Healthy Hostess Cupcakes!
Hostess cupcakes iced with Hot Chocolate Butter.
Along with yesterday’s Healthy Cookie Dough Dip, I brought these cupcakes to Sunday’s pirate party.
For a while now, I’d been looking for an excuse to try making a healthier version of the popular creme-filled cupcakes. So when I discovered I could stretch the “yo ho/ ho ho” pun and pass these off as pirate-themed, I knew they had to be made. Unlike Hostess’ cupcakes, mine are whole-grain, low in fat and calories, and free of high fructose corn syrup and trans fats.
But seriously, people will eat them up!!
Healthy Hostess Cupcakes
Inspired by My Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup spelt, white, or Bob’s gf flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar or xylitol
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt of choice, such as SoDelicious
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- marshmallow fluff – I use my Vegan Marshmallow Fluff
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet – excluding marshmallow fluff. Don’t overmix. Pour into cupcake tins, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool, then cut or poke holes in the tops and scoop in the cream. Re-cover the tops. (Recipe continues below.)
Frost cupcakes with warmed Hot Chocolate Butter or with melted chocolate chips. Then put the cakes in the fridge for the frosting to harden. Once hard, you can use an icing writer for the tiny squiggles if you wish. Yes, I know the icing isn’t healthy. But it’s only like a 1/8 tsp, so I still feel justified in calling these cupcakes healthy.
An alternative to the creme:
Try stuffing them with Healthy Cookie Dough Dip.
Or, you could imitate some of the people at the party and dunk these cupcakes into the cookie dough dip. Sugar on top of sugar. So much for this being a healthy dessert blog!
Alyssa says
20th September 2011 at 2:11 pmYum! These look delicious and so authentic!
Nikki says
20th September 2011 at 2:15 pmThose are beautiful looking and bring me back a few years!!! My mom and I used to share a pack of them growing up!
Ashley says
20th September 2011 at 2:26 pmOH wow! These are gorgeous:) I’m needing a chocolate fix today, I can feel it, so I might be whipping up a batch of these!
caroline says
20th September 2011 at 2:34 pmthese are so creative! i love it, i will have to try and make them! i have never poked holes in my cupcakes, but i guess i have to try it now! 🙂
Qi Ting @ Misadventures of Fat free Baking says
20th September 2011 at 2:35 pmI want a cupcake!!!!!! These are delicious- looking, as usual!! I must make it! 😀 Soon! 😀
Heather @ Better With Veggies says
20th September 2011 at 2:37 pmHoly chocolate – these look amazing! I think these sound like a great treat to bring to work to share (so I don’t eat the whole batch). 🙂
Melissa says
20th September 2011 at 2:45 pmYo ho ho indeed! Love it!
Liz @ Tip Top Shape says
20th September 2011 at 2:45 pmThese look amazing!!! That picture with the glaze dripping down the side has me seriously craving a cupcake!
Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says
20th September 2011 at 2:46 pmThey look so pretty too!!! …. Yo-ho-ho! 🙂 You’re so smart!!!
Anonymous says
20th September 2011 at 2:50 pmWow! You certainly are the “hostess” with the mostest! (cheesy, I know) But these look absolutely delicious! Do you think you could put your coconut whipped cream in them?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:25 pmYES!!! I actually thought about that… but then I know a lot of crazy people don’t like coconut, so I went with the safer alternative of the marshmallow creme.
Nina says
21st September 2011 at 2:23 amI’m so glad I checked the comments before asking my question. I’m in Australia and have never seen marshmallow creme. I was going to ask about an alternative. So thank you ‘Anon’ and Katie! I can happily make and use whipped coconut cream. 🙂
Oh, and this recipe looks devine. I love that you manage to create healthier versions of even the most wicked of treats.
Thank you Katie!
Liz @ Southern Charm says
20th September 2011 at 2:53 pmUm yes please!! Send them all my way! I swear I won’t eat them all in one sitting … or I’ll try not to!
christie freeman says
20th September 2011 at 2:54 pmOh me, oh my! I know I’ll be making these for my little boy, sometime soon. Whoohoo!
Jenny says
20th September 2011 at 2:57 pmYou can bet I cringed initially at the recipe title. 😛 “Cream?! NOOO!” And then I realized it was marshmallow cream… and all was right in the world again, haha.
Once again, the “visuals” here are stunning! Not only are the photos amazing, but you are getting better and better at food styling and decorating with each passing day…
I’ve never had a Hostess cupcake, but the squiggle on top is so cute. 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:26 pmOh Jenny, never fear. I love being vegan so much… I have no plans to ever change :).
