Remember ordering the Shirley Temple? My kids loved to when they were little. I remember when I was kid thinking it was the coolest, prettiest drink I ever saw–the lemon lime soda, mixed with the red grenadine, topped off with a maraschino cherry!
These cupcakes are just like the drink. They are a low-cal version of an original cupcake. You might have heard of the “Diet Cola Cake” Weight Watchers recipe that has been passed around over the years…just take a cake mix (many times chocolate cake mix) mixed with 1 can of diet cola for a low cal alternative to egg and oil mixtures.
This is just another twist on that recipe.
I used a French Vanilla Betty Crocker Cake mix, added 1 can of Diet 7-UP along with ½ cup stemmed and chopped maraschino cherries.
Line a cupcake tin with papers and fill each on ⅔ full. Bake according to package directions.
That's it!
Really.
You can keep this really light by just adding a dollop of Lite Cool Whip…but I just couldn't leave it there, could I?!
Over at Gina's Skinny Recipes {one of my favorite sites!} I came across her Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes. There she has a genius way of making a delicious, but lite topping. I have changed it up a bit for these cupcakes, but the original idea came from her.
I'm linking up with…
- Beauty and Bedlam
- Tip Junkie
- Tempt My Tummy
- Tuesday Night Supper Club
- Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes | Ginas Skinny Recipes
- Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans
Tater Tots and Jello ▪ Just A Girl
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Ingredients
- 1 box French vanilla cake mix used: Betty Crocker Super Moist
- 1 12 oz. can diet 7-UP
- ½ cup maraschino <g class="gr_ gr_86 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="86" data-gr-id="86">cherries </g> stemmed and chopped
- 2 T maraschino cherry juice
- Topping:
- 4 oz Philadelphia ⅓ Less Fat Cream Cheese softened
- ½ cup marshmallow cream
- 1 container lite Cool Whip
- 1 T maraschino cherry juice
- 24 maraschino cherries for garnish
Instructions
- For Cupcakes: Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Line cupcake tins with papers and <g class="gr_ gr_85 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar multiReplace" id="85" data-gr-id="85">fill</g> ⅔ full with batter. Bake according to package directions. Let cool completely before topping.
- For Topping: In a medium bowl combine all ingredients, except cherries and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Top cooled cupcakes with a generous dollop of “lite icing” and top with a cherry.
*Nutrition information is automatically calculated based on ingredient data and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient options are provided, the first listed is used for calculation. Optional ingredients and garnishes are not included in the nutrition analysis.
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