Oh my god, seriously, this recipe will blow your mind. I was testing a method and accidentally made marshmallow fluff. So my failure is now your win because this marshmallow fluff is UNREAL. It tops these keto smores cupcakes perfectly.
The batter is smores-flavored, spiked with a touch of cinnamon. The recipe creates a soft crumb that is moist and tender. The cupcakes get topped with a rich chocolate ganache and a big dollop of sticky sweet marshmallow fluff.
These keto smores cupcakes are :
- Low carb
- Refined sugar-free
- Gluten-free, and
- Keto-friendly
Low Carb Smores Cupcakes
This recipe is a doozy.
There are a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps. Nothing is complicated; it’s just time-consuming since you are making homemade ganache and marshmallow fluff. Don’t let that dissuade you. The ganache takes no time at all to make, and you can make a HUGE batch of marshmallow fluff in about 15 minutes from start to finish.
This fluff is made with allulose, and it has no aftertaste. If anything, I feel like it tastes sweeter than regular marshmallow fluff, but the texture is SO close.
If you ever had boiled icing in your past, it’s somewhere between that and the bottle of sugar marshmallow fluff you find at the grocery store.
What Sugar replacements work best in this recipe?
There are a few recipes in this post, due to the toppings. Each layer has different sweetener requirements based on the qualities and properties of the sweeteners.
Preferred sweeteners for the cupcake batter
You can use your favorite 1:1 sweeteners in this recipe. I used So Nourished powdered monk fruit erythritol blend because that is currently my go-to favorite. Erythritol, swerve, xylitol, monk fruit, all will work at a 1:1 ratio.
Allulose works exceptionally well in this recipe as does Bocca Sweet.
If you’re gluten-free and want to use straight-up sugar, add an extra 30% sugar to the recipe.
In this cupcake batter, I also used a sugar-free smores flavored syrup. It is optional, but it sure does add that extra smores flavor. I REALLY like this smores syrup, it’s excellent in protein shakes and coffee. It’s sweetened with liquid sucralose, and I know a lot of you are not into sucralose, so if this is you, skip it. The cinnamon adds that little bit of graham cracker flavor we want.
If you leave out the syrup, replace it with an extra 1/3 cup of almond milk and an additional 2 tablespoons of your preferred sweetener.
What sweeteners work for the marshmallow fluff?
The only sweetener that works for the marshmallow fluff is allulose.
I tried this recipe in the past with erythritol (before I knew any better), and of course, it failed.
Erythritol and xylitol do not cook or carmelize the same way that allulose does. Allulose bakes up similar to regular sugar, with a few exceptions.
In this recipe, the allulose gets cooked to 260F. Unlike sugar, the allulose needs to be brought up to temperature slowly. Burning allulose will create a very bitter “off” flavor in your finished dessert. If you slow cook the allulose up to 260F, you get a perfectly smooth sticky sweet marshmallow fluff with no burnt bitter aftertaste.
Answers about Sweeteners, Low Carb Baking Tips, and General FAQ
For more detailed information about must-have baking tools and answers about sugar replacements, you can check out these FAQ pages.
We also have a handy sweetener replacement chart you can download for free!
Our FAQ Pages have answers to your biggest low carb baking questions including:
Tips for Baking With Almond Flour
Tips for Baking with Coconut Flour
Guides for Allulose, Monk Fruit, and Erythritol.
Substitutes for Xanthan Gum.
Notes to make sure your cupcake batter turns out perfect every time
Low-carb baking is sometimes quite challenging. Almond flour, for instance, is dense, and it takes a bit of effort to get it to rise correctly.
These are the steps that I follow every time to make sure that my cupcake, cake, and muffin batters rise perfectly and turn out well.
The importance of sifting
- Sift your dry ingredients. All of them. Erythritol, coconut flour, and almond flour, in particular, are quite lumpy, and you need to work out those lumps and work some air into the dry ingredients.
Whip those egg whites
- Whip those eggs until they are super light and frothy. The more air you can whip into your eggs, the lighter the cupcake will be in the end.
Is your baking powder still viable?
- If you’re having trouble getting a rise from you baked good, double-check your baking powder to make sure it is still viable. A tiny bit of vinegar over a bit of the baking powder on a plate will tell you if it is still good or not. If it bubbles wildly, it’s okay. If it does nothing, it’s time for a new container. The best before date doesn’t always guarantee the baking powder still has power.
Avoid overbeating and over-browning.
