Healthy Substitute Suggestions for Chamomile Cupcake Recipe?

You can use a can of full-fat coconut milk. Make sure the full contents of your can are solid and super thick; if they aren't, you can empty contents into a bowl and leave it in the fridge overnight. Beat it and add honey, stevia, agave, or whatever you want. Even though coconut is high in fat, it is the good kind of fat that is much healthier than butter.

You're reading way too much into the answers. Jo asked for "a slimmed-down, healthier" version. No answer was disrespectful. She was given other alternatives to cut down the calories. She was given an explanation as to why substitutions would not yield good results. I don't see the disrespect in suggesting less frosting or less cupcake. The basic message from almost all the posts is " Do not try to change the recipe". I think everyone tried in some way to let her have her cake ( pun intended) and make it healthier or slimmed down.

Hi,
I would attempt with cutting the 2 sticks of butter to one stick, and 1/2C of apple sauce. Reduce sugar to 1/2 C and use whole wheat flour instead of white. You can also substitute the 1/2C of milk with almond milk, but that's not going to make much of a difference because it's so little. As for the frosting, you can try a Greek yogurt frosting but it won't be nearly as good. Hope this helps.

I'm not an expert on subbing in baking either, but an easy way to cut calories is to get rid of the frosting, as halfpint suggests. If you don't want to get rid of it entirely or sub a 7 min frosting, you might try making a cream cheese frosting using light cream cheese. Still, won't be low fat.

Now I think i sounded like i'made the assumption that Jo can't limit her fat or sugar intake, which is not what I meant to do! I was just making an argument for the validity of the question! Ok, I'm done now...

Well, while the abovementioned suggestions to - eat less of the higher-fat/sugar version make perfect sense in a perfect world, limiting fat/sugar intake is not so easy for everyone. We don't know the reasons behind the question, but sometimes those reasons can be quite complex, and IMHO also worthy of respect. While limiting fat/sugar might not be a difficult issue for me personally, I still believe that everyone should be able to work out their diet in their own way. Sadly, I'm not much of a baker so I don't really have an answer to the question; I just wrote in to say that I think that I think it's a valid question.

Please note I have not tried what I am about to suggest, but you could try substituting 1/3 cup canola oil for 1/2 cup of the butter in the cake recipe if saturated fats are a concern. I use that substitution often when making cookies.

I'm confused. I don't see any unhealthful ingredients in the recipe -- butter, sugar, flour, milk, eggs -- all good, nutritious foods. And quite tasty I'm sure. Grammar aside, what's the issue? If it's calories, nutcakes has the right idea. Half a batch = half the calories with all the flavor. Or share them at work. Or invite a few friends over. Stressing out over a treat now and then diminishes all the joy…

A healthy slimmer's version would be an altogether different recipe. My advice would be to make these either smaller cupcakes or eat less of them. Baking is not a place where you can easily switch out ingredients and have good results. Cake itself isn't fat-dense, like a brownie or a cookie. You might cut a few calories if you use a lowfat frosting like a 7-minute frosting which is basically sugar and egg whites. Here's a recipe that does not require corn syrup, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/7-minute-frosting-recipe/index.html
You still have the sugar, but there's almost no fat in this frosting.

I'm not up to figuring all that out, sorry. But I'd keep the buttercream make 1/2 batch and just use a modest amount. Otherwise, if you really want to cut the indulgence, just dust with powdered sugar when cooled.