I am happy to introduce gluten free vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and continue on my coconut flour recipe roll. I have been making (and testing) this dessert for close to two years and it is one of my personal favorites. I think it might be a hit with you too based on reports from taste testing friends.
Passover really threw me for a loop. It wasn’t the guests we had visit for the holiday. It was the 100 matzo balls for my son’s third grade seder. That, plus charoset and maror for everyone at the event. My house was overtaken by a cooking frenzy last week; I focused on that and nothing else (except my children).
Now everything has calmed down and I am happily back to this blog! I have been thrilled by the amount of chat in the comments over here. I have also received so many lovely emails from people thanking me for these recipes and all I can say is –you’re welcome! It is wonderful to love what you do and ALSO be appreciated for it. That is the proverbial icing on the cupcake.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour, sifted
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- ½ cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
- In a small bowl, blend together eggs, grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
- Mix wet ingredients into dry and blend with a mixer or hand blender until smooth
- Pour batter into well oiled muffin pan
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes
- Cool completely
- Top with chocolate frosting
Equipment
My friend Patricia claims she and her son have fought each other over these cupcakes. I hope you like them as much as she does.
JM says
I should try this recipe exactly as it is to compare, but I made them for the first time with several substitutions and really can’t stop eating them, yum. I replaced canola oil for the grapeseed oil and used regular Trader Joe’s sea salt instead of celtic sea salt. Then, instead of bringing myself to use 6 eggs, I used 2 eggs plus replacements for 4 eggs (1: 1/4 cup mashed banana, 2: 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt [I used nonfat Greek] with 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 3: 1 Tbsp. flaxseed soaked in 3 Tbsp water until gooey, 4: same as #3, so a TOTAL of 2 Tbsp flaxseed and 6 Tbsp. water). The cupcakes turned out really dense and moist, but that is how I love cake instead of fluffy and airy, and the flaxseed added a nuttiness that you may (or may not) like. I needed to bake them a couple minutes less too, because the bottoms were too done.
I will definitely make these again, but next time I am going to use 4 eggs with the yogurt/baking powder substitute, less or no flaxseed, and maybe reduce a little of the oil and substitute applesauce.
Thanks for a great recipe!!
LisaC says
Regarding substitutions
Just want to answer a few folks’ questions about substitutions from my own personal experience; I know tips about baking gluten-free can be helpful.
For those asking about replacing grapeseed oil for coconut oil: yes, substitute 1:1 and it’ll still turn out great. I’ve baked Elana’s recipes using cocounut oil 1:1 and they’ve all turned delicious.
You CAN use regular salt in place of Celtic sea salt. Regular salt is a lot more potent, so I’d use 1/4 of whatever sea salt measurement a recipe calls for. For instance, I used a little less than 1/4 teaspoon of regular salt for this recipe. This recipe above calls for 1/2 teaspoon, I just guess at 1/4. Cupcakes turned out great.
I did add a bit more baking soda as I’ve read comments that the cupcakes fall after cooling. I used about a pinch more baking soda.
Although the cupcakes were delicious, the texture was a bit dense, I do wonder if using 1 less egg would help. I will try that next time.
Colleen K. Peltomaa says
Did you ever test using coconut flour with yeast to make a yeast-risen dough? How can one make that work using coconut flour. I want to fry up some real fluffy and light dough balls using a mild flavored non-gluten flour, thank you.
Cheryl Shireman says
Elana, Can I use Almond flour instead of coconut flour in the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes? Thanks, Cheryl
bella says
I have made the batter and it is super runny. Is that how it is supposed to be? I am baking them anyway so we will see how they come out. I don’t know whether to bother with muffin liners now.
Debbie says
I’ve made the Vanilla cupcakes twice now and both times they come out of the oven perfect. However, after sitting for half an hour to cool, they collapse to almost half of their original size. What am I doing wrong? I did use almond flour instead of coconut because that’s I had on hand. I would love some help!!!!
teri says
Hi Elana~
Help! I’m bummed! I did try your Bread recipe and am very happy with the results (I can fool myself into thinking it really is bread!) but, this vanilla cupcake recipe is the only other recipe I have tried and I must say, for me it was a disappointment (especially having used expensive organic eggs). The only change I made was to sub olive oil for grapeseed oil as I have used olive for everything for years with only good results. My cupcakes tasted like Playdoh smells… What can you suggest? Could it really be the substitution of oil that made that much difference? Or must my tastebuds get used to a whole new world? I’ve done gluten free in the past and been satisfied with my baking results, but now must go grain free. Any help for my disappointed tastebuds?
teri
Tracy says
I find that using olive oil as a substitute in dessert type recipes never works out. The strong olive oil tsate makes the dessert really unpleasant. Olive oil can work very well in savory type baked goods like breads, but for dessert and sweet treats you’ll want to use a different type of oil such as the grapeseed oil recommended in the recipe or even coconut oil.
Alice says
Help! I need to make gluten free cupcakes for a friends wedding so was thrilled to find this recipe. However, I must be missing something with the grape seed oil as it was thick, dark green and smelt overpowering. Needless to say the cakes (which had a lovely consistency) tasted solely of this and were destined for the bin :-(
Can anyone help me understand what went wrong and exactly which oil I should use? I am I. Switzerland and bought mine in France…. Thanks!
Maria says
I made the vanilla cupcakes using the recipe from the book (slightly different from this one – 2 less eggs and 2 tblsp coconut flour) and I substituted the agave syrup for Dextrose and it didn’t work. I didn’t get a batter consistency. Instead I had to scoop mixture off spoon into casings. They turned out like rock cakes – visually – but were soft and dense. What should the batter be like and can you only substitute agave for another liquid?
Maria says
Sorry I should have added it was 2 EXTRA tbsp of coconut flour
Theresa Hoffman says
Is it possible to use another flour other than cocoanut? I am highly allergic to cocoanut. I would love to try this reciepe. Thank You