam! On my must-try list. Mmm!

    Caroline
    chocolate&carrots

  2. excellent job. gorgeous photos. and only 1/4 cup of oil, looks healthy to me. :)

  3. this looks wonderfully tasty ..yumm
    new to your space..
    lovely space you have
    happy following you..:)
    do stop by mine sometime
    Tasty Appetite

  4. These are super cute! I wish I could get those nice plastic cupcake carriers. Mini whatever are always dangerous for me because I think I can eat more of whatever it is, and then I eat almost all of them. Disaster!

    Your son is so lucky! I bet all his friends are jealous. :)

  5. Texanerin, you are too kind. You are right about the mini thing :-) although I am pretty good about it…..or so I think :-)

  6. These look amazing! I haven’t seen vanilla cupcakes with all whole wheat flour. Do they taste about the same as ones made with white/cake flour?

    I’m heading over to check out how to make homemade sprinkles!

  7. Bake-a-holic,

    I think they taste even better, but then again, I am use to the whole grain texture and all, not that it is bad or worse. I just think there is not much difference from the cake/all purpose flour versions out there.

    Give it a go, I really recommend them!!

    Thanks for visiting my blog :-) and I hope you keep coming back!!

  8. Does this recipie work for cake pops? My boyfriends birthday is coming up and I’m trying to decide if I wanna make him cake pops or cupcakes. Lol

    • Taylor,
      I would think it does because it is a very cakie batter sort of recipe. Having said that, I have never made cake pops so I could not guarantee 100% perfect results, maybe 80% ;-) Thanks for visiting!

  9. Alright, thanks! I’m going to try it(his birthday is April 11th) I’ll let you know how it turns out:)

  10. Would this recipe work if you used almond milk instread of cows or soy milk?

  11. I made them they turned out 100% PERFECT ……THanksssssssssssssss a lot …super receipe :)

  12. What did you use to dye your green frosting? The color is gorgeous and exactly what I’m looking for.

    • I actually used back then when making this recipe. I don’t use it anymore though. It was the regular light green food coloring from Ateco. I think it was avocado or lime green or something like that :-)

  13. These are so sweet, I never knew you could make your own sprinkles!
    I was just wondering if you had an ‘as healthy’ substitute for whole wheat flour? I can not find it anywhere in Australia! Unless its the same thing as whole meal, just named differently :S
    Any suggestions would be awesome as so many reciepes on pinterest call for it.
    Thanks :)

  14. Could I use regular whole wheat flour instead of the pastry flour?
    If I could, would I need to change the quantity of the ingredients? How long would you bake the cupcakes for if using standard size?

    Thank you

    • The regular WWF will make the cupcakes more dried so I would suggest adding like 2 tbsp less or something. I would increase the baking time at least 7 extra minutes. Just keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn :-) I hope this helps!! Thanks for visiting my blog.

  15. Hello again. Have you ever powdered Sucranat for icing? Never tried it myself but often thought about putting some in my food processor to see if I get a texture similar to powered sugar.

  16. Hi. I just made these as full size cupcakes and they did not turn out flat on the top like yours. What can I do next time to get a flat surface for decorating? Thanks!

    • Oh well, mine were just a bit puffed up, not too much but just a tad. I really don’t know the answer to the question. The cupcakes on the mini muffins paper molds turn out like that so I don’t think by using bigger ones it would have been a factor on them rising more. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Thanks for visiting my blog.

  17. Hi – I am going to try your vanilla cupcake recipe for my daughter’s birthday party this Sunday. I was wondering is it too early to bake them tomorrow or should I wait. Thank you!!! I can’t wait to try these

    • You could totally freeze these but since it is only two days from the bday party I don’t think it is even worth it. I would suggest you bake them a day before, unless you want to freeze them. Thanks for stopping by.

  18. Miryam – thank you! I am starting my first batch for a party tomorrow. So excited!

  19. Pretty tasty love the wheat pastry flour aroma! These were very dry i like to avoid frostings. So when i added frosting they were better. . I love this idea. Maybe i’ll add a little applesauce next time thank you

  20. Hi, I just discovered your blog while looking for a healthier cupcake recipe. I don’t know anything about baking, so I gave it a try today. I couldn’t find the pastry flour, used (king arthur) all purpose flour. Is regular whole wheat flour a better idea? They also tasted quite a bit like olive oil, could I use coconut oil instead? Thank you so much!

  21. Hi, Love this recipe but how many calories is each mini cupcake with and without frosting.

  22. I made these today- came across the recipe on a search for healthy kids cupcakes. They turned out beautifully! Really delicious and so easy to make. My two and a half year old helped me and the batter was made in no time. I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour so used regular pastry flour. They pop out of the paper liners so well.
    I’m going to try your other recipes too- can’t wait!

  23. Hey Miryam!  I need to make a funfetti cake and was thinking of using your recipe and adding sprinkles to the batter.  I will probably have more all-purpose than whole wheat.  Do you have any suggestions?  A lot of the recipes I came across uses softened butter which I’m trying to avoid. Thanks in advance!

    • Yes you can use all-purpose if you like. As for the butter, I normally use coconut oil or olive oil. If you use coconut oil just have the coconut oil at room temperature, soft, but not melted which will behave like softened butter. I hope this helps a little!

  24. Where did you buy the mini cupcake plastic container?

  25. These are amazing!!!! I made them for my brothers bday and all his friends loved them. Perfect for all ages!!!!! :)

  26. Awesome how.did u make them they look delicious and they are healthy great job!!

  27. Can I use all purpose flour or cake flour in place of the whole wheat pastry flour? 

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