Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frostings

Whenever I think of my coworker, I think of either chocolate, caramel,  or cream cheese frosting. We celebrated her birthday last month and  I  had a hard time thinking what I can bake for her without using butter. After a lot of thinking, I know that I wanted to bake her something that I KNOW that it will taste good. So, I decided to bake a simple chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting!

Let me just briefly talk about how much I love birthdays - of course, I love my own birthday but I also enjoy celebrating other's birthday as well. The reason behind my love for this holiday is because you get to celebrate with your loved ones that you were safely able to reach a certain age and I think that's such a wonderful thing. I would say that it's a miracle. Often times, when people are older, birthdays seem like a "celebration of getting older" (more of a negative thing) but, I completely do not agree with that attitude. Regardless of what age you are turning to, I think it's such a beautiful holiday and everyone should be proud of who they are, who they've become, and be grateful toward those who raised you that reflects upon who you are. I always like to send my mom flowers on my birthday - because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my beautiful parents (:

Gluten-Free Moist Chocolate Cake Squares with Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze

Did you scream with joy when you saw the word "Gluten-free"? Well, if you have celiac disease, it should be exciting for you because many of the delicious sweets all contain gluten. Although there has been an ongoing gluten-free fad going on, those are very selective.
Let me tell you something about my opinion about Gluten-Free products. Gluten are referred as proteins that are found in wheat. It is often found in our common breads, barley, and rye. Gluten is actually good for you because it's a form of protein that is good for your body. The reason why many people are pointing gluten as the "enemy" is because they feel "fatigued" or it promotes "weight-gain" but that's only because you are over-consuming gluten. In fact, this is not just about gluten - if you overeat anything, you will gain weight. The only people should not eat gluten is those who have celiac disease, which means that you are allergic to gluten which causes intestinal damage. Click here for more information about celiac disease.

Like many of my friends, I am obsessed with Buzzfeed.. especially their Food section. My coworker showed me a link to this and I came across one recipe that I really wanted to try. It was Top With Cinnamon's Healthy Sticky Chocolate Fudge Cake. Since I did not have all of the ingredients in this recipe, I decided to modify it a little and they still turned out absolutely amazing!

Pineapple Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Drizzle

Whenever I see a "butter substitute", I see the usual apple sauce, pureed pumpkin, and coconut oil - which are perfectly fine but I wanted to use something different. Something that I personally have never really thought of. As I was going through my pantry, I saw nothing...There's my apple sauce and I must say, I was tempted to use it but my heart told me to use something else. Will I shoot for the tofu like I do with my vegan brownies? No, I wanted to do something different.... Then I saw those no sugar added crushed pineapple cans who was hiding behind the powdered sugars and I thought, this must be it. I mean, it's very similar to apple sauce right?

I must say, the pineapples worked out perfectly! The chocolate cake turned out so soft and moist! My family got a real kick out of them (:

Have you checked out my Instagram? @nobutterbaking 

Yogurt Cheesecake

I have a major problem - I am a total sweet-tooth! Someone once asked me what I would like to eat if I didn't have to worry about gaining weight or developing health problems and without hesitation, I said - cupcakes. Since I do love my sweets, I really need to control how much I eat because that can lead to major health problems in the future such as weight gain and even diabetes. That's pretty much how my "no butter baking" started. I do believe that one can enjoy sweets without being worried about consuming too much of the "empty calories". My food philosophy is - as long as it tastes good, I don't care if it's vegan or butter-less. If it tastes good to me, and still have that delicious taste, I don't have much of a concern. I think of it as a win-win situation (:

So, going back to cheesecake... I love cheesecake - especially the Godiva cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. But I haven't really had their cheesecake because it's sometimes too rich. It gives me that initial pleasure but afterward I start to develop headaches. So I try to not eat this as much because of the side effects that I've been getting personally. So I thought...there MUST be another way to enjoy cheesecake without too much sugar and oil. Well then, here you go - I have a solution for you! (and also to myself because I get to eat it!)