Hooty Marshmallow Chocolate Cupcakes

The thought of coming up with adorable Halloween treats stresses me out. I am not a crafty person when it comes to food. Sure, I can make it look appetizing and taste delicious, but making it look like creatures of the netherworld is not my forté. For weeks I’ve been trying to come up with something that could proudly grace the pages of Pinterest next to gorgeous treats like THESE and THESE. The more I perused, the harder it was and the more I felt like a failure. I finally decided to stop trying and just make something that tastes good.

I recently shared an amazing dessert in a local restaurant with my husband and I was dying to make a low fat version of it. It was basically a smore’s explosion in a jar and so incredibly enchanting. I savored every bite of that delicious concoction and have been thinking about endlessly ever since.

So, as I set out to make a smore’s cupcake/brownie something-or-other, I picked up a bag of marshmallows at the grocery and that’s when it came to me…

I have recently become obsessed with owls which on one hand is super fun but on the other hand I see them everywhere and I want to buy them all but that would bad because then I would look like some crazy owl lady and poor M would look like some crazy owl lady’s husband. Seriously, how can I help it? They are so serene and adorable and classy at the same time. We are redecorating our living room right now and those ‘lil munchkins will surely make it onto my mantel.

But, back to the marshmallows. I realized that they would be the perfect size for delightfully large owl eyes and that’s how this cupcake was born. Now I may not be true confectionery artist but for all my stressing out, I’m pretty proud of my efforts. And, I must say these are pretty darn cute with such minimal effort. As for the S’more’s dessert? I’ll save that for another time.

To make these cupcakes, I adapted a recipe from Food.com for No Pudge Brownie Clones found HERE. I decided to substitute oat flour for its texture and slight sweetness it adds. Also, because I was putting super sweet marshmallows on top I reduced the amount of sugar in the cake.

I decided to try making a few faces along with my owls but I realized after the fact that I should have stretched out the mouth part to make them “Scream” faces. No worries, though. They’ll still taste delish!

Are you craftier than me and have made some must-try sweet-scary-sumptuous Halloween treats? Please let me know. I’d love to try them!

HOOTY Marshmallow Chocolate Cupcakes

www.barbaracooks.com

Cupcake adapted from recipe for No Pudge Brownie Clone at Food.com

Servings: 10 • Size: 1 cupcake • Weight Watcher Points+: 4

Calories: 155 • Fat: 1g • Carbs: 32g • Fiber: 2g • Protein: 6g

Sugars: 22g • Sodium: 153mg • Cholesterol: 2mg

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup whole grain oat flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1 ¼ cup nonfat Greek plain yogurt
• 10 marshmallows
• 20 candy eyes
• 10 pieces candy corn

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients except the marshmallows, candy corn and candy eyes in a large bowl and stir well until mixture is smooth. Spoon mixture into cupcake tin lined with 10 cupcake liners and bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes

Preheat broiler on high.

Cut marshmallows in half to make 2 circles and place them on the top of each cupcake. Place under the broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minute, watching carefully so as not to burn them. Remove from oven. Prick the center of each marshmallow with a knife and place a candy eye on top so that it sticks in place. Stick a piece of candy corn in the center of each to make the beak.