Mini Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These one-bite gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes are made without grains or refined sugar. Baked with almond flour and coconut flour, they're naturally sweetened with pineapple and maple syrup. Great for kids' lunches.
1cupcrushed pineapple,well drained, if using canned.*
1cupalmond flour
½cupcoconut flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
2teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonsalt
1cuppecans,finely chopped
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
8ozcream cheese,at room temperature
¼cupsalted butter,at room temperature
¼cupmaple syrup,or up to ⅓ cup depending on taste
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
Instructions
Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F and line mini muffin tins with paper or reusable liners, or grease very well with coconut oil.
Open a can of crushed pineapple and set aside to drain very thoroughly.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sweeteners and eggs.
Stir in finely grated carrots and very 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.
Gently stir in finely chopped 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
Coconut oil produces a softer cupcake. I prefer using butter in this recipe.One 14 oz. (398 ml) can of crushed pineapple will yield 1 cup of well-drained pineapple.You can substitute ½ cup coconut sugar for half the sweetener. (Use ¼ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup honey and ½ cup coconut sugar.) 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.This recipe will make approximately 36 mini muffins or 24 mini muffins and 6 regular muffins, or 12 large regular muffins, depending on the size of your muffin pan. I used Wilton pans for this recipe. Bake a cake! You can also bake this batter in an 8-inch square pan. Bake for 35 - 38 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Without frosting, these cupcakes are suitable for a paleo diet if you use coconut oil.Calorie count does not include frosting.