Lately, there have been a lot of baked goods coming out of our kitchen. We have made dozens of cookies and cakes for the holidays and parties. My family always gets frustrated with me because usually when I bake the items are generally sent away immediately.
This past weekend, my husband begged me for something sweet. Since we are all trying to watch our diet, I wanted to make something for them to enjoy, but not chock full of calories.
After polling what everyone wanted, we decided on some cupcakes. In an effort to make them lighter than usual, I used Born Sweet® Zing™ Baking Blend which is made with stevia leaf extract and pure cane sugar and has only 5 calories per serving! Zing™ Stevia Sweetener products are made with only real ingredients—nothing artificial and they bake and brown like regular sugar!
The end result was a delicious vanilla cupcake studded with chopped pistachios and fresh pomegranates. We frosted the cupcakes with a light cream cheese frosting that I found on the Zing™ website and added more pistachios and pomegranate seeds. The cupcakes were beautiful and delicious! They would make a beautiful addition to your holiday table this season!
- 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
- ¾ cup Zing™ Baking Blend
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or regular vanilla
- 2 whole eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk or light greek yogurt , room temperature
- ½ cup chopped roasted pistachios
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- Frosting:
- 8 oz . Neufchatel cheese , room temperature
- ¼ cup Zing™ Baking Blend
- 2 tablespoons fat-free , plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure all your ingredients are room temperature.
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In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and soda and mix.
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In your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend butter, Zing Baking Blend and vanilla at medium speed until pale and fluffy.
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Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.
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Reduce speed to low and add a cup of flour followed by ⅓ of the buttermilk or yogurt.
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Repeat this 3 times, until you have incorporated all the flour and buttermilk(or yogurt).
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Fold in chopped pistachios and pomegranates.
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Fill cups with cupcake batter ⅔ full and gently tap on counter to remove air bubbles.
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Bake cupcakes for 15-17 minutes or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
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Allow to cool completely before frosting.
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To make the frosting:
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Beat all ingredients until fully combined.
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Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and sprinkle with chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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