- When adding the wet ingredients into the dry, do not overbeat. Gently folding the ingredients together with a spatula works perfectly.
- Ten minutes into baking, cover the cupcakes with a loose piece of tin-foil to prevent overcooking. Coconut flour tends to over-brown, and adding the tin foil slows that process down.
Tips for making the low carb ganache
Ganache is easy. A little too easy if you ask me. Having a bowl of it hanging around only welcomes a taste here and a taste there, and while you weren’t looking, I had another quick taste.
- The heavy cream to chocolate ratio is 1:1. We add 1/2 cup of microwaved warmed heavy cream to 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. I used Lilly’s dark chocolate for this recipe, but milk chocolate would be fantastic.
- Once you pour the warm cream over the chocolate, let it sit for 4 minutes without stirring.
- Use a whisk and stir the ganache until it is smooth and thick. Leave it for 1-2 minutes to cool a tiny bit. We don’t want it to cool to the point where it hardens; it still needs to be pourable, but not runny.
- Dip the cupcake tops into the ganache for a second or two.
- Make sure the top of the cupcake is completely coated. Re-dip cupcake areas that didn’t coat with the chocolate.
- Let the ganache cool on the countertop until the tops are no longer glossy.
The Magical marshmallow fluff and those roasted smores tops.
This marshmallow fluff has opened up a whole bevy of recipes that I couldn’t make before. I think it would make an excellent filling for whoopie pies, or a fabulous cake frosting.
It is quite easy to pull together and lasts for days in the fridge without any crystallization. It stays smooth and sticky the entire time.
Tips for Making The Marshmallow Fluff
- Mix the water and the allulose in a high walled pan or pot. Stir it gently. If you get any allulose up on the walls of the pan, it will burn and fall back into your mixture. Those little burned bits add bitterness to the final dessert, so try to avoid it if you can.
- Use a wet pastry brush to wipe the allulose off the sides of the pot or pan before heating to prevent burning. DO NOT cook on high; you have to cook this mixture on medium heat until it reaches 260F. It takes about 10 minutes. Slow cooking ensures the allulose does not burn.
- Whip the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer while the allulose is cooking on the stove. Turn the mixer to medium speed and gently pour the hot syrup into the egg whites slowly. Wear gloves. This stuff is hot and burns just like hot sugar. Whip for 5 minutes, until the mixture is glossy and stiff and holds a peak. Let it cool for a few minutes before adding it to a piping bag.
Topping the keto smores cupcakes
- I didn’t even use a piping tip, just the coupler to the piping bag. You could do this with a large freezer bag with the corner snipped off too. I just filled the top of the cupcakes with marshmallow cream and pulled away to create a beautiful peak.
- Use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallow, avoiding the chocolate if you can. It only takes a few seconds per cupcake. No kitchen torch? Skip it. The cupcakes with the marshmallow fluff are tasty, even without roasting.
- Tuck a small bit of chocolate in the top of the cupcake to finish them off. I used little chocolate molds, but a sugar-free chocolate bar broken up into sections works just as well.
Storage & serving tips
You can freeze the cupcakes after baking and before you add any of the toppings. The recipe makes 12 -14 cupcakes, and you could save a few in the freezer if you’re the only one in your family eating low-carb or sugar-free.
The marshmallow fluff will store in the refrigerator for five days. I wouldn’t store it beyond that time frame due to the egg whites.
The chocolate ganache, on the other hand, will store in the fridge for up to two weeks. If you have any leftovers, you can heat them to pour over sugar-free ice cream or top some low-carb donuts.
You can assemble these keto-smores cupcakes and store them in the fridge for up to five days. Store them in a covered container so that the bottoms do not dry out.
They are best in the first two days. By best, I mean guest-worthy; after the third day, they are not as fresh. Even after the fifth day, I was still snacking on mine for breakfast. They go exceptionally well with a hot cup of fresh coffee.
If you’re looking for more cupcake & muffin recipes we have you covered:
- Sugar-Free Strawberry Cupcakes
- Amazing Lemon Glazed Muffins
- Moist & Delicious Keto Carrot Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins – Perfect Dessert For Fall!
- Triple dark Chocolate Muffins
Or go full-sized and try our most popular recipe, sugar free birthday cake!
Keto Smore's Cupcakes With Sugarfree Marshmallow Fluff (Low Carb & Gluten Free)
These sweet and sticky marshmallow fluff topped smores cupcakes are the real deal. The roast marshmallow tops taste just like real marshmallow, but without any refined sugars.
