My 3 year old is turning 4 and requested cupcakes to share with some friends. Awww, how sweet, right?!?!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!! This Paleo mama sucks at Paleo baked goods. So, I’m smiling at my adorable, little princess and thinking, “CRAP…how in the world am I going to make cupcakes?” Aha! I have almond flour and I’m pretty good with it.
Wait, does no peanuts mean no almonds? Because, if we get technical, a peanut is a legume so if you are allergic to peanuts then you probably aren’t allergic to almonds…right? I wonder…and wonder…and reach out to my Facebook fans for help.
The winning verdict: use coconut flour and don’t play with almond fire! Which by the way is so contradictory. So, let me get this right: you can’t bring nuts to school because someone in the class is allergic to it, but you can bring gluten-laden garbage? Not fair!
Anyways, I went with a vanilla cupcake, a chocolate ganache frosting, and pink sprinkles! The only thing not Paleo was the pink sprinkles! I think I did pretty darn good! And….her little friends gobbled it up!!!
Here’s the recipes that I used…
Very Vanilla Cupcakes (using coconut flour):
Cupcake Ingredients (makes 8 cupcakes):
- 1/2 cup of coconut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup of coconut oil or butter (your choice)
- 1/2 cup of honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- seeds from a vanilla bean (optional)
(click here to view the recipe)
My opinion: I was SHOCKED how moist and delicious these cupcakes are. I was debating about using another recipe that didn’t have any oil but I remember how coconut oil just sucks up moisture and I wanted to make sure the cupcakes were moist. This recipe is a KEEPER!
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
This ganache is delicious and you can sub coconut milk for the heavy cream. I did that the last time I made it. And the author of this recipe now has a AWESOME cookbook available with TONS of recipes!
Ganache Recipe:
- 1.5 cups of chocolate chips
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
(click here to be taken to the recipe)
…and all this I did for my little princess ON MY BIRTHDAY! Yes, today is my birthday. However, I do get to pick out where we are going to eat for lunch. I say Vinne Van Go Go’s Pizza and some beer (***runs and hides***)!!!
I just made this and oh my goodness. They are so YUMMY!
Did you use the ganache on them? Aren’t they good?! I was so surprised!!!
These are so great! Just did a trial run- they turned out awesome. I will be making these next week for my little one’s first birthday! I didn’t do the ganache. Instead I topped them with pureed strawberries to go with our Valentine’s Day theme.
Pureed strawberries?!?!?! What a great idea!!! I saw a whipped strawberry topping too that looked great!
Hi, I had a question…did you use coconut oil? Your statement left me confused as to if you avoided it or used it. Thanks in advance. 🙂
“My opinion: I was SHOCKED how moist and delicious these cupcakes are. I was debating about using another recipe that didn’t have any oil but I remember how coconut oil just sucks up moisture and I wanted to make sure the cupcakes were moist. This recipe is a KEEPER!”
Oops it should say coconut flour sucks up moisture!
Great, that makes sense now! Can’t wait to try these! 🙂
These are baking right now, going to do the whipped frosting!
Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said moist! Unbelievable. I didn’t have cupcake liners so I just greased the pan, and they are impossible to get out.. haha. They are so moist I am tearing them open trying to pull them out. Looks like I need to buy cupcake liners. This one is a keeper though, awesome!
Haha…oh yes you need cupcake liners…with all Paleo baking! Glad you liked them!
I made these for my daughters 1st birthday, with the whipped ganache, and they were such a MASSIVE success that I am making them again for Mothers day!
Just a tip, don’t substitute the coconut flour for almond meal with this recipe! Mine were perfect the first time I made them using coconut flour, the second time using almond meal DISASTER! Luckily, I made them 2 days ahead so I have time to go out and buy some more coconut flour and try again!
haha…thanks for the tip!
These 5/10 comments delay dropped in my email on 5/14 which is funny because it was my birthday! I was going to forgo any baking but couldn’t resist trying these since it makes 8. These were great! I just put a few Enjoy Life mini chips on top to have some chocolate taste but to watch the sugar. Definitely will try with pureed strawberries next time. I am also thinking of ways to use this for a great base…maybe pureed strawberries in them or mix mini chips throughout. Yum!
