Yesterday I felt like a treat. My husband is on this perpetual diet as of late well since January. He insists that I cook what I want even though he is not afraid to opt out and make himself something else. I try to avoid him doing his own thing at all cost. So as a compromise I try to healthy up a bit whatever I feel like cooking. Sometimes it means skipping things altogether, sometimes it just means I make some interesting substitutions. In this case I took out eggs and oil, dropped down the quantity and added applesauce to replace moisture.
The only good thing in my mind about my husbands weight loss and fitness kick is he has broadened his horizons some with what he will eat. Dessert has been almost entirely cut out but fruit and veg have definitely been on the rise. I can't hate on that!
When I was a kid I had a friend whose mom was really tough but really awesome in the kitchen. She scared me and I loved her at the same time. I do love to eat. My own mom was poor and with poor cooking skills which usually didn't end up too promising for me. So one time my friend's mom made us a treat when I was over at their house it was very memorable so much so that I will never forget- Zebra Brownies. I didn't know what the heck was in them but ooo they sure did taste good. Yes they were black and white but I don't remember any crazy awesome design just taste. This is want inspired me.
I browsed the brownies recipes on food.com which is my go to and they had two Zebra brownie recipes neither very healthy (I mean at all) and several suprise cupcakes (these didn't seem quite right either). In an attempt to be able to say at least that I was thinking of him I made up my own recipe of sorts. Hahaha. So here it is:
Zebra Cupcakes
Ingredients
1/2 packet of yellow cake mix
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup slightly overflowing:) chocolate chips
1 egg
2 single serve servings of apple sauce
......
1 package of cream cheese (light)
1/4 cup of sugar
1 large splash of vanilla
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the first five ingredients well. Scoop into cupcake liners (already in pan). Do not over fill at this point you should have quite a bit left at this point. In separate bowl mix last 3 ingredients (I could have eaten all of this part before cooking). Divide this mixture into the 12 cupcakes. Put remaining dark mix onto of white. I wasn't careful about this step because I was planning on frosting but in hindsight I might have tried to cover more evenly. Cook for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven let cool. Enjoy!
Why only a half of the mix you say. Well I only have one cupcake tin which makes 12 not 24. Also, I didn't want there to be so many that if I ended up eating them all I would gain the weight he has been losing. Who cares those things always have coupons and go on sale right?
I had thought that I would frost some with cream cheese flavored frosting but it proved unnecessary and I know my hubby would have avoided those ones for sure!
What would I change if I made them again? More chocolate chips. They really stuck to the cupcake liners so maybe a tiny less applesauce or replace one serving of applesauce with another egg. Not too sure. I don't care to much I would eat a million of them as is:p but that is just me. I think there was more than enough "white" part to make many more cupcakes but frankly that is my favorite part so I didn't mind. I read that you can replace cream cheese with "creamed" cottage cheese. I might try that too I'd have to compare calories and see if it was really worth it!
If anyone makes improvements on this let me know. I would definitely eat them again!
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