Days 28 and 29--All-Natural Cupcakes

Day 28


Breakfast--banana and peanut butter
Mid-morning snack--nothing
Lunch--Wendy's Dave's Big and Juicey
Afternoon snack--peanuts and chocolate chips

Dinner--Maggiano's....chopped salad, bread and Rigatoni Pomodoro
Bedtime snack--Cherry Crunch
Workout--Insanity Cardio Core and Balance




Day 29

Breakfast--Mom's Best Cocoa Crisps cereal
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--sliders, chips and dip
Afternoon snack--nothing
Dinner--30th Birthday Party!!! Woot woot! :) Besides the all-natural cupcakes I made, everything else was decidedly unnatural...chicken fingers, quesadillas, spinach and artichoke dip and queso and chips




All-Natural Vanilla Cupcakes

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (I couldn't find pastry flour, so I just used 2 cups of cake flour)
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 whole vanilla bean, split lengthwise (I used 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 12-ounce can low-fat evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners.
Whisk whole-wheat flour, cake flour, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
Beat granulated sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Scrape the black paste out of the vanilla bean into the sugar mixture. Add applesauce, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. With the mixer on low, alternately mix in the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup evaporated milk, starting and ending with dry ingredients and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined. Divide the batter among the prepared cups (they will be full).
Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.