I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while. These pictures? Taken for my children’s birthday last October. My friend Rachel made a variation of these as a gluten free alternative for her baked-goods booth at the farmer’s market in Montana, and they were well received there too!
For young children you may want to make some in mini muffin tins, as coconut flour baked goods are very filling. Just reduce the cooking time by half and check for doneness.
Orange-Vanilla Grain Free Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil butter, or ghee (buy coconut oil here, buy ghee here)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 8-10 pitted dates pureed, or 1/8 cup honey or grade B maple syrup (maple syrup is not GAPS legal, but some people are okay with it)
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate optional
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract optional
- 1/2 cup coconut flour buy coconut flour here
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin with coconut oil or use cupcake liners. If using cupcake liners, drop approx 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil in the bottom of each liner and place in the oven while combining ingredients- the oil will wick up the liner to grease it, a healthier alternative to pressurized baking sprays.
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In a food processor, blender, or in a bowl with a whisk, combine all ingredients, using a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure the coconut flour is mixed in well. Spoon batter into muffin cups evenly, filling 3/4 full.
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Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool and frost with Simple Meringue Frosting if desired! These freeze well and be taken along to birthday parties for your children.
Stevia Version: I know that many people are sensitive to carbs, I tried replacing the sweetener in this recipe with stevia and it worked wonderfully. I cut the orange juice concentrate down to 1 tablespoon and used 10 ‘servings’ (10 little scoops from our Trader Joe’s stevia powder- it’s all a little different but you can adjust for how yours comes) in the recipe to replace the sweetener, omitting the honey, dates, or maple syrup.
Otherwise the recipe is the same! Turned out wonderfully- and I normally don’t care for stevia that much, though my children think it’s wonderful.
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Great, thanks for the options that you always present to us. Greetings from Venezuela
oh, these look so good!!And so does the frosting recipe.thanks so much!!
****Drool***
Great!
are these ‘sweet’ like standard cupcakes? and could be a birthday treat alternative?
Yes, that’s what i use them for! You can add sweetner to taste, these are ‘medium to low’ sweetness :)
Are you going to the Wise Traditions conference in Dallas? You are my favorite real food blogger.
Aww, thank you :) I will if I can afford it! I need to pay for airfare for not only me but the kids also and someone to help watch them during the conference. I’d love to meet my readers there, I really hope I can!
Why is the vanilla extract listed twice?
Because I spaced it- use the tablespoon! Going to go edit! :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I need recipes like this!!
I am going to make these tomorrow, but use our fresh peaches or blueberries, instead of the zest and juice.
Laura, that sounds great! Yum :) Blessed- yes, so do I, but it’s hot to bake so I haven’t been up for experimenting much! Hopefully more will follow this fall :)
I loved the date option
I’m still skeptical of stevia even though I think it’s better than splenda. I mean, sugar is also from a “natural” source. Anyone have any thoughts on stevia, good or bad? I’ve used unsweetened applesauce in some recipes instead of oil and sugar but again we run into preservatives instead..
I understand, stevia is from a plant, so it’s for sure better than splenda. My special needs kid does much better on a low carb diet, so I use stevia to sweeten things for her. If she wasn’t, I’d use honey or fruit :)
Stevia is from a plant, therefore it’s better than splenda?
Not all plants are safe (poison ivy comes to mind).
Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends avoiding stevia, which is very much like a steroid in its molecular composition. This means the body can mistake it for a steroid. Part of the stevia molecule can fit in the steroid receptors on cell membranes, and who knows what happens after that since the rest of the molecule doesn’t work like the steroid would. Use it sparingly.
I tried to use stevia in a couple recipes and it has a very distinct flavor. Ius the liquid form all the time in my tea. But for baked goods maybe try half of what it calls for
I made them today! YUMMO!! The boy was all over me thanking me for making them, lol.
Stevia is an herb, but there are various degrees of processing in products you buy by the name. I can’t use it, it makes my tounge hurt pretty badly, but it tastes great!
I made these this morning with ground flax seed and a banana and they were amazing. Great recipe Cara-thanks!
Jane
I rely on your website a lot. I tired to make these as small pies (4 in) and they came out great, but caved in. Any suggestions?
My cupcakes turned out very dense and too moist in the center, yet crumbly. The texture is simply horribly, horribly wrong. I’m new to Paleo baking, so any ideas on what I did wrong? The vanilla orange scent is amazing, so I’m willing to give these another go if I had any idea how to make them light and fluffy.
Do you happen to know if these freeze well? Does the frosting as well? I’m needing treats the school can keep on hand for my kiddos when someone shows up with something for the class. Thanks!
Anyway to make this an egg less recipie? Would making flax eggs change the texture or taste?