Thumbs way up on this recipe. I also gave these a trial run in preparation for my little one’s birthday and I was very impressed! I used coconut oil because I have more of it instead of the butter. Can I tell you how relieved I am to have a fall- back recipe for special occasions now. I’ve tried many paleo baked goods recipes and that generally result in disappointment. Thank you again!
So glad it worked for you!!!
Just wanted to let you know that I took the leftover cupcakes and yummy low-carb frosting I made and mixed it all together and I’m making paleo cake pops!! A fun way to utilize what was left over so it didn’t go to waste and so I wouldn’t constantly be eating it. 🙂
YUM!!! Great idea!!!
Vinnie van go go’s! Yummy!!!! Went to college in Savannah, so missing it right now :). Great recipe! Thanks!!
I miss it daily. We moved recently and I can’t find anything like it. That’s why I don’t eat Pizza once a week anymore.
Will these chill in the fridge well overnight? Worried the frosting might do something weird! 🙂
Yes!!! The frosting will be fine overnight if you are whipping the ganache
How would you convert these to chocolate cupcakes, I want to to 1/2 vanilla 1/2 choc for my 3 yr olds b-day
I, honestly, don’t know. I don’t know if adding cocoa powder will mess with the wet/dry ingredients or not.
1/3 cup of what type of oil or butter?… Thank you!!
You can use either coconut oil or butter
What brand or kind of chocolate chips do you use?
I use ENjoy Life…they are soy free.
Going to try these- did you do the optional seeds of vanilla bean?
No I did not!
Trying these out for my daughter’s b-day- how did you get the icing on them without it going all over the place since it is so liquid like after melting- did you let it cool a bit and then spread it on or pour it? What did you do? They look nice.
Wonderful! Thank you. The best advice I’ve ever gotten for working w/coconut flour is to set you eggs out in advance to warm them to room temp. But if you forget just set them in a bowl in the sink and run warm water over them.
I just went w/a simple butter/honey and vanilla frosting. Perfect.
Going to try these…. So is your daughter born on your birthday? I thought that’s what I read, cus my daughter is born on mine! Thought that was funny:) thanks for the recipie
I just finished baking these and I can’t wait to try them! Just one question though, did you melt the coconut oil before adding it to the dry ingredients? Thank you!
Yes I did!
Going to try these out today for the little boy I take care of during the day. My daughter and I eat paleo and I want to eat the cupcakes too! Hahaha. We can’t have milk/dairy so I’m hoping to try the ganache with a thick full fat coconut milk. Might be a total fail. But I’m going to give it a shot. At least I know the cupcakes will be yummy!
Could this become a cake recipe rather than cupcakes? Size of pan and bake time advice if possible?
Haven’t gotten any advice from my first contact attempt. Hoping to make a smash cake w recipe if you think it will bake well whole versus cupcakes ?
Hi, Have you tried using this recipe & making a cake instead of cupcakes? I’m looking for a recipe for a cake to make for my son’s 1st birthday in a few weeks! I will definitely try the cupcakes too but would like to make him an actual cake too! Thanks ?
I’m sure you could make a cake using this recipe. You will need to bake it longer, and watch it carefully the first time to determine just how long to leave it in the oven.
How many calories in each cupcake without the ganache? I’m looking to make my own birthday cupcakes but with a twist. I’m having a creepy birthday party where the tops of the cupcakes look like brains haha and I need to know how many calories the cupcakes are individually due to the fact that I’m on a VERY strict diet and I would like to know what I’m taking in 🙂
I’m sorry but I do not have a calorie count on these. Paleo does not concentrate on calorie count, but rather on healthy ingredients.
I made a double recipe of this in a pie plate last week, and it was so good that I’m making a quadruple recipe in a sheet cake pan tonight for my husband’s birthday tomorrow! Thanks for a delicious recipe!
And time i have ever used coconut flour thats all it tastes like is that what these taste like?
how is this enough flour? i made it and it looks like soup so I added more coconut flour and then it was too dry looking…
I’m excited to try this for my son’s 2nd birthday, but the link for the chocolate ganache doesn’t work. Could someone please post that recipe?