We challenged nutritionist Tricia Williams to healthy-up the king of packaged cupcakes

At first glance, you might be fooled: These cupcakes look exactly like the real deal. But a bite into the denser, less-springy cake makes it obvious that they aren’t the packaged originals–though mostly in a good way. The dark chocolate and coconut combination is tasty, since the coconut is subtle. (Actually, the flavor reminded us a little of Mounds bars.) Like Tricia said, the quinoa’s earthiness showed up in the slight aftertaste. There wasn’t as much creamy filling, but that was ok. Our only complaint was that the “ganache” frosting on top hardened like a candy bar after being refrigerated. All in all, you definitely feel like you’re eating a cupcake, so it’s a great substitute. —Danielle Walsh

“Hostess” Cupcakes Recipe

by Tricia Williams and Elisabeth Nelson

Makes 24 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
1/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup cocoa powder
8 oz. 70% dark chocolate
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 Tbsp. flax meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract

FILLING
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. chia seeds

TOPPING
12 oz. dark (70%) chocolate
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. coconut nectar
2 oz. white chocolate

PREPARATION

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring coconut oil and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan; remove from heat. Whisk in cocoa powder, chocolate, and maple syrup. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together quinoa flour, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together chocolate mixture, egg yolks, applesauce, and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture to dry ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff but not dry. Gently fold egg whites into cake batter. Spoon batter into nonstick (preferably silicone) muffin pans, filling cups about halfway. Bake for 15 minutes.

For the filling:
Process coconut butter, brown rice syrup, vanilla, chia seeds, and 2 Tbsp. water in a blender to combine. Chill mixture in the refrigerator while cupcakes cool.

For the topping:
Heat chocolate, coconut oil, and coconut nectar in a double boiler and stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool. Separately, melt white chocolate and transfer to a fine-tipped piping bag.

Using a serrated knife, slice tops off cupcakes so tops are flat. Using a small round cutter, remove about 1″ from bottom center of each cupcake. Save a 1/4″-thick disk from bottom of each piece removed; discard the rest. Scoop or pipe 1 Tbsp. filling into each cupcake and cover with reserved disk.

Spread about 2 Tbsp. topping onto top of each filled cupcake (do not cover sides). Chill cupcakes in refrigerator until chocolate is solidified. Decorate cupcakes with melted white chocolate.

Note: This recipe has not been tested by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen.

Tricia Williams is a culinary nutritionist based in New York City. Her business, Food Matters, is a food delivery service that creates diets to combat health issues. Coconut oil, which it gives it a chewiness without it getting too firm. Finally, the little squiggles were just a tiny bit of white chocolate–probably the unhealthiest part of the cupcake.”

https://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/junk-food-makeover-2

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