Enjoy a naturally sweet treat in these chocolate cupcakes with honey cream cheese frosting.
This recipe was born out of a craving for brownies. A few weeks ago in anticipation of a trip to Legoland, I baked my traditional Cocoa Brownies using maple syrup for the sugar. I figured the texture would be the same, but the flavor would be changed.
Boy was I surprised! There was no noticeable maple flavor, but the texture was definitely different. I baked it into a 9×13-inch pan and it tasted very much like a rich, dense cake. A friend and I agreed that it was similar to the taste of a Ding Dong, only good. We also thought it might be good with some frosting.
My Easy Chocolate Buttercream was out of the question since it has loads of powdered sugar, so it was a choice between Whipped Cream or cream cheese. I went for the cream cheese and I’m so glad I did!
We’ve had these cakes multiple times now. There are never leftovers and the kids have no complaints.
Keep in mind that these are not overly sweet. They have great chocolate flavor, though. The cream cheese frosting adds a bit of extra sweetness and moisture. Love them!
Maple-Sweetened Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 4 egg
- 1 cup neutral oil
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup honey
Instructions
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients and beat until well combined, about a minute or two.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cups. Mine were pretty full. Alternatively, you can bake this in a 9x13-inch pan.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- Cool the cakes on a wire rack. You can freeze the cakes at this point in a ziptop freezer bag. Thaw on the counter before proceeding with the next step.
- Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese and honey. Frost the cooled cakes with the cream cheese frosting.
Janet says
I am curious why you use maple syrup and honey but not granulated sugar. As a diabetic my husband counts carbs and the difference between the three is not much. All his diabetic counseling says to treat all three as sugars.
Jessica Fisher says
We’ve been on a sugar fast for the past six weeks, so even though these natural sweeteners may still be “sugars” in one sense, we’ve been avoiding cane sugar and other processed sweeteners. If you use granulated sugar in the cake recipe, they will have a brownie-like texture.
Sandi says
That sounds fun to try. Pure maple syrup is so much more expensive than even the raw sugar, I don’t think I would use this on a regular basis due to budgetary constraints, but it would be a fun “science experiment” to see the difference.
Jessica Fisher says
It is, though I found a screaming deal on it at Costco and stocked up. These cakes have literally been our only sweet baked good for this tale end of the sugar fast because it’s not “cheap”. But, it’s also a natural control because we won’t overdo.
Jennifer Hoffman says
I wish my husband liked chocolate!! May have to make a half batch for me and the kiddo 😉
Jill says
Hi, what oil do you use? Would it work ok with olive, avocado or coconut oil?
Jessica Fisher says
I usually use avocado oil in baking.