Beet Lemon Cupcakes or Are They Muffins

Beet Lemon Cupcakes or are they muffins?

Looking for a healthier option for this holiday?

Want to give the family less white sugar and more organic choices?

Having a struggle with the colored food dye and worried about the effects it has on your loved ones?

These Beet Lemon Cupcakes could just be the answer you are looking for!

With nature’s answer to sweet and color the manmade processed additives your choices replaced with the healthier equivalent.

And they taste so good no one will be able to tell the difference!

Beets have a very earthy flavor. Beets also have a sweetness from the sugar in them so you need something acidic to offset it. This is where the lemon comes in.

This Beet Lemon Cupcake recipe can also be made as a muffin. You just need to change the ratio of some ingredients and the mixing method.

The recipes for both cupcakes and muffins are listed in the recipe card.

These are the INGREDIENTS you will need:

For the cupcakes:

• 12.5 oz. all-purpose flour
• 2.25 tsp. baking powder
• 1.25 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1 pound 3-4 beets, greens trimmed
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil
• 1 small Lemon, zest and juice 

For the cupcake frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, soft but still cool
• 2 oz. butter, soft but still cool
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 4 oz. confectioners sugar

For the muffin option:

• 1 Large egg
• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 Teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup honey
• 1 Cup beets, with the skin, shredded and roasted

These are the INSTRUCTIONS for preparation:

To make cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Line muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners (recipe makes 2 dozen).
• Cook the beets in simmering water until a knife inserted comes out cleanly and the skins rub off easily. Remove the skins, and grate the beets on a box grater (I covered my work surface with plastic wrap; this is messy and beets stain). Add the lemon juice and zest to the beets and set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk together.
• In another bowl (or the workbowl of a food processor) whisk the eggs and sugars together until the oil is frothy and the sugars are well-combined. Continue whisking quickly while slowly pouring in the vegetable oil (you’re making an emulsion, and the result should be thick and creamy looking; this is easier in the food processor although it is quite doable by hand.) Fold in the beets and dry ingredients until completely combined (no streaks of flour should remain).
• Portion equally in your 24 cupcake liners (about 3/4 full), then bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan(s) halfway through, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cook before frosting.

To make frosting:

• Beat the butter and cream cheese together. 
• Add the lemon juice, zest, and the confectioners sugar and beat until combined. 
• Spread or pipe onto the cooled cupcakes and serve.

To make Muffins:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
• Measure 1 cup of the shredded beet, wrap it all in foil and place it in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes.
• Allow the foil package to cool, then unwrap it and set aside. 
• In a mixer or mixing bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix until combined. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients to combine. 
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. 
• Add the shredded roasted beet and the honey and mix until the batter is uniformly combined.
• Lightly oil a muffin pan and fill the muffin holes almost to the brim.
• Bake for 13 minutes or until the muffins test clean.
• Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutesMakes 9 muffins

NOTES:

• Optional:Cream Cheese Frosing directions given for simplification. You may choose any topping you wish, or no icing at all! I suggest fresh fruit.
• Muffin recipe below the cupcake recipe.
• Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cook Time: 50 minutes, Makes 9 muffins

Whether cupcake or muffin they are delicious!

As a rule muffins have only half the the fats, eggs and sugar flour ration compared to a cupcake.

When the fat, sugar, and egg to flour ratio in a recipe reaches double that of a muffin, you create a more open crumb and a sweeter end product which is a cupcake.

The cupcake also has a finer crumb while the muffin has a bigger and coarser crumb.

Muffins are healthier than cupcakes. Because they don’t have frosting, they automatically have less calories than most cupcakes.

But don’t forget that 3-inch muffins have only about 120 to 160 calories. But those giant bakery muffins contain from 340 to 630 calories each.

And that is before you add any butter or other spread.

If you are baking muffins, be sure use a nonstick pan. Even with a nonstick pan, I typically grease the pan well to be absolutely certain that nothing sticks.

Cupcakes on the other hand are usually cooked in cupcake papers and sticking isn’t an issue. You can also frost them.

Muffins can be topped with crumble, seeds or nuts. But then they are closer to a cupcake.

