Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes

After the Niners lost on Sunday, my family and I were upset, depressed, frustrated... It was a tough loss for the Niners but I have to say I'm proud of them for a great game and a great season!

My brother was especially upset and needed some good ol' sweets to cheer him up. So, in honor of the Niners (and my brother's lover for the dessert), I decided to make RED velvet cupcakes. I don't usually make desserts like this from a box, but it was lying around the house and we needed to use it eventually.

I hate that we used boxed cake mix BUT I did make some adjustments to make it my own AND to make it healthier. :)

You'll need:
1 box of red velvet cake mix
1/3 cup of apple sauce
1 cup of water
3 eggs
Oreos (optional)

Makes 24 cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cake mix, water, eggs, and apple sauce together. Substituting apples sauce for oil or butter reduces a lot of fat and calories but keeps all the yummy moisture. You can substitute apple sauce for butter in almost any baked good to make it a healthy rendition of your treat without sacrificing taste or texture.

My brother loves oreos, so for extra texture we crushed some up and sprinkled them on top before putting them in the oven.

Bake for 19-22 minutes.

For a few cupcakes, we also took half of an oreo (by just separating where the cream is) and placed it in the bottom of the cupcake paper to create a "crust" of sorts. The oreo softens a lot so texturally it's not that big of a difference, but the oreos on top can lend a nice, crunchy surprise. :)