So my birthday was a few days ago. I know, I know, amazing information. I really wanted a cake, and I mean a big old chocolate cake with real buttercream because I was having a fragile moment. Instead, I opted to make our popular birthday cake recipe into low-carb cupcakes (a big request from readers) and add some festive sprinkles. Crisis averted.
QUick and Easy Keto Birthday Cupcakes
This recipe isn’t at all difficult. It doesn’t have crazy ingredients and makes nice cakey low-carb cupcakes. The frosting is as sweet as you want it to be, although the recipe is what I would consider mid-sweet.
This recipe is:
- Low Carb (Only 6 net grams of carbs per serving)
- Keto-Friendly (if it fits your macros)
- Gluten-Free (be sure to use gluten-free baking soda)
- It can be made dairy-free by substituting the butter for coconut oil and the cream for coconut milk.
What sweeteners will work best in this recipe?
For the low-carb cupcake batter, go ahead and use your favorite granular sweetener. I used allulose, but monk fruit or erythritol will work exceptionally well. I find allulose to be a great sweetener to use in vanilla desserts because it has no overbearing aftertaste or cooling sensation.
Liquid sweeteners will not work in this recipe; they will put the liquid to dry ingredient ratio out of balance.
For the frosting, be sure to use powdered sweeteners not granular, or your frosting will not come out smooth.
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.
Important Tips & Tricks you Need to make this recipe turn out perfect every single time
- You must sift your dry ingredients. Almond flour and coconut flour especially tend to have lots of lumps. We need to remove those before we add the liquid ingredients. Sifting prevents over blending (when trying to remove those lumps) and adds extra air into the flours. That extra air is what helps the leavening agent do their job. Don’t skip this step!
- Cream the butter with the allulose first.
- Add eggs one at a time to the butter and allulose until the mixture is light and creamy.
- Do not overbeat the batter. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until they are just wet. The batter will feel weird, thick, and airy at the same time. This is correct, do not let it put you off!
- Fill your cupcake papers all the way to the top.
Related: For more tips and tricks for successful low carb baking, check out this guide!
Extra Baking Tips
- 10 minutes into baking, lightly cover the low carb cupcakes with a double sheet of parchment paper or tin foil to help prevent over-browning.
- Please do not skip the xanthan gum. It’s there to replace the gluten and helps keep the cupcakes together. Without xanthan gum, the recipe will be very crumbly. If you do not have xanthan gum, check our post on xanthan gum replacements.
- You cannot substitute almond flour for coconut flour, the two have completely different baking properties and will ruin your cupcakes if you mess with the ratios.
A few notes about the whipped cream cheese vanilla frosting
Also make sure to grab whipping cream, not coffee cream.
- I like to use a 36% fat whipping cream for this recipe, but if you can’t get your hands on 36% whipping cream, any cream you can whip will be excellent.
- Keep all the ingredients for your icing cold, cold cold, and you want your cream cheese to come out of a cold fridge and go directly into the bowl. Cube your cream cheese first to make it easier on your mixer.
- The frosting gets a bit stiff in the fridge but has a very similar mouthfeel to buttercream without an overly sweet bite.
- I only add 1 cup of sweetener, which makes for a slightly sweet frosting; if you want it punchier and super sweet, add more sweetener! Powdered allulose works great (no aftertaste at all), but powdered erythritol and powdered monk fruit work great too. Be sure to use powdered and not granular, or your frosting will be crunchy.
- Be careful not to overbeat your mixture. Overbeating will cause everything to liquify.
You have a few options when it comes to sprinkles.
You do have a few options when it comes to sprinkles for this recipe. Die-hard keto folks will likely want to buy or make their own.
You can make your own sugar free sprinkles.
No, really, it’s effortless but a bit time-consuming. You will need to make your sprinkles a day ahead of the time you need them. You will also need to ensure that they are dehydrated. If the sprinkles are not completely dry, they will melt as soon as they are added to the batter.
Check out our post on sugar-free sprinkle making!
You can use real sprinkles
They are full of sugar – but 4 teaspoons of sprinkles will clock in at 16 net carbs, adding 1.33 net carbs per cupcake. You will need to decide if that’s something you can live with or not.
You can also buy premade sugar-free sprinkles.
There are a few Etsy shops selling sugar-free sprinkles and although I cannot say for certain how good they will be, sprinkles are generally a few very simple ingredients.
Serving & Storage Information
You will need to store these low-carb cupcakes in the fridge due to the dairy in the frosting. They will last 3 days in the fridge before they start to lose their freshness.
You can freeze the unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer for up to a month. Be sure to wrap them well. To defrost, you can leave them on the counter overnight until they reach room temperature, and then frost them as required.
The frosting will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you have any frosting leftover, you can use it to top fresh berries.
Looking for More Cupcake Recipes?
We have a few more cupcake recipes you may want to check out!
- Keto Strawberry Cupcakes
- Low Carb & Keto Friendly Smores’ cupcakes
- Delicious Keto Lemon Glazed Lemon Muffins
- Salted Caramel Low Carb Cupcakes
Or check out all our muffin and cupcake recipes!
Easy Low-Carb Cupcakes With Birthday Sprinkles!
Easy low-carb vanilla cupcakes topped with delicious vanilla cream frosting and sprinkles!
Ingredients
Cupcake Batter
- 2 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2/3 cup allulose
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered allulose (see posts for substitutions)
- 1 cup heavy whipped cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Cupcake Batter
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter and allulose until the mixture is creamy and blended. With the mixer at low speed, add eggs one at a time and blend until the mixture is light and frothy.
- Drizzle in the heavy whipping cream, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla, into the egg mixture until well blended.
- In small batches mix the dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Do not over blend. Once blended spoon the batter into the prepared pans filling each muffin cup slightly overfilled.
- Fold in the sprinkles.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from muffin tins and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled. At the 10 minute mark of baking, place a piece of tin foil or parchment paper loosely over the muffins to prevent over-browning.
Frosting
- Cube one cup of cold full fat cream cheese and add it to the bowl of a stand mixer and blend for 1 minute, until the cream cheese has no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla and powdered allulose.
- Add 1 cup of full-fat whipping cream to the bowl and mix on low for 30 seconds, until blended with cream cheese. Turn up to medium and then high until the whipped cream and cream cheese fluff up and resemble buttercream frosting.
- Do not overbeat. Over beating will cause the mixture to liquefy.
- Pipe frosting onto cupcakes generously and add a few sprinkles to the top.
Notes
- You must sift your dry ingredients. Almond flour and coconut flour especially tend to have lots of lumps. We need to remove those before we add the liquid ingredients. Sifting prevents over blending (to try to remove those lumps) and adds extra air into the flours. That extra air is what helps the leavening agent do their job. Don't skip this step!
- Do not skip the Xanthan gum. Since we are baking without gluten the xanthan gum in this recipe is the replacement that helps hold everything together. If you do not have xanthan gum you can check out our post on xanthan gum replacements.
- Don't skip the apple cider vinegar, it adds the acid required to help the evening agents do their job in this recipe. You can replace the ACV with regular vinegar and or lemon juice (but lemon juice will change the flavor of the cupcakes). The ACV does not impart a flavor to the cooked batter.
- Do not overbeat the batter. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until they are just wet. The batter will feel weird, thick, and airy at the same time. This is correct, do not let it put you off!
- Fill your muffin papers all the way to the top.
- 10 minutes into baking lightly cover the muffins with a double sheet of parchment paper, or tin foil to help prevent over-browning.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 398Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 387mgCarbohydrates: 12gNet Carbohydrates: 6gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 11g
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.
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