Mini Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tender little one-bite paleo mini carrot cake cupcakes, filled with carrots and naturally sweetened with pineapple and maple syrup.

These Mini Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes are perfect for those times when you just want a bite, not a whole cupcake! They’re grain-free and made without refined sugar to provide a healthi-er treat. (And without the frosting, they’re a paleo treat, too.)

These are simply the best mini carrot cake cupcakes I’ve ever had. And they’re ideal for young kids who usually just want to lick the frosting and have a tiny bite!

A blend of almond flour, coconut flour and eggs provide the structure for these one-bite cupcakes, and they’re sweetened naturally with crushed pineapple, maple syrup and honey. Two cups of carrots add fiber to your diet as well as Vitamin A, essential minerals and antioxidants.

Tips for making mini gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes

• Mix the ingredients by hand. You don’t need an electric mixer for this recipe. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, then combine.
• Since gluten-free cupcakes and muffins don’t rise in the same way that baked goods made with wheat do, I slightly overfill the muffin tins by adding a little extra batter to make the tops appear rounded once they’re baked.
• This easy recipe will make about 36 mini cupcakes (or 24 mini cupcakes and 4 regular cupcakes), depending on the size of your muffin pan. I used Wilton pans for this recipe.
• These healthy flourless cupcakes are delicious even without the frosting. Topping them with a swirl of maple cream cheese icing makes them fancy enough for a special occasion, but frosting is not essential. They’re tasty all on their own.
• I like adding finely chopped pecans to these cupcakes, but you can leave them out if you like. If you like raisins, add 1/2 to 1 cup instead.

Let’s talk about this Maple Cream Cheese Frosting! So good! Many traditional cream cheese icing recipes call for 8 ounces of cream cheese, butter and up to 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar! I found that adding only 1/4 cup of maple syrup made the frosting sweet enough for me, but you can add a little more if you like it sweeter. You can also substitute a zero-calorie sweetener, like powdered Swerve, to sweeten this frosting recipe.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before topping with a quick swirl of frosting. Since the icing contains dairy products, frosted cupcakes should be stored in the fridge.

Can I freeze these mini gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes?

Yes! They freeze well, but it’s best to freeze them without frosting. Stored in an airtight container, they should last for 4 to 6 months. Freeze the maple cream cheese frosting separately.

Mini Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Course: Baked Goods

Cuisine: Canadian, American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 36 mini muffins

Calories: 115kcal

Author: Flavour & Savour

These tender, moist mini gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes with pineapple are made without grains or refined sugar. Baked with almond flour and coconut flour, they're naturally sweetened with pineapple and maple syrup. You won't need any special equipment to mix up a batch of these one-bite cupcakes. Great for kids' lunches.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups carrots finely grated
• 1 cup crushed pineapple well drained, if using canned
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup pecans finely chopped

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/4 cup salted butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or up to 1/3 cup depending on taste
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350F and line 24 mini muffin tins with paper or reusable liners or grease well with coconut oil.
• In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sweeteners and eggs.
• Stir in carrots and well-drained crushed pineapple.
• In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients--almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in pecans.
• Spoon into mini muffin tins. A cookie scoop works well. Fill muffin tins, then add a little more batter on the top of each to make a rounded top once they are baked.*see note below
• Bake for 18 - 23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Let sit in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Serve as is or frost with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• Blend cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add maple syrup and vanilla and beat until well combined. Frost cupcakes when completely cool.

Notes

* Since gluten-free muffins don't rise in the same way that muffins made with wheat do, I slightly overfill the muffin tins by adding a little extra batter to make the tops appear rounded once they're baked.

You can substitute 1/2 cup coconut sugar for half the sweetener. (Use 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup coconut sugar.)

This recipe will make approximately 36 mini muffins or 24 mini muffins and 4 regular muffins, depending on the size of your muffin pan. I used Wilton pans for this recipe.

Without frosting, these cupcakes are suitable for a paleo diet.

Calorie count does not include frosting.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1mini cupcake | Calories: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 83mg | Potassium: 72mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 24.5% | Vitamin C: 2.4% | Calcium: 2.3% | Iron: 2.3%

If you make these mini carrot cake cupcakes, let me know in the comments section below!

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