Love cupcakes but hate the cost of calories? Bakers and food bloggers are coming up with creative ways to craft healthier versions of our favorite desserts (including cupcakes) so we won’t feel as guilty about indulging in sweet treats. Check out our list of skinny summertime cupcakes and enjoy!
1. Pineapple Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting: Don’t let the title turn you off; these pineapple zucchini cupcakes are super tasty. What’s not to love about a cupcake made with whole-wheat flour, fruit, veggies and dairy? Click here to see the recipe.
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2. Skinny Coconut Cupcake: Using light coconut milk and applesauce as skinny swaps for oil and butter, and mixing a combination of sweetened coconut flakes with a light cream cheese frosting, and you’ve got yourself a glorious, skinny coconut cupcake. Check out the recipe here.
3. Super Moist Low-Fat Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze: How’s that for a mouthwatering cupcake name? Chocolate addicts are going to obsess over this recipe. Click here to see the recipe.
4. Sweet Light Angel Food Cupcakes: Angel food cake pairs perfectly with light whipped cream and fresh fruit. It’s light and simple flavor can be appreciated by a wide range of eaters, including kids who love sweet strawberries. Check it out!
5. Skinny Red Velvet Cupcake: Anyone who loves red velvet will fall in love with our red velvet cupcake recipe! These are great to serve after dinner or special gatherings with friends and family. Click here to check out our recipe!
6. Skinny Strawberry Soda Cupcakes: These skinny strawberry soda cupcakes are made with only two ingredients and are topped with a melt-in-your-mouth lemon cream cheese frosting. Click here to see!
7. Skinny Cookies n’ Cream Cupcakes Recipe: Devil’s Food Cake mix and one can of Diet Coke make the cake, Fat Free Cool Whipยฎ and a package of Oreo Cookies and Cream Jell-Oยฎ Instant Pudding and Pie Filling make the frosting. Super simple, super satisfying. Click here for the recipe!
8. Skinny Purple Velvet Cupcakes. Similar to our red velvet cupcake recipe, these delectable desserts are only 134 calories and resonate a Cheshire-cat-colored purple hue. What’s not to love about a dessert that’s just as pretty as it tastes? Click here to see the recipe!
9. Skinny Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes: Zucchini is a sneaky staple that can be integrated into many recipes. It can even be used as a main ingredient for cupcakes without a noticeable flavor presentation. These cupcakes are great to make in the summer when zucchinis are in season. Click here to see.
10. Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Vanilla Yogurt Frosting: Seems almost too good to be true, right? These flavorful and light lemon cupcakes are piled high with a creamy pink vanilla frosting and are only 160 calories. Top with some fresh raspberries and enjoy! Click here to get the recipe.
11. Skinny Black Bean Brownie Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Coconut Mousse: Similar to the zucchini recipe, don’t let this non-traditional cupcake recipe throw you off just from looking at the title. Black beans are a sneaky and healthy ingredient for many desserts, and it pairs surprisingly well with chocolate. Try it out!
12. Skinny Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes: Skinny, low-fat poke cupcake made of low-fat chocolate cake soaked in sugar-free, fat-free pudding and topped with fat-free Cool Whip. Chocolate lovers beware: This recipe is addicting! Click here to see.
13. Skinny Chocolate Cupcakes: This recipe is great if you want to make something simple, skinny and sweet. Using only two ingredients but with a delicious and satisfying flavor, make these chocolate cupcakes and you’re good to go! Click here to see.
14. Funfetti Cupcakes with Cake Batter Marshmallow Frosting: If your mouth is watering by just looking at the title, you won’t believe that they are only 87 calories each! This recipe received awesome reviews, and is waiting for you to try them! Click here to see!
15. Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes: Anything that involves chocolate and peanut butter with “skinny” in the title will have the common chocolate-lover sold. These cupcakes are lightened up by using Greek yogurt, whole-wheat flour, bananas, cocoa powder and a little peanut butter swirl to finish. Click here to see.
16. Strawberry Poke Cupcakes: White cake, Spite Zero, sugar-free strawberry Jell-Oยฎ, fat-free Cool Whipยฎ and strawberries are all you need to make this fun and fruity dessert. You won’t believe that they’re skinny! Click here to check it out!
17. Skinny Piรฑa Colada Cupcakes: Everything you love about piรฑa coladas in the form of a skinny cupcake makes for a sweet, summertime treat. We’ve got a delicious recipe, so check it out! Click here!
18. Greek Yogurt Funfetti Cupcakes: These fun and sweet cupcakes use Greek yogurt as a dairy modification and reduced amounts of required ingredients. No guilt in eating more than one with these little guys. Click here to get the recipe.
19. Skinny Weight Watchersยฎ Funfetti Cupcakes. These cute little funfetti cupcakes are great to make when you’re dieting and need something sweet to fix the urge to over-indulge. At only 177 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving, this dessert costs 5 Weight Watcher Points (per cupcake). (via Recipe Diaries)
20. Skinny Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting: Everyone loves a freshly made and moist mug cake! With a flavor combo including chocolate and peanut butter and at a restricting serving size (i.e., in a mug), this recipe will guide you to create your next sweet fix! (via Peanut Butter and Fitness)
21. Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cupcakes: This easy and lusciously sweet cupcake recipe is perfect to top a healthy and wholesome dinner for the family. Decadent dark chocolate topped with sweet dolce de leche frosting makes it hard to believe that it’s skinny! Take a look!
22. Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes: These magically wonderful, patriotic-colored cheesecake cupcakes are made with simple ingredients: Greek yogurt, reduced-fat cream cheese, vanilla wafers (for the crust), strawberries and blueberries. Great for the Fourth of July or Memorial Day Weekend cookouts. Check it!
23. Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes: Enjoy the zing and zest of lemon with the comforting and silky flavor of Greek yogurt and reduced-fat cream cheese. These little cheesecake cupcakes are perfect to pass out at dinner parties as an introduction to another dessert, or at birthday parties as a sweet treat. Take a look!
24. Skinny Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes: A skinny recipe that tastes like your favorite popsicle?! How could you pass that up? At almost 160 calories per cupcake, these flavorful treats are waiting for you eat them! (via Amy’s Healthy Baking)
25. Skinny Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Walnut Streusel: These pumpkin spice cupcakes are everything but basic. They are only 150 calories each, taste absolutely delicious and are great to enjoy in the fall when pumpkins are a popular flavor. Click here to check ’em out!
26. Skinny Strawberry White Chocolate Muffin Cupcakes: These skinny strawberry white chocolate muffin cupcakes are great to eat on mornings when you wake up craving something sweet and healthy. Packed with fresh fruit and finished with an optional white-chocolate glaze, this lightened up recipe will replace your typical morning doughnut. Click here to see!
27. Skinny Chcocolate Cherry Muffin: Words to describe this fantastic cupcake: moist, fudgey, chocolatey, skinny, tart and juicy. These are only 110 calories and have all the delicious flavor of an average chocolate cupcake. Try ’em out! (via Sally’s Baking Addiction)
28. Skinny Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes: Commonly known as “Black Bottom Cupcakes,” these irresistible chocolate cheesecake cupcakes are perfect for when you have a few extra calories to spare for a dessert and love chocolate. Try it out!
29. Pink Lemonade Confetti Cupcake: If you love fun colors and pink lemonade, you gotta try this recipe out! Using only a couple ingredients and only 97.4 calories per treat, these cupcakes are perfect for themed parties and birthday parties. Click here to see.
30. Skinny Pink Champagne Cupcake: Pretty in pink and sweet as can be! These pink champagne cupcakes are without a doubt worth the splurge. Make a tray of these cute little treats for your next girls’ night or birthday celebration. (via The Skinny Fork)
31. Double Chocolate Cupcakes (Vegan and Gluten-Free): These rich cupcakes are simply phenomenal. Perfect for vegans and gluten-free eaters who are looking for a new dessert recipe! (via Our Four Forks)
32. Nectarine Buttermilk Cupcakes with Honey Whipped Cream: Made with whole flour, reduced amounts of butter and sugar, and fresh nectarines, these small treats are worthy for any late-night summertime sweet snack! Check out the recipe here!
33. Skinny Vanilla Cupcakes: Bakers are always on the lookout for ways to make skinny cupcakes more exciting by overwhelming them with creative ingredients and flavor combinations, but some people like to stick to their go-to simple flavor: vanilla. Check out this recipe for a skinny vanilla cupcake by a popular reference and enjoy! (via Chocolate Covered Katie)
34. Skinny Mini Watermelon Cakes: Not your average cupcake, but certainly worth a try! Super easy to make and totally guilt-free. Pass them out at a summer party and enjoy! Click here to see.
35. Chocolate Black Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Avocado Frosting: Betcha never thought that avocados would be used as a main ingredient for frosting! Shy away from your traditional cupcake ingredients and experiment with this tasty cupcake recipe! Only 140 calories per cupcake and super satisfying! Check out the recipe!
36. Skinny Pineapple Cupcakes: Three ingredients are needed to make these pineapple cupcakes: one box of yellow cake mix, one 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple (with the juice), and one eight-ounce container of Light Cool Whip (thawed). Sprinkles on top would be considered a fourth ingredient, but nevertheless, are still a simple and tasty dessert to make. Check out the recipe!
37. Chocolate Raspberry Protein Cupcakes: Chocolate and fresh raspberries baked together to make a warm, succulent and delicious treat for chocolate lovers. For added nutritional value, add protein powder and egg whites to the batter before baking. Click here to see our recipe!
38. Eggnog Cupcakes: Rum extract, nutmeg, Greek yogurt and egg whites work together to create a delicious treat that resembles a favorite holiday drink. Make a tray of these for a taste of Christmas in July! Click here to see our Eggnog Cupcake recipe!
39. Skinny Tropical Cupcakes: These cupcakes have a distinct, tropical flavor and memorable finishing touch (i.e., dried fruit) that are perfect for the summer. Bring them to barbecues and weekend get-togethers and let your guests enjoy! Click here to get our recipe!
40. Chocolate Marshmallow Protein Cupcakes: These are great to make when you are trying to eat clean but want chocolate (badly). Added protein ingredients help keep you feeling full while still fixing that sweet tooth that’s been crazed all day. Make them for treats at work or for fellow dieting friends, and share them with your kids who won’t taste the difference! Click here to get our recipe!
41. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting: Every dieter knows how difficult it is to stick to your diet around Thanksgiving, especially when it’s time to bring out desserts and you can’t stop staring at the pumpkin pie. Our pumpkin cupcake recipe is great to make when you are trying to maintain your diet and get your pumpkin fix at the same time. Click here to get our recipe!
