Valentine's Day Cupcakes for People Who Hate Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of the biggest days for all things baked, sugared, and chocolatey. But for many, the overabundance of red, white, and pink desserts is anything but sweet. Whether you're flying solo or trying to have a sane 2/14 with your significant other (or other significant), try these three cupcakes to satisfy your craving while still taking the edge off. The best part? You can add the add-on ingredients to a boxed cake mix, making these recipes cheap, easy, and tasty. Just like....oh, nevermind.

Guinness Cupcakes

Hey, St. Patrick's day is right around the corner. Get a head start on the Irish gold by incorporating a pint into your pint-size cakes. Guinness works incredibly well with chocolate, and topped with a store-bought cream cheese frosting you'll have a balance of flavor as bonny as a Dublin lass.

You'll need:

One bottle (12 oz) Guinness

Any Box Chocolate Cake Mix (plus additional ingredients called for on the box)

Combine a bottle of Guinness with the liquid ingredients for cake mix (usually butter/vegetable oil, eggs, and water). Follow other instructions as indicated on the box. Top with cream cheese (or vanilla) icing. And if you really need a drink, you can spike the frosting with some Bailey's. Cheers!

Wintery Citrus Cupcakes

For when you want to be anywhere but the cold, blustery, slushy mid-February doldrums, brighten up your yellow cake mix with some citrus and take yourself away to a tropical island for an afternoon.

You'll need:

Zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 orange, and 1 grapefruit

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Lime Juice

Any Box Yellow Cake Mix (plus additional ingredients called for on the box)

Add the citrus ingredients to wet ingredients for the cake mix. Bake as instructed. If you can't find lemon icing in the store, mix in lemon juice to taste into vanilla icing. Or, for a chocolate-orange sensation, top with chocolate frosting.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Fall seems like it just happened yesterday. Prolong that feeling and give your cupcakes a healthy edge at the same time. Red Velvet has the fruity, chocolatey twist that works incredibly well with autumnal spices. Using half of the liquids needed will let you incorporate the wet puree of pumpkin and cut at least 200 calories. Now that's a valentine that keeps on giving.

You'll need:

1 small can pumpkin puree

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Any Box Red Velvet or Yellow Cake Mix

Halve the liquid ingredients called for in the box cake mix (if you need to halve an egg, beat it completely first and then take half the amount of that egg). Add to that about a cup of pumpkin puree and mix with the dry ingredients, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Bake as instructed. Add some extra cinnamon to white icing to frost.