Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

Makes 40 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 2 medium red beets (to make 3/4 cup of beet puree)
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ package (120 g) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 cup lentil purée (1½ cups cooked green lentils puréed with 2-3 tbsp water)

Icing

  • ½ package (120 g) cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • ¼ cup icing sugar
  • ¼ cup dark maple syrup

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash beets and trim off ends. Bake whole beets on a foil-lined baking sheet until tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 – 40 minutes. Note: Preparing the beets ahead of time will speed things up.
  2. Once beets are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into large chunks. Place into food processor or blender and purée until smooth.
  3. Add butter and cream cheese to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and mix until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.
  5. Slowly add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture. Mix on low speed just until combined, or mix by hand.
  6. Gently fold puréed lentils and puréed beets into mixture.
  7. Pour batter into paper-lined mini muffin cups, filling each about ⅔ full. Bake until toothpick inserted in centres comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
  8. Meanwhile, to prepare icing, whisk together cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and maple syrup in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Top cooled cupcakes with icing.
  9. Serve and Enjoy!

Nutritional analysis per serving: 99 calories, 5 g fat, 3 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate (10 g available carbohydrate), 1 g fibre, 110 mg sodium

My Viva Servings: 1 grain, 1 fat