Aunt Terri's Underpants

Growing up in Vancouver, the schools were big on 'stranger danger' education. Every student had i.d. booklets, which included our finger prints, blood type, a recent photo and our stats [height, weight, etc]. As families we were encouraged to create a password, a code that could be used to ensure that the right person was picking us up from school, so that even those whom we were familiar with could not abduct us [sounds funny writing it down, but it's the sort of thing I'll most likely do with my boys when they go to school.] My families password was, "Aunt Terri's Underpants." It was ridiculous enough that we would never forget it, plus it involved the name of one our Mom's sisters, an aunt whom we loved - and still love! - to go and visit. Today is my Aunt Terri's birthday, and so Darius and I headed into the kitchen to whip up a treat in her honor. Aunt Terri loves sweets, and so it was only fitting to bake some cupcakes! Per her request we made then without sugar [well, we didn't use the refined stuff anyway; instead used natural sweetness in the form of honey and 100% fruit puree and juice] and they can be made without fat [her other request] however I put a bit of fat in ours since healthy fats are great for every body [in moderation of course.]

 Happy Birthday Aunt Terri! I hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed creating them [and eating them!] in your honor!

Mouthwatering Mango Cupcakes

an original recipe created by me!



1 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 c. naturally creamed honey

1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce

3 tbsp coconut oil, softened*

1/2 c. 100% unsweetened mango juice and puree

Preheat your oven to 350*F. Mix the dry ingredients together, then set aside. In your stand mixer, mix all the wet ingredients together until thoroughly combined. With the mixer on, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stop the mixer on occasion to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Pour the batter into medium sized cupcake liners [which are in a muffin tin of course ;)] and place in preheated oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven to wire rack, and let cool for a few minutes before placing cupcakes directly on wire rack. Cool completely and then enjoy! Yield 16 cupcakes

* to make these fat free, simply add more apple sauce instead of the coconut oil