One of my biggest weaknesses is cakes, especially with how much I love to bake, but as I am on a mission to get fit and healthy I'm especially trying to cut down on cakes and chocolate.  I have such a sweet tooth though and constantly find myself craving both.  So when I saw these cupcakes in my Hairy Dieters cookbook I thought I'd give them a try to satisfy my cravings in a healthier manner.

Ingredients

For the cakes:

200g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

75g Golden Caster Sugar

100g Blueberries

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2 Large Eggs

150ml Fat Free Natural Yoghurt

2 tbsp Semi-Skimmed Milk

50ml Sunflower Oil

For the icing:

100g Icing Sugar

4-5 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

Makes 12 cupcakes

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c/Gas Mark 6 and line a muffin tin with 12 cases.  Beat the eggs, yoghurt, milk and oil in a large jug with a whisk until well combined.

2. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and stir in the sugar, blueberries and lemon zest.  Make a well in the centre.  Pour in the egg mixture and stir into the flour mixture with a large metal spoon.

3. Divide the mixture between the cases and bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes until the cupcakes are golden brown and well risen.  Leave to cool.

4.  Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth and runny.  Drizzle the icing over the cooled cupcakes and leave to set for at least 30 minutes. 

Now I'm not going to sit here and pretend that these cupcakes are as good as the real thing, but all in all they are not bad and satisfy my sweet tooth, especially with the tangy lemon icing.  If your not a big fan of lemons though you can just replace the lemon juice with water for a simple sweet icing.  I also recommend eating these the day they are baked or the next day at the most, as they do harden fairly quickly compared to normal cupcakes.

I am always on the hunt for healthy treats to bake so if you know of any please share them with me in the comments.