Let’s celebrate independence!  Independence Day, or 4th of July is coming up in the U.S., celebrating our freedom from England.  Let’s also celebrate freedom from compulsive overeating, and freedom from fat!  Here is a great and delicious recipe for Independence Day.  It’s a recipe for 4th of July Cupcakes, low fat, lower sugar, and high flavor.  They look like little flags!

This recipe is lower fat, and lower sugar, but relies on delicious fruit, that happens to also be the colors of the American flag.  Serve these at picnics, parties and fireworks festivals!  Yield – 12 cupcakes

Line a muffin pan with cupcake paper cups.  Preheat oven to 325.

Ingredients:

1 cup egg whites (approximately 5 eggs)

1 ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch of salt

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup blueberries

1 cup strawberries (diced into ¼” bits)

In a medium mixing bowl (preferably glass or ceramic) beat the first 3 ingredients until the whites are stiff and form peaks.  This can take several minutes, don’t give up!  Then add the sugar, honey, vanilla and almond extracts.  Mix until combined, but please don’t over mix.

Gently fold in ½ cup blueberries, and ½ cup strawberries into the batter, with a tablespoon.  Add the remaining pieces of fruit to the tops of each cupcake.

Gently spoon into the prepared cupcake paper cups and bake approximately 30-40 minutes.

Optional variation:  instead of placing fruit on the tops of the cupcakes for a very low-sugar treat, you could make a frosting with confectioners sugar and butter, and add the fruit to the top of the frosted cupcakes, but that’s of course, much higher fat and sugar!