Almond Cupcakes with Orange Glaze

How about a tasty somewhat naughty festive treat? I was making cupcakes for a potluck that my yoga teacher training group decided to put on. I made these vegan friendly and oh my, they were tasty! The recipe below is the healthier way I would make them but I will include the recipe variation to make them vegan friendly too. They were originally going to be gluten free and vegan friendly but that challenge is going to be saved for another day. These were so tasty even my meatatarien husband has been enjoying them. For those who are curious I’m an omnomnomivore. Food is tasty.

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 12 tbl low fat cooking margarine
• 1 1/2 cup splenda
• 10 tbl egg substitute (like egg beaters)
• 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened original
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbl orange zest, grated fine
• Juice of 1 orange (usually about 2 ounces)
• 2 1/2 cup icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a bowl cream together the margarine, egg, almond extract and splenda.
3. In another bowl combine the baking powder and flour. (yes, sometimes I’m lazy and skip this step too…it’s o.k.)
4. Slowly alternate between adding the flour and the almond milk while beating the creamed mixture on low. Continue until all combined.
5. Spoon batter into cup pan and bake for 20 minutes. You can tell they are done when they spring back when you touch them and are golden.
6. While the cupcakes bake, combine the zest and icing sugar in a bowl.
7. Slowly add the orange juice to the sugar mixture while beating on low. Once it is all combined at the desired consistency (you do not have to use all of the juice) beat for 2 minutes on high. Chill the glaze for 1 hour.
8. Glaze the cupcakes when they have cooled.

Makes 16 cupcakes, each cupcake with glaze contains approximately 176 calories, 2.4 grams fat, 39 grams carbs, .9 gram fiber, and 2.2 grams protein.

To make this vegan friendly I used powdered egg substitute ( a local brand from the health store), vegan butter (earth balance buttery spread), and brown sugar instead of splenda. The nutritional info for this version is much higher of course. To make the cupcakes you just add the extra step before you cream of adding the required amount of water to the powdered egg substitute and stir. Other than that it is straight forward and the baking time is the same.