Protein Copycat Hostess Cupcakes

April 26, 2022

These protein copycat Hostess cupcakes are gluten-free, dairy-free, and low in sugar with added protein from collagen powder! Even though they're healthy, the hubby and kids said they taste just like the original. I'm just happy to skip all the artificial additives of the packaged kind ;)

Did you know? A review of 11 studies mostly in women found that taking 3–10 grams of collagen per day for an average of 69 days led to improved skin elasticity and hydration. (source)

Collagen recommendations

I use and love LIV Body Marine Collagen because it's flavorless, highly bioavailable, and rich in Type I collagen which we need most. You can use my code NOEXCUSES for 20% off all LIV Body products! Of course, another brand can work too, but quality is important. 

If you want to make these without collagen, I would suggest adding one-quarter cup of pure pumpkin or unsweetened applesauce plus one-quarter cup dairy free yogurt to moisturize. The amazing thing about collagen is that it makes baked goods more moist! For this reason, I cannot recommend using another protein powder in this recipe. 

Flour recommendations

I personally used gluten-free baking flour in this recipe, but you can also use all-purpose flour, cake flour, cassava flour (Paleo), fine oat flour, sorghum flour, spelt flour, or whole wheat flour. I cannot recommend coconut flour or almond flour in this recipe because you really want a nice fine texture. 

Sweetener recommendations

For these cupcakes, I used pyure organic stevia blend, a sweetener that's twice as sweet as sugar with no aftertaste. Feel free to use whatever calorie-free sweetener you like, be it erythritol, monk fruit, allulose, or baking stevia. If using a sweetener that measures 1:1 like sugar, you may need twice as much to get the desired sweetness. If using concentrated drops, check the brand-specific conversion chart!

Other ingredients

This recipe calls for egg whites, but you can also use one whole egg, or a vegan egg replacer for egg-free. It also calls for dairy-free yogurt, but nonfat plain Greek yogurt works well too! Just make sure whatever brand you use has some protein and not too much added sugar.

The avocado oil can also be swapped for melted coconut oil or buttery spread. I don't recommend subbing applesauce here as you want some fat for a tender texture. Lastly, the vinegar helps with the tenderness of the cupcakes. You can use distilled white vinegar, natural rice vinegar or cider vinegar.

Cream filling

For the cream filling, all you need is dairy-free whipped topping (I used Cocowhip), powdered sweetener (I used Lakanto powdered monk fruit), and pure vanilla extract. If your whipped topping isn't thick enough, add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch or tapioca starch.

Chocolate ganache 

For the ganache, you can use sugar-free or dairy-free dark chocolate as needed. The only other ingredient is milk! You can use unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, rice milk, oat milk, dairy milk... whatever you like.

Here's the printable recipe for these Protein Copycat Hostess Cupcakes! I hope you'll rate or comment below if you try them :)

This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by LIV Body.

 

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