



No birthday is complete without a {sweet} pile of goodness, topped with a candle. How else are those wishes going to come true?
In searching for the perfect not-so-sweet birthday goodness for Zinnia, I went to my go-to cooking site, 101 Cookbooks where I found this yummy desert. I totally jive with Heidi's approach to food and I've tried and shared many recipes from her site. For this birthday goodie I wanted to make something for my girl that was sugar-free (or close to it) so I made a few adaptations to Heidi's recipe. The end result was de-lish and I'll definitely be making it again.
The recipe combines many of my favorite things - dark chocolate, bananas, lemon and olive oil. I made three main changes to the recipe: 1) I substituted maple syrup in place of brown sugar 2) I left the chocolate out of the kid's portions 4) I used freshly whipped cream for Zinnia's portion and used the sugary glaze on the remaining cupcakes 3) I made cupcakes instead of a cake, which cut the baking time in half.
Here's how it came together.

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Lemony Banana Birthday Goodness
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large bars coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed, VERY ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup whole milk yogurt
1 Tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze (that I used on the grown up cupcakes)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350° F, and place a rack in the center. Line cupcake tin with liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix together the olive oil, eggs, mashed banana, yogurt, zest, and vanilla. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and fold with a spatula until just combined.
At this point I used a spoon to fill several cupcakes 3/4 full. These chocolate-free cupcakes are for the kids.
Then I folded the chocolate chunks in to the batter and filled the remaining cupcake holes. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden brown, but not at all dark.
Let cool completely before applying the glaze or whipped cream.
Recipe makes ~18 totally delicious, not-too-sweet cupcakes.
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And in other sweet news... You may remember that my girl picked out her birthday dress from two that I recently made. The day before her not-really-a-party party, the weather forecasted chilly temps with a chance of rainy/snow. The birthday dress wasn't exactly a good fit for that forecast so, at the last minute, I whipped up a pair of pants to match. These are definitely not an example of my finest work but they turned out just fine to be worn under this dress. I love the way this outfit looks and it's actually become my current favorite. And Zinnia wears it especially well, with those shoes on the wrong feet.
Celebrating my girl, in little ways all week!