Low Carb Keto Cupcakes Recipe

Everyone loves a classic vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, right?! I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who prefers chocolate cupcakes with a vanilla frosting. Either way you take your cupcakes, this classic keto cupcake recipe is the perfect dessert recipe to have in your arsenal for upcoming birthday parties or bake sales!

Can You Make Vanilla Cupcakes Keto/ Low Carb?

I’m here to tell and show you (in the video below) that low carb cupcakes will leave you satisfied and forgetting about the high carb sugar bombs you used to eat. These vanilla keto cupcakes are healthier for you and your family, all while still coming out moist, dense, and rich.

Low carb recipes can be difficult to make authentic. Our low carb chocolate frosting was tricky to create a perfect match, but we think we’ve finally nailed it! If you have been wanting to make keto cupcakes we’ve got you covered. Trust us, a gluten free and sugar free keto cupcake this good won’t steer you wrong!

Keto Cupcakes and Mug Cakes Galore!

I’ve always been a huge cupcake lover! I prefer it to cake, cookies or even brownies any day of the week. So, naturally I also love mug cakes. Our food blog has lots to choose from, but of course, I have to share some of my favorites with you here.

1. Red Velvet Cupcakes (cream cheese frosting – yum!)
2. Easy Chocolate Mug Cake (If you wanted gluten free chocolate cupcakes this is the recipe for you)
3. Keto Peanut Butter And Jelly Mug Cake– (If you know, you know ?)
4. Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes (Who doesn’t love pumpkin and cheesecake!?)

Almond Flour or Coconut Flour?

Both! There is a variety of moving parts which work together to create the perfect keto cupcake recipe. First, it’s important to know the ratio of almond to coconut flour in order to achieve the best consistency. 

Most keto baked goods use a mix of almond flour and coconut flour. Almond flour alone can be too soft and not absorbent enough to stay together after baked, while coconut flour is very absorbent and can often result in a dry crumbly baked good. A combination of the two however, is unbeatable! They balance each other out perfectly with almond flour for bulk and coconut flour for binding. Gluten free keto recipes don’t always have the right texture but thanks to finely milled almond flour these low carb cupcakes will remind you of your childhood.

If you’ve come to make the perfect keto cupcakes you’re in the right place! With only 3 net carbs per ENTIRE cupcake what are you waiting for? Go grab those ingredients and let’s get making this recipe!

Ingredients:

Keto Cupcakes

• 1.5 cups almond flour– Finely milled almond flour works great in this recipe to bulk up the batter. Plus by purchasing finely milled almond flour you get a more even crumb and uniform batter
• 1/4 cup coconut flour– Coconut flour provides a gluten free thickener that will help give this recipe structure.
• 1/2 cup erythritol– A keto friendly sweetener with no net carbs that works great in place of sugar. You can also try a granular erythritol and monk fruit mix like the one from Lakanto
• 2 tsp baking powder- Both baking powder and baking soda are used in this recipe because they help to create a light and fluffy cupcake
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt– Believe it or not, salt actually brings out the sweetness in baked goods! We always add a hint of salt to our keto recipes in order to give it that extra boost
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted– Grass -fed butter adds a nice high quality fat source with tons of flavor
• 1/2 tsp liquid stevia– a mix of both liquid stevia and erythritol create a sweet batter without any stomach irritation that a ton of sugar alcohols may cause.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract– These are vanilla cupcakes so don’t skimp on some high quality vanilla extract!

Keto Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature– room temperature is vital or the keto chocolate frosting will not blend smoothly
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder– Make sure the cocoa powder is 100% unsweetened. If you purchase one with sugar it will up the carbs and calories of this low carb chocolate frosting
• 1/3 cup powdered erythritol– If you don’t have powdered erythritol you can blend the granular erythritol in a coffee grinder until it has turned into a powder.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract– Vanilla extract brings out the slight vanilla notes in the keto cupcake base
• 10 drop liquid stevia– We use this in combination with erythritol so that the recipe is sweeter without a ton of sugar alcohols. You can try liquid monk fruit, but the sweeteners ratios may be a bit different.
• 1-2 tbsp heavy cream- This will help to cream and fluff all buttercream frosting ingredients together

How to Make Vanilla Keto Cupcakes & Low Carb Chocolate Frosting

If you were looking for chocolate cupcakes, lo siento amigo. We’re team vanilla cupcake and keto chocolate frosting all the way! Now that you’ve pulled out your ingredients and are ready to learn all about making the perfect easy keto cupcakes we can get started.

