When my friend Charlie requested green tea cupcakes as his birthday treat, I was a little unsure of how they would turn out. I don’t really drink green tea. I’ve never made anything with green tea. The only reference I had in my brain was a sample of green tea fro yo. In true Ari fashion, I found a recipe to use for reference, then just did my own thing 🙂
Green Tea Mini Cupcakes
yield 20 mini cupcakes
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp matcha powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 3 tbs organic raw cane sugar
- 1 1/2 tbs Splenda
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain non fat Greek yogurt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line 20 mini muffin tins and spray insides of liners (lower fat cupcakes tend to stick to the liner if you don’t).
- Combine flour, matcha powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, sugar, Splenda, egg white, and vanilla.
- Add wet ingredients into dry, then add yogurt. Mix until just incorporated.
- Fill each lined muffin tin about 2/3 and bake for 10-14 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool completely and top with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
yield frosting for 20 mini cupcakes (it really ended up being the PERFECT amount!)
- 4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbs light whipped butter, softened
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp coconut extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
- Beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy.
- Add extracts.
- Add powdered sugar (you can use more or less depending on your sweetness preference).
- Top cooled cupcakes.
- Optional: If desired, top with sweetened flaked coconut.
I ended up being sooooo happy with the results! I would seriously make these cupcakes over and over again! The texture was perfect, and the flavor combination between the coconut and the green tea (something I kind of went for on a whim hoping it would work) was perfectly balanced!