Sweet and Savvy says
20th September 2011 at 2:59 pmOh my… these cupcakes Are my favorite of the packaged dessert variety! Must try this out. 🙂
Michaela says
20th September 2011 at 3:00 pmyes, please, I want one 🙂
Alyssa says
20th September 2011 at 3:10 pmAvast and set sail for the land of Texas, mateys! We be going’ fer the treasure! Nay, not gold, but cream-filled cupcakes. A prize above rubies, me hearties!
What say you? Aye, it be true. Texas be too far and too hot fer the likes of us. (Plus we be too scurrilous and scoundrel-like for the fair Katie!) Change course! Set course fer Kroger, me lads! We’ll be creatin’ our own treasure, aaaaarrgh!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:44 pmOk seriously, funniest comment ever.
I wish I could reply in pirate speak, but I am lousy with the language :(. I wonder if Rosetta Stone could help me there…
Arrrrr! 🙂
Alyssa says
20th September 2011 at 7:34 pmThat would be so great: Rosetta Stone for Pirate-Speak!
Rachel @ The Avid Appetite says
20th September 2011 at 3:16 pmThese look even better than the pre-packed version! I would devour those immediately 🙂
Carrie (Moves 'N Munchies) says
20th September 2011 at 3:29 pmWHHY ARE YOU SO COOL
you are SO CREATIVE! like probably the most creative girl i have ever ‘met’
ONE DAY!
Ali @ Peaches and Football says
20th September 2011 at 3:48 pmThese look awesome! Is there an easy substitute for the yogurt ?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:47 pmWhat kind of substitute do you mean? (In other words, do you want to stay away from the yogurt because it has a particular ingredient you can’t have, like soy or coconut? Or can you just not find nondairy yogurt?)
Ali @ Peaches and Football says
20th September 2011 at 8:09 pmI do not eat soy. I didn’t even know there was a coconut yogurt that didn’t have dairy or soy?
We unfortunately do not have a wide variety of items in the local shop so it’s challenging to find acceptable substitutes. Was wondering if you added the yogurt for the moistness factor or as a thickening agent or for flavor, etc etc…
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 8:31 pmThe SoDelicious ones don’t have any soy :).
But if you can’t find them… I’m really not sure. More applesauce might be an option, but I can’t say I’ve tried it so I can’t guarantee it would work. I *think* it would work, though. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
CouchCricket says
21st September 2011 at 6:30 amI have some alternatives for you:
1) Substiture with vegan sourcream (not sure if it is tofu-free).
2) Add vinegar to equal amount of milk (as yogurt), let it curdle for sometime and then use in the recipe.
3) This is a far-fetched alternative, but anyway: You could order Yogurt Cultures from Amazon and make your own yogurt in your choice of milk 🙂
I would not advise using more applesauce, for it would leave an after-taste not many prefer.
Ali @ Peaches and Football says
21st September 2011 at 11:18 amThanks a bunch for the info you guys! 🙂
GetSkinnyGoVegan says
20th September 2011 at 3:54 pmLove these. Okay, I wouldn’t eat them myself, but LOVE that you can veganize the “classics”.
A place by us had they veganized, and they were a big hit!
[email protected] DiVa DiSh says
20th September 2011 at 3:54 pmto answer your question…I would LOVE a cupcake :-)!!! Your amazing katie!!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk says
20th September 2011 at 4:30 pmOMG! Anything iced and stuffed with Ricemellow Creme is alright by me!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:48 pmHaha I carried two tubs back with me from NYC… because dumb old TX hasn’t gotten its act together yet to sell it!
Brittany @ A Spoonful of Peanut Butter says
20th September 2011 at 4:39 pmyummy- those look like the real thing! 😀
Amber K says
20th September 2011 at 4:49 pmThey look just like the real thing and I bet they taste way better!
Eric Jaffa says
20th September 2011 at 5:04 pmWhat would happen if the cornstarch were left out?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:50 pmThey might not hold together as well… but really, I don’t know. I based this recipe off of my “go-to” chocolate cupcake recipe, and as I say in that post, those are based off of a vanilla recipe from a cookbook. The cookbook author (genius Isa Chandra Moskowitz) called for cornstarch, so I trusted her ;).
katie @KatieDid says
20th September 2011 at 5:11 pmawww these are so cute! You should make healthy twinkies! And zebra cakes. I used to loveee zebra cakes. Do you usually make one sweet version, and one non-sweet version for you to try? Or do you just try the sweet version?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:51 pmOften, I’ll make a whole recipe (dry ingredients) and then divide it into 1/2s or 1/4ths and do different things to each 1/4. For this one, though, I just made them all the same.
