Skinny Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Ganache

I can't believe it is already Monday again!

My half marathon training continued this week with a 4 mile run Monday, 3 mile run Tuesday, 4.5 mile run Wednesday, rest on Thursday, 3 miles on Friday, and then 7.5 on Saturday! Sunday was all about cross-training and I am still feeling great.  I got a little nervous on Friday when my foot was hurting for a bit, but after some nice stretching, I ended up being just fine.

Along with all this, I had a super fun weekend! On Friday, I saw a movie with my friend Lauren and then skyped our friend Caryn! It was so great to see her.  She if off being a grown-up in DC and it was fun to hear about her life and all that was going on.  Then, I went out with friends on Saturday and had one of the most fun nights ever.  Finally, on Sunday, I watched the Badger basketball game, baked with Tamara, and then made dinner and watched tv. It was a great time and I am pretty overwhelmed that we are back at another Monday.  Fortunately, I spent a lot of time planning on Friday and Sunday and feel totally ready to take on another week!

I also have a great recipe to share today! I made my Skinny Chocolate Cupcakes and Whipped Chocolate Ganache and had some awesome cupcakes.  They are light cakes with rich frosting, just how it should be.

Skinny Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup skim milk
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 4 oz package instant chocolate pudding
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt
For the Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 and prepare 2 12-cup cupcake pans.
2. Heat up coffee and stir in cocoa powder until combined.  Stir in milk and vanilla.  Set aside to cool.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, espresso powder, and pudding mix.
4. In a large bowl, beat sugar with canola oil and applesauce.  Beat in egg and egg whites until well combined.  Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and the coffee mixture, starting with the dry and ending with the dry.  Mix until just combined.  Stir in the greek yogurt.
5. Fill cupcake wells about 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes.  Let cool.
6. Make the frosting: microwave the cream for about 3 minutes or until just about boiling.  Place chocolate chips in a bowl and pour hot cream over the chocolate chips.  Let sit for 30 seconds and then stir until combined and melted.  Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.  Mix ganache mixture with vanilla until stiff peaks start to form.  Frost cupcakes.

Enjoy :)