There is a real difference between making a Beet Lemon Cupcake as opposed to a Beet Lemon Muffin.

Cupcakes are just miniature versions of their cake counterparts. This means that depending on the type of cake they are made and mixed up according to a cake mixing method.

The batter is beaten longer to give a tighter, more even crumb.

Cupcake recipes generally have more sugar and fat (butter, oil, or dairy) than muffins and may include ingredients like whipped eggs or even mayo for texture.

Muffins, on the other hand, are typically mixed with the muffin method no matter what their flavor. The muffin method is mixing the dry and wet ingredients in their own bowls and then gently combining them.

Some cupcake recipes are also mixed via the muffin method, but remember that muffins are more likely to include less sugar, more fruit, and whole grains.

Muffins can often be savory and include cheese and vegetables. If you top a muffin with crumb topping or glaze, it is a muffin purely based on the way it was mixed.

In the end no matter if you make the cupcake or the muffin method you have made a great choice using beets and lemons to create your masterpiece.

Beet Lemon Cupcakes

These cupcakes are nature's answer to sweet and color the manmade processed choices are replaced with the healthier equivalent. 

4.89 from 18 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beets, lemon

Method: Bake

Skill Level: Basic

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Adjust Servings: 24

Calories: 357kcal

Author: Marilyn

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 12.5 oz. all-purpose flour
• 2.25 tsp. baking powder
• 1.25 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1 pound 3-4 beets, greens trimmed
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil
• 1 small Lemon, zest and juice

For the cupcake frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, soft but still cool
• 2 oz. butter, soft but still cool
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 4 oz. confectioners sugar

For the muffin option:

• 1 Large egg
• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 Teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup honey
• 1 Cup beets, with the skin, shredded and roasted

Instructions

To make cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Line muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners (recipe makes 2 dozen).
• Cook the beets in simmering water until a knife inserted comes out cleanly and the skins rub off easily. Remove the skins, and grate the beets on a box grater (I covered my work surface with plastic wrap; this is messy and beets stain). Add the lemon juice and zest to the beets and set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk together.
• In another bowl (or the workbowl of a food processor) whisk the eggs and sugars together until the oil is frothy and the sugars are well-combined. Continue whisking quickly while slowly pouring in the vegetable oil (you’re making an emulsion, and the result should be thick and creamy looking; this is easier in the food processor although it is quite doable by hand.) Fold in the beets and dry ingredients until completely combined (no streaks of flour should remain).
• Portion equally in your 24 cupcake liners (about 3/4 full), then bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan(s) halfway through, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cook before frosting.

To make frosting:

• Beat the butter and cream cheese together.
• Add the lemon juice, zest, and the confectioners sugar and beat until combined.
• Spread or pipe onto the cooled cupcakes and serve.

To make Muffins:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Measure 1 cup of the shredded beet, wrap it all in foil and place it in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes.
• Allow the foil package to cool, then unwrap it and set aside.
• In a mixer or mixing bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix until combined.
• In a separate bowl, combine the wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined.
• Add the shredded roasted beet and the honey and mix until the batter is uniformly combined.
• Lightly oil a muffin pan and fill the muffin holes almost to the brim.
• Bake for 13 minutes or until the muffins test clean.
• Prep Time: 20 minutes

  Cook Time: 50 minutes

  Makes 9 muffins

Notes

• Optional:Cream Cheese Frosing directions given for simplification. You may choose any topping you wish, or no icing at all! I suggest fresh fruit.
• Muffin recipe below the cupcake recipe.
• Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cook Time: 50 minutes, Makes 9 muffins

 

©MARILYN’S TREATS. All images are copyright protected.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 357kcal (18%) | Carbohydrates: 38g (13%) | Protein: 4g (8%) | Fat: 21g (32%) | Saturated Fat: 0g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 80mg (27%) | Sodium: 583mg (24%) | Potassium: 0mg | Fiber: 2g (8%) | Sugar: 17g (19%) | Vitamin A: 0IU | Vitamin C: 0mg | Calcium: 0mg | Iron: 0mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @marilyn_lesniak or tag #marilynstreats!

Nutrition Information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.

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Disclaimer Unless indicated recipes influenced by cookbooks, magazines or family traditions.

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