Kerryne says
20th September 2011 at 5:13 pmOh man… I immediately got out my notebook to add this to my post competition recipes to try, and I surprised myself with how ferociously I wrote it. My handwriting has never been so big and intense. Need chocolate much? Yes, I think I do! 🙂
Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola says
20th September 2011 at 5:31 pmOh my gosh- these look amazing!! I’ve actually never had a real Hostess cupcake but these look like something I def want to try! And let’s get serious… I ALWAYS want a cupcake! I used to be cupcake obsessed and my friends even bought me a Juicy Couture cupcake necklace for my bday one year!
Hannah says
20th September 2011 at 5:36 pmStunning photography and such a creatively adapted recipe! I’ll bake these as a surprise for my mum, Hostess cupcakes were her childhood favourite.
Do you think that your ‘healthy whipped cream’ recipe would work in place of the Ricemallow as we don’t get it over here?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:52 pmI think it would!! If you try it, let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Cassandra @ She Don't Eat No Meat says
20th September 2011 at 6:10 pmI’ve never had a real Hostess but I’d bet these taste a million times better! They look divine!
J3nn (Jenn's Menu and Lifestyle Blog) says
20th September 2011 at 2:14 pmThey look perfectly “cloned”!! Love the little swirl design on top. Great job! Yummy 😀
Grishma says
20th September 2011 at 6:17 pmHow to talk to pirets..hmm..good question!! Never thought about it but may be sign language will be the best way to talk to..lol 🙂 BTW I will not mind grabbing one of these amazing cupcakes 🙂
[email protected] of Sugar Free says
20th September 2011 at 2:17 pmThey are so adorable!!!!! Katie, the pictures are fabulous! Great job 😀
I remember eating a hoho once when I was little…they made me sick even back then! Blech! So sweet and processed…
Grishma says
20th September 2011 at 6:19 pmlooks like I replied in wrong post about piraets…oops!!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:52 pmHaha no worries… these are pirate cupcakes, so it’s still relevant! 🙂
Maya says
20th September 2011 at 2:26 pmYum! These look amazing. What do you use to poke the holes in them? I always make such a mess doing that! But that means more scraps to taste, so it’s not the end of the world 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:24 pmYou have options :). You can cut holes out with a knife from the top (and then replace the tops after filling), or you can poke a hole with your finger or the bottom of a knife. Or you can even shove a filled pastry bag up the bottom. I know that sounds bad lol!
Melissa says
2nd August 2012 at 11:27 pmI use a frosting gun/tip and put it through the top of the cupcake. The the hole is covered by the frosting top. (And I realize I’m commenting nearly a year later but if it still helps…) 🙂
Anonymous says
20th September 2011 at 6:26 pmYour baked version looks delicious, like all your recipes. Gorgeous pics. I make a good raw version, too, (http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/2008/11/fauxtess-gone-raw.html), but I still would try one of your healthy baked chocolate cream-filled cupcakes.
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:06 amGah! Gorgeous!!! But then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re the same person who made INCREDIBLE raw girl scout cookies. (I still point people to that page all the time!)
shannonmarie (rawdorable) says
20th September 2011 at 6:28 pmYou’re right; this does work with the wrong info. I accidentally left it blank. Too funny. I think you knew it was me 🙂
Mali Korsten @ The Korsten Chronicle says
20th September 2011 at 2:43 pmWow, these look too good! I could fancy a whole batch of them right now!
Lauren @ What Lauren Likes says
20th September 2011 at 2:45 pmWow! What a sweet recipe! They look even better than the hostess cupcakes 🙂
Anonymous says
20th September 2011 at 6:53 pmHi Katie. For some weird reason this is saying that i’m logged in as Katie or something. Huh? Anyway i follow a baking blog that i really love. I stumbled on a post that made me laugh out loud! HILARIOUS! It certainly brightened my day, and i think you would like. Here is the link- hope you enjoy. http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/02/lemon-cornmeal-breakfast-cake/ Please understand i’m not trying to spam you or anything, sorry if it looks that way. Also be assured, i am not related to this person and don’t know her personally. I just wanted to brighten your day 🙂
Sarah
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:09 amThanks for sharing, Sarah. Her photography is spectacular!
Sarah says
22nd September 2011 at 4:10 pmisn’t it? But, you’re photography is just as gorgeous as hers, no i am not a flatterer 🙂 it’s just the truth
bitt of raw says
20th September 2011 at 7:09 pmmmmm fauxtess! that’s what the vegan bakery around here calls them. i’ve had one or two. sadly one did NOT have filling. no skimping on filling, ok bakers?
