Mini Apple Gingerbread Cupcakes

These irresistible little cakes are spicy but not too sweet. For sweeter flavor, you can add an additional tablespoon of your favorite sweetener to the batter.

Recipe:
2 cups stone-ground whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
½ cup molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped apple (sweet apple such as Fuji or Delicious, not Granny Smith)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat 30 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, molasses, oil, egg, egg white, and vanilla extract. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir until just combined.

There will be about 3 cups of batter. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin pans.

Bake on the center rack for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pans.

Makes 30 mini-muffins
Per serving: 70 calories, 1 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 2 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 90 mg sodium