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You are here: Home / Food / Before the Whole Foods Switch / Deceptively Delicious – Chocolate Cupcakes

by Stacy  Leave a Comment

Deceptively Delicious – Chocolate Cupcakes

Your kids love chocolate, right? I’m sure there are kids out there who don’t like chocolate, but we can just classify them as being aliens from Mars. This recipe from Deceptively Delicious was originally for a chocolate cake, but I changed it into cupcakes……I like to keep people guessing.  It’s for chocolate cake – with BEETS! Yeah, you heard me. Beets. I hate beets. ICK! ACK! BLAH! I guess I need to be deceived into eating them, but I’m just here to tell you right now that I am not going to turn down a chocolate cupcake. Your kids won’t either. However, I think I’d leave out the fact that there are beets in them.  I tried to ignore the fact while I was eating them. Verdict? They’re very moist and you really cannot tell the beets are there. A healthy cupcake?! YES! Thank you Lord, we know you love us!

Needed – flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs, oil, beets, and buttermilk. Seems pretty simple…..except for that can of beets staring at us. I felt weird even getting them at the store, sorta like I was lying to the cashier. I’m a hypocritical beet buyer!

This was originally for a 9 inch square baking pan, but I wanted to make cupcakes. I knew that a 9 inch pan would yield about 12 cupcakes. I only know that from several years of baking, so don’t count me as a genius or anything. On second hand, do. I’m a genius. Line your cupcake pan with cupcake cups because kids love them…..or something like that.

In  a large mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar and the oil. My brown sugar was a little lumpy, but that’s okay….it all came out good in the end. And they all lived happily ever after.

You’re going to use two egg whites and 1 whole egg for this recipe. At this point, add them one at a time, beating well after each addition. I like separating the egg yolk from the white…okay, so not really. I hate getting egg all over my hands. It just feels icky. But I do it. Why? Because I love cupcakes, that’s why.

I needed ½ cup pureed beets for this recipe, so I just eye balled it and stuck some down in my mini chopper and pureed them. I tried to not smell them……I failed. Ew.

Hello vanilla! Sorry I forgot you in the picture and the list of ingredients. I’m a doofus. To the sugar mixture you want to add vanilla, cocoa powder, beet puree, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Time to add the flour, baking soda, and salt! Beat it really well until it’s smooth. You could do it by hand, but why do that if you have a lovely hand mixer? I use mine a lot. Annie likes hearing it on. I guess she heard it from the womb.

Break out your cookie scoop. It gets the cups filled nicely without too much of a mess. Notice I said, too much. I’m messy. It’s a fact of life.

Fill up your 12 cups and pop them into the oven at 350 degrees. I think mine baked around 23 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

See how pretty? Take them immediately out of the pan to cool on a wire rack. Do not ice them until they’re cool…..it will make your icing runny.

In a bowl, you want to beat all your icing ingredients together: cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. I left the cocoa powder out because I wanted white icing. Why? You’ll see. Beat until it’s nice and smooth with no lumps. Lumps scare kids.

Ice all your cupcakes however you want. I like making a little design on top…..but I’m sorta weird about decorating my food.

See why I wanted white? Cute!

Annie went hog wild over these. She kept seeing them on the counter in the box and saying, “More. More. More.” I think that’s probably a good review, don’t you think?

Chocolate Cupcakes by Deceptively Delicious

Batter:

  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil, or trans-fat-free soft tub of margarine spread
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg whites
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup beet puree
  • 1/2 cup lowfat (1%) buttermilk
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1 (8-ounce/250g) package reduced-fat cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup confectioners/icing sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.
  3. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar with the oil or margarine until creamy.
  4. Add the whole egg and egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Beat in the melted chocolate, beet puree, buttermilk and vanilla. It will be very runny at this stage.
  6. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and beat until smooth.
  7. Pour the batter into the cups and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 20-23 minutes.
  8. Remove cupcakes immediately from pan to cool on wire rack.
  9. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese with the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth.
  10. Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the frosting over the top and between layers of the cooled cake.
  11. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

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About Stacy

Stacy is a Homemaking and Business Mom Mentor, the author of two cookbooks, creator of multiple e-courses, seasoned life coach, and comedian extraordinaire. Her first priority is her husband and her children - family first. She presses on each day because her calling is to teach, train, and mentor other ladies to have their dreams. She believes if it’s not easy, you won’t do it – because she’s lived it. She’ll bring YOU the awesome so that you can get your home back into control and watch your business soar. For tips and easy strategies, you can follow her on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the content above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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