Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes

It’s hard not to love a chocolate cupcakes, but most of the time they’re loaded with sugar and if you use a box mix they can be full of preservatives and artificial additives. Not these! We have made our gluten-free cupcakes using organic ingredients, sugar alternatives plus a can of pumpkin to keep these healthy cupcakes moist and delicious without adding unhealthy calories.

Taste-tested by my entire family these cupcakes are a winner and everyone will love them!

Healthy Cupcake Ingredients

When it comes to baking healthy cupcakes it’s all about using trusted, safe ingredients. Trust me when I say, I’ve tried so many alternative ingredients and these are the products that are safe to eat AND still taste like what you expect.

• Navitas Organics Cacao Powder: Organic, Non-GMO, Fair Trade, Gluten-Free
• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour: Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Flour For Baking, Certified Paleo & Non-GMO Verified, Made From 100% Yuca Root
• Organic pumpkin puree: Pumpkin is extremely high in antioxidants and beta-carotene, which can help regenerate cells in the body making pumpkin a tasty and effective “anti-aging” food.
• Avocado Oil has a mild flavor and is a great alternative to vegetable oils that can be very inflammatory.
• Maple Syrup is our sugar alternative in this healthy cupcake recipe. Please read
  the ingredients on your maple syrup– there should only be ONE: pure maple syrup. If there are any others listed, throw it in the garbage!
• I use an egg in this recipe. You can actually skip it if you are egg-free. the pumpkin does a sufficient job holding these cupcakes together.
• The milk and vinegar create homemade buttermilk. I like making my own so that I can use goat milk. I haven’t experienced using nut milks but if you do, let me know how it turns out!
• You’re making gluten-free cupcakes so you have to be sure your baking powder is also gluten-free. When I started doing gluten-free baking I didn’t realize there was a difference so it’s worth mentioning!

Tips For Making This Gluten-Free Cupcakes Recipe

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Spoon your gluten-free flour into the measuring cup or use a scale to measure.

Mik the dry ingredients separate from the wet and when combining make sure you don’t over-mix.

Don’t overfill your muffin cups

Gluten-Free Cupcake Frosting Options

Greek Yogurt Frosting (sugar-free recipe)

Simple Mills Organic Chocolate Frosting (Premade, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Made with Organic Coconut Oil)

Quick Buttercream Frosting:

Use 6 oz of butter (or vegan butter) and 5 ounces of 70% (or higher) dark chocolate, roughly chopped.

Melt butter and dark chocolate together in a small saucepan until smooth, stirring constantly.

Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Once cooled, remove chocolate and whip with a handheld mixer for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Lather buttercream over cooled cupcakes.

Gluten-Free Vairations

Sprinkles are fun topping decoration but watch out for the generic ones in the grocery store, they are filled with harmful dyes and ingredients. I love Supernatural Sprinkles They are natural, nonpareils, contain no artificial dyes, are soy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.

Depending on the occasion, you may want to get creative with coloring your batter. Supernatural Food Coloring is my go-to food dye powder. It comes in 4 Natural Colors, No Artificial Dyes, Gluten-Free, and Vegan.

This healthy cupcake is also a perfect option for a baby’s first birthday. It’s highly recommended to refrain from introducing a baby to added sugar until later in life but who can say no to giving a one-year-old a cake to smash?

I’ve made this same cupcake recipe in small spring form pans for my son’s first birthday and it turned out wonderful!

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup 1 to 1 gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup cassava flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk (I use goats milk)
• 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar