Guys. Guys. Can I rave for just a second? This recipe is serious Thanksgiving material.
When the girls at Recipe Redux challenged us to use up our old, perhaps slightly dusty, “spooky” spices, I just knew I had to go with a killer spice cake. Plus, I hadn’t gotten in ANY pumpkin recipes yet this fall. Kind of a crime, right? So to kill two birds with one stone, I developed this Lightened-Up Pumpkin Spice Cake. And let me tell you, it is to die for.
I made some easy substitutions to cut fat, sugar, and calories, but never flavor. I also made some replacements to increase the fiber and nutrition profile. The results were beyond my expectations! First, I halved my butter using applesauce…
Used 100% whole wheat flour in place of white…
Substituted 1 tsp vanilla extract to reduce sugar by a 1/4 C in both the cake and the frosting. I also used turbinado, which is less processed than your typical white sugar, as well as less calories spoonful for spoonful…
I bumped up the nutrition profile by using 1 Tbs chia seeds + 1 C of water in place of one egg.
Last but not least, I used low fat cream cheese and plain greek yogurt to cut the fat in the frosting.
To DIE for I say! You must bring this to Thanksgiving dinner. Your mom will be proud.
- ¼ C applesauce
- ¼ C melted butted
- 2½ C all-purpose whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp allspice
- ⅛ tsp cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ C turbinado sugar
- 1 Tbs chia seeds
- 1 C water
- 1 egg
- 1 C pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 6 oz low fat cream cheese
- ½ C plain greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ C powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Whisk to mix evenly.
- In a large bowl, whisk wet ingredient until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix until smooth.
- Add batter to baking dish, smooth top, and place in oven for 45 minutes.
- Let cool in dish for 10 minutes, then remove and place on rack until completely cooled.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, using hand mixer combine until smooth.
- Top cooled cake.
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