Chocolate Chai Vanilla Cupcakes

Oh my chocolate. These wonderful little suckers are possibly the best low calorie, low fat cupcakes ever.

And they taste like my two favorite cultures mixed together. Vanilla chai from Asia, and chocolate from, well, pretty much everywhere. But mostly Europe. They aren't too sweet, which is perfect, and the chocolate isn't too bitter for those of you who aren't me and don't like their chocolate 100% pure and crazy.

I slept in until around noon and then made some pineapple pancakes from Chocolate Covered Katie, and the Copycat Frappuccino. And now here I am, devouring these. 

Ingredients for twelve cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups spelt, gluten-free, all purpose, etc. flour
• 1/2 cup pure cocoa powder and for a more authentic taste, use pure dutch cocoa powder.
• 3/4 cup sugar- brown, white, or you can use stevia. I'm not sure how much in cups or tablespoons, but usually one packet is around two teaspoons of sugar, so you can use eighteen packets. That's a little much though...
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk of choice
• 2 chai tea bags (any kind you like)
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Oh, and if you wish to make them less dense, you can add 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Just reduce or eliminate the milk. Another good sub is applesauce or mashed banana. 
• Optional spices, like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, etc.

To begin, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tin. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add the milk, and while you mix that, steep the tea bags in the water for five to ten minutes, depending on how strong you want the chai flavor. Add this and the vanilla into the mixture, and beat it. Don't over mix the batter. Pour the batter into the tin, and put it in the oven for ten to twenty minutes. I am only giving a huge range because ovens and people vary. Some like their cupcakes harder while others like them softer, so as long as you stick a skewer in one and it comes out clean, it's done! Wait for ten to twenty minutes for them to cool.

Now to make the cream cheese frosting...

Ingredients:

• One package of cream cheese (any style, or even vegan)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk of choice, or more if it isn't thin enough
• Some flour if the consistency is not thick enough

Just beat the sugar into the cream cheese and milk. Add more milk if it isn't thin enough, and flour if it is too thin. Pour it into a plastic bag and cut one corner off. Frost your cupcakes like it's nobody's business!

Yummm... now here's what they looked like after my sister and I appeared in the kitchen...

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Per cupcake: 120 calories- with 1% milk and sugar, and pretty much 1 gram of fat

The stevia version will be around 70 calories.

  ~Jas