Ingredients
Smores Cupcake Batter
- 3/4 cup powdered erythritol monk fruit blend
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 cups finely ground almond flour
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup sugar-free smores coffee syrup
Ganache
- 1/2 cup sugar-free dark chocolate chips (I used Lilly's)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Marshmallow Fluff
- 1 1/2 cups allulose
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
Smores Cupcake Batter
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare muffin tins with 14 cupcake liners.
- Add eggs to a mixing bowl and mix on high for 2 minutes.
- Melt the butter in the microwave, but do not overheat. We want the butter soft, but not too hot.
- Add vanilla, almond milk, melted butter, and sugar-free smores syrup to egg mixture and blend until well incorporated.
- Sift almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and powdered erythritol in a large bowl.
- Gently add the egg mixture to the dry ingredient mixture. Do not over mix.
- Fill muffin liners with batter 3/4 full.
- Bake in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool on a cooling rack
Ganache
- Pour 1/2 cup of sugar-free chocolate chips into a heat-safe bowl.
- Warm 1/2 cup of heavy cream in the microwave with 30-second intervals. Do not boil over.
- Pour the warm heavy cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 4 minutes.
- Use a whisk and blend the heavy cream and chocolate chips together until the mixture is glossy.
- Allow to cool for 2 minutes before dipping the tops of the muffins.
Marshmallow Fluff
- In a medium saucepan, add allulose and water. Stir gently to incorporate. Use a wet pastry brush to wipe down the walls of the pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt and whip until soft peaks form. Turn the stand mixer off.
- Over medium heat cook the allulose and water mixture to 260F. Use a candy- or digital-thermometer to measure the temperature. If the allulose starts to brown before it hits 260F, the heat is too high. Do not stir during cooking.
- Turn the stand mixer back on, and slowly pour the allulose syrup into the egg mixture. Use an oven mitt, the syrup is very hot.
- Turn the stand mixer up to high, add the vanilla and blend for 4-6 minutes or until the mixture is glossy and holds a peak.
Smores Cupcake Assembly
- Dip cooled cupcakes into the warm ganache to coat the tops. Allow the ganache to cool and lose its gloss before adding the marshmallow topping.
- Use a spatula and fill a large piping bag with marshmallow fluff. I did not use a tip.
- Fill the tops of the cupcakes with marshmallow, pulling away at the last second to create curled peaks.
- Use a kitchen torch and lightly toast the outside of the marshmallow, making sure not to catch it on fire or burn it. Keep the kitchen torch at least 2 inches away from the marshmallow while roasting.
- Add a piece of sugar-free chocolate to the top to add a finishing touch
Notes
Extra Notes and Information
For the cupcakes:
1. Sift the dry ingredients well to add air into the mixture. This helps to create light and airy cupcakes.
2. 10 minutes into baking, add a piece of tinfoil or parchment paper over the cupcakes to prevent over-browning.
3. The xanthan gum is added for extra stability and structure. Without gluten, we need something to hold everything together, without the xanthan gum the cupcakes will be crumbly.
4. The smores syrup is optional. If you remove it from the recipe, add back in 1/3 cup of almond milk, and 2 extra Tbsp of sweetener.
For the Marshmallow Fluff
1. Do not try to cook the allulose and water solution on high, or try to speed up the process. Heating allulose quickly on a high temperature introduces bitterness into your final product. Cook it slow on medium-high heat.
2. Try to avoid splashing the allulose and water onto the sides of the pan. If allulose is left on the walls, it will burn and could fall off the sides and into your syrup solution. This will also introduce some bitterness into the marshmallow.
3. Be careful toasting the marshmallow fluff with a kitchen torch. It catches fire the same way marshmallows do.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Powdered Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol Confectioners (1 lb / 16 oz)
-
Cake Decorating Supplies Kit
-
Culinary Torch (Butane NOT included)
-
Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour
-
Anthony's Organic Coconut Flour
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Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips- 1x9 OZ
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Hoosier Hill Farm ALLULOSE Low Calorie, Zero Net Carb Keto Sugar, Natural Sugar Alternative, Made in the USA, Granular Powder, 2 lb bag, batch tested gluten free
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 400Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 115mgSodium: 202mgCarbohydrates: 10.5gNet Carbohydrates: 6gFiber: 4.5gSugar: 3gProtein: 10g
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.