Carrot Cupcakes

Photo: flickr user kristin_a

Ingredients

cup Pitted prunes

8 ounces Crushed pineapple - (1 can)

cup Sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon Baking powder

teaspoon Baking soda

teaspoon Salt

1 lrg Egg

1 lrg Egg white

cup Sugar

cup Canola oil

1 cup Grated carrots

4 ounces Reduced-fat cream cheese

cup Marshmallow creme, such as Fluff

teaspoon Fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans optional

Preparation

To make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or lightly oil or coat the cups with nonstick cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine prunes with 1/4 cup hot water and process until smooth; set aside. Drain pineapple in a strainer set over a small bowl, pressing firmly to extract most of the juice. Set the pineapple aside and reserve the juice for another use.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg, egg white, sugar, oil, and the reserved prune puree. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until blended. Stir in the carrots and the reserved pineapple.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Let the cupcakes sit in the pan for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool before frosting.

To make cream cheese frosting: In a bowl, beat cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and lemon juice with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread each cupcake with frosting and sprinkle with pecans, if using.

This recipe yields 1 dozen cupcakes.