A skinny, low fat, chocolate cupcake soaked in a sugar-free, fat-free pudding and topped with fat-free Cool Whip. You can still enjoy dessert without all the calories. It’s a poke cake cupcake!
While most of the desserts are my blog are loaded with calories- I mean if you’re going to eat desserts then eat dessert. However, too many times in my adult life I’ve found that I really need some alternative options with less guilt.
I’ve share my weight loss journey before, and a lot has changed in my life since I hit my lowest weight. Regardless, I feel as though it’s important to have alternative, lower calorie desserts that can be enjoyed throughout the year.
These Skinny Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes are worth every bite. They are basically a skinny poke cake. I don’t know about you, but controlling portions is always a problem for me, especially when it comes to cakes. Single serving desserts are much more manageable for me.
Instead of making a cake and estimating the portion sizes, I made this into cupcakes instead. These cupcakes in particular are low in fat! The only fat in this recipe is from the actual cake mix itself because I chose to use mostly fat-free ingredients.
Have you ever heard of diet soda cake?
The cupcakes are prepared with a cake mix and a diet Coke. Yes, diet Coke. It’s totally a thing and it’s freaking delicious! My jaw nearly hit the floor during my first few Weight Watcher meetings when I learned that you could add a can of diet soda to a cake mix, and that it would actually turn out good!
Now I am not saying that cake mix and diet soda is good for you, but it can be a quick alternative for you to enjoy some dessert. I know cake mix and diet coke are not healthy. This is not meant to be a “healthy” recipe, It’s a lower calorie, lower fat option available for you to make.
After that meeting, I immediately went home and made a diet 7-up and vanilla cake and I was blown away at how good it was. I brought it into my office and my coworkers didn’t believe me- it was that good.
One day my boss came in and said he made a chocolate cake with root beer soda and it was out of this world. He was hooked. Since then, I have been making these diet soda cakes every once in awhile. I am not sure who is the originator of idea.
Helpful Tips
Anyhow, I was also skeptical of the “poke cake” effect in these cupcakes and if the liners could withstand the pudding, and it totally worked!
- I would recommend using an oversized cupcake liner to allow for more room for the pudding. The jumbo cupcake liners will work in a standard cupcake pan, you just have to give it a little love and push it down into the bottom.
- I also used a large cookie scoop to help control the portion of the batter, this is something I do when I make any cupcake. It is a 3 tbsp scoop.
- When you are preparing the pudding layer, I reduced the amount of milk by ¼ C just to make the pudding mix a little thicker.
- After you poke the holes in the cupcakes, you should use a measuring cup, or something with a spout to pour the pudding mix over the cupcakes. You want to do this BEFORE the pudding sets! Then refrigerate the cupcakes.
Now these wouldn’t be a poke cake without a Cool Whip topping! I put my thawed Cool Whip into a piping bag fitted with a large piping tip to top these cupcakes, but you can certainly spread it on with a knife too!
Then I drizzled on some sugar-free hot fudge, which is optional!
One note about the Cool Whip. There is a 5 point difference between a container of Cool Whip Free (9 points) and Cool Whip Lite (16 points). It is worth finding the Fat-free Cool Whip (which is called Cool Whip Free).
For me, this recipe made 20 cupcakes, but it can be stretched to 24. Well these can be frozen and thawed as needed, or you can share with a friend! I am sure they would appreciate a pudding drenched cupcake and you don’t even have to tell them that is “healthy” or low in fat.
More Skinny Desserts:
- Coconut Cream Cake
- Lemon Cream Pie Cupcakes
- Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
- Funfetti Cheesecake Ice Cream Pie
- Coconut Cream Pie Cupcakes
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Skinny Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 20 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 Box (15oz) Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
- 1 Can (12oz) Diet Coke
- 1 pkg (3.4oz) Sugar-free, fat-free chocolate pudding mix
- 1 ¾ cups non-fat milk
- 1 pkg (8oz) fat free Cool Whip
- Sugar-free hot fudge sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare cupcakes by combining your chocolate cake mix and diet coke, whisking until cake mix is dissolved and well mixed. Divide batter between lined cupcake pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes. Check the cupcakes for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Use the end of wooden spoon to poke 3-4 holes in the top of the cupcakes.
- In a separate bowl, combine chocolate pudding mix and skim milk. Whisk until pudding mix is dissolved. Immediately (before the pudding has set) put prepared pudding mix in a measuring cup. Gently pour the pudding mix over each cupcake, dividing as evenly as possible. Pudding mix will absorb into the cupcakes.
- Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes until the pudding is set.
- Top cupcakes with whipped cream, dividing evenly between cupcakes. Drizzle with sugar-free chocolate fudge sauce if desired.
- Keep refrigerated or freeze leftovers.
Notes
- Total Weight Watcher Freestyle= 112 total points based on the ingredients listed. To find the individual serving, divide by the total number of cupcakes. For this recipe, I got 20 cupcakes, which is 6 points each.
- Nutritional information is estimated and if you are truly looking for the nutrition facts, I recommend basing it off the ingredients YOU are using. Does not include chocolate drizzle.
- I specified Betty Crocker Cake Mix because the flavor is my favorite. You can substitute any cake mix you want.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 113
- Sugar: 11.4g
- Sodium: 253.4mg
- Fat: 0.8g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 1.8g
- Cholesterol: 0.4mg
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Be sure to check out these skinny desserts from my friends:
Skinny BTS Cake from Something Swanky
Skinny Red Velvet Cake from The Domestic Rebel
Skinny Cherry Poke Cake from Yummy Healthy Easy
Can regular Coke and regular pudding mix be substituted? They contain aspertaine and/or other sugar substitutes which I am allergic to.
Yes it can!
I used the 3 tbsp scoop and only got 12 cupcakes? Not sure why?
These were still absolutely delicious! I even brought down the points by using sugar free chocolate cake mix and fat free Reddi whip! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Deb, maybe had something to do with a different cake mix. Can’t say for certain.
I made this recipe today. The large cupcake papers didn’t work well even with that extra push .It was difficult to give each the same amt because the papers didn’t fit right. I may just try to make this as a regular cake.next time. Any suggestions?
Hi Linda, you can try using a glass to push the liners down prior to filling? The other thing you can try is baking the cupcakes, and then making the pudding, allowing it to set and then cutting out the center of the cupcake and filling it with the prepared pudding. It won’t have quite the same effect but it’s another option.
Will the cool whip frosting hold up in the fridge if prepared in advance. Will it stay piped design or eventually collapse. Trying to plan for an event. Thanks in advance.
Hi Robin- are you using actual Cool Whip or homemade whipped cream. Cool Whip will be much more stable. Homemade whipped cream I always make the day of the event