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:10 amYes!! That’s the most important part! (Maybe they ate it all as they stuffed, and that’s why not enough ended up in the cupcakes? I had that problem with a cake I was trying to make today… I kept eating the filling. Oops.)
Emma (Sweet Tooth Runner) says
20th September 2011 at 3:18 pmSo PRETTY!! I want to eat my screen mmm 🙂 Your photography is so so amazing!!! And since your offering, I definitely take the cupcake!! But I might have to save it for later because I may or may not have just had four slices of your cake… 😛
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:45 pmOoh I just had two. You beat me. Better go have two more…
Abhijit says
20th September 2011 at 7:44 pmHi Katie, these look delicious! Thanks for posting.
Which brand of icing writer have you used? Or if you made your own, can you share the recipe. I have a hard time finding vegan icing writer. Thanks.
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:12 amI actually used Betty Crocker! As I said, it’s not exactly healthy, but it’s just a small amount. And it is vegan :).
Ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, water, cornstarch, salt, carrageenan, titanium dioxide, sodium benzoate, citric acid
Nicole @ Giraffelegs says
20th September 2011 at 7:47 pmignoring a lecture because I can’t stop staring at these..bravo champ
Katelyn @ Chef Katelyn says
20th September 2011 at 4:08 pmHoly fudgemonkies girlfriend!!!!! Send me some please in a college care package?! <3
Holly @ The Runny Egg says
20th September 2011 at 4:17 pmI love the authentic Ho-Ho swirls on top 🙂 But shouldn’t there be frosting in the middle of the cupcake too?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
20th September 2011 at 6:47 pmThere’s marshmallow fluff inside! Even better than frosting! 🙂
Holly @ The Runny Egg says
20th September 2011 at 6:52 pmOk I totally missed that part — and I even read the title thinking “where is the cream?” DUH 🙂
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:05 amI dropped the ball on this. I need to do another post showing the cream filling photos! Where is my head???
Anna @ The Guiltless Life says
20th September 2011 at 4:54 pmYou must be everyone’s favourite party guest! I might try these with brown rice syrup or agave nectar. Thanks!
kryata says
20th September 2011 at 9:38 pmKrysta
Krysta says
20th September 2011 at 9:41 pmIs the ricemellow. Soy, dairy and egg free. If so where do u get it? My sons alergic to so manythings and imalways trying to find stuf for him.
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 12:17 amIt’s called “Suzanne’s Ricemellow Cream” and you can find it often at little health food stores. I found it at a hfs in New York. You can also do a google search and buy it online. It IS vegan, but it has soy.
Anonymous says
21st September 2011 at 12:56 amThats what i thought. Do you no if there is any soy egg dairy free alternitaive to use?
CCK says
21st September 2011 at 1:53 amMaybe try coconut cool whip? https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/08/16/vegan-cool-whip/
Aja says
20th September 2011 at 9:57 pmOh my yum indeed!
[email protected] says
20th September 2011 at 6:21 pmThey’re so cute!! Gosh I need to get into baking again. I bet I could get one of my roommates to taste test. Or I could bring my leftovers to the boyfriend’s apartment!
Albizia says
20th September 2011 at 10:49 pmToo good to be true! Me wantz! 🙂
Abby @ Abz 'n' Oats says
20th September 2011 at 10:50 pmYum! 🙂 Marshmallow fluff filling sounds SO good!
Mary @ Bites and Bliss says
20th September 2011 at 7:04 pmI made these for my birthday one year!! So much fun!
Kalie says
20th September 2011 at 7:25 pmYUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Moni'sMeals says
20th September 2011 at 7:25 pmI love this idea here Katie. We all love Hostess Cupcakes, But certainly not the ingredients.
I think we all secretly love these cupcakes because of the pretty white swirls and the magic in the middle. 🙂 I love that you have captured that. RFD in LA makes a great vegan one too.
I hope to give these a try soon!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
20th September 2011 at 8:05 pmKatie these look sooo good! And they are perfect! The swirls on top look like you are giving Hostess a run for their money! I admit that cake decorating is not something I excel at…it all just turns into a messy art project 🙂
I love that you filled them with creme/fluff…totally authentic.
I am sure I’ll be seeing these pics on the foodie sites later today 🙂
Katie @Nutrition In A Peanut Shell says
20th September 2011 at 8:44 pmI used to eat these things all the time after gymnastics. Definitely bookmarking this for this weekend. Like the Yo Ho Ho thing you did there. Very punny 🙂
Alexa @ Simple Eats says
20th September 2011 at 8:51 pmThese bring me back to childhood. So pretty!
Happy When Not Hungry says
21st September 2011 at 1:46 amThese look like the real deal, but so much healthier! Def have to try. Yum!