Instructions:

KETO CUPCAKES

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Next line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease a muffin tin with coconut oil spray. We love using silpat cupcake liners and molds for days we don’t want to lose any delicious batter in the paper. After prepping the tin, set it aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, erythritol, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. We try to mix everything well ahead of time so that there is no baking soda or baking powder pockets.
• In a separate bowl, mix eggs, melted butter, stevia, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, filing them ¾ of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. If your toothpick isn’t clean, you may need to adjust the cook time to include a few extra minutes.
• Allow to cool completely prior to frosting. I know it’s hard but you HAVE to be patient. Trust us the day your cupcake is too hot and melts the keto frosting you’re going to be sad.

KETO FROSTING

• Add the butter to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy. This is why room temp butter is important. No one wants chunks of butter in their keto/ low carb frosting. That’s also why we whip the butter first instead of both butter and sweetener at the same time.
• Next, add cocoa powder, swerve and vanilla to the bowl. Beat until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Start off slow so you don’t have an explosion of powder!
• If the low carb frosting is too thick, beat in a milk alternative or heavy cream, 1 tbsp at a time until frosting reaches desired consistency. Make sure to go slow, you can always add more but can’t take away an excess.

NOTES:

• Keto cupcakes are best stored in an air tight container in the fridge up to 10 days.
• Note: the nutrition facts below are for each frosted low carb cupcake if all of the keto frosting was used. If you don’t use all the frosting, the macros (fat grams in particular) will be much lower.

Cool Before Frosting!

I know it’s hard to wait, but this step is very crucial. If your keto vanilla cupcakes are not fully cooled, and/or room temperature the frosting will melt off and create a huge mess! This would be very unfortunate, especially if you took the time to pipe the frosting on to the cupcakes like seen in the photos!

You can quicken the cooling process of baked goods by putting them in the fridge or freezer, which is what we often do. You can even make these in advance, store the keto cupcakes and low carb frosting separately in the fridge, then assemble right before serving. This saves prep time by making everything the night before, and just assembling the keto cupcakes before a dinner party.

FAQS

I’m a Weirdo Who Wants Chocolate Cupcakes. Can I add Cocoa Powder? – Short answer yes. However after adding 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder you may need to add a tablespoon or so of nut milk to thin the batter a bit.

How to Fill Keto Cupcakes? – If you’re feeling adventurous and want to try making a low carb cupcake recipe filled with frosting then we’re here to help. Once your keto cupcake has cooled scoop a small bit of the center out. You can also use a large piping bag tip pushed in, and then pulled out to remove a chunk. Next take a piping bag and fill it with our recipe for the best keto buttercream. Using the piping bag, place the tip into the cupcake hole you made and squeeze out frosting to fill it. It may be time consuming at first, but worth it! The next time you make these cupcakes you’ll be knocking them out like a pro.

Does Buttercream Frosting Need to be Refrigerated? – Buttercream frosting can last at room temp for two days, however we recommend storing them in the fridge just to be safe.

Does Keto Buttercream Harden?– If you want a more set up keto buttercream you may need to change your ratios. This is a creamy buttercream that will set temporarily in the fridge as the butter cools. However, if you want a more permanently firm buttercream you will need to add more powdered sugar substitute (like keto friendly erythritol). This WILL CHANGE the sweetness levels of this recipe. If you don’t mind an extra sweet frosting recipe go ahead and use a little extra sweetener powder.

Can I Frost my Keto Cupcakes Without a Piping Bag? – For sure! Piping bags make this keto buttercream recipe look like it was store bought, but if you don’t have any fancy tools you can just frost with a knife or spoon. This will give a more rustic look, but still taste delicious. Alternatively you can use a ziplock bag full of frosting and just cut the corner off so that it pipes smooth.

How to Store Chocolate Cupcakes

The best way to store this recipe depends on what you plan on doing with the remaining cupcakes. If you plan on consuming them within the next few hours for a party, storing them in the fridge should be sufficient

5-7 Days- Store the keto cupcakes in an airtight container inside of your fridge to prevent spoilage or mold growth.

8-10 Days- If you are going to eat them slowly (which we doubt they’ll last that long) then you may want to consider storing the icing and cupcake separate. Place both into airtight containers and assemble when ready to consume. The frosting recipe could dry out a bit and the cupcake bases recipe may get too wet if left in the fridge combined too long.

Easy Keto Cupcakes

These vanilla keto cupcakes with chocolate frosting are going to be the hit of your next birthday bash! You can even snag some low carb sprinkles and decorate them for a more festive look. Feel free to use the keto cupcake recipe as a base, and jazz it up with fillings and spices.

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