Gluten Free Coconut Flour Cupcakes

By á-77268

It seems my mission in life is trying to make low carb treats. It can be very difficult to swap out those high carb ingredients for low carb alternatives. The lower carb alternatives react differently so you have to make so many important tweeks to all ingredients. With agave nectar for instance, for each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Or you may choose to increase your dry ingredients by 1/4 to 1/3 cup but this can be finicky because if you don’t get the balance right you will end up with a slab of concrete when you wanted a nice light and airy treat. These cupcakes hit the mark! They are sweet and light. I used the eggs but if you want to go dairy-free you could use an egg replacer.

I like to cook with many different flours but my two favourites are almond flour and coconut flour. There are some advantages of using coconut flour over almond flour though. Coconut flour is much finer than almond flour, it’s extremely high fiber, naturally gluten-free & grain-free , very low in carbohydrates (2/3 of the carbohydrates are dietary fiber), lower in fat than almond flour, much less expensive and you only use a fraction of the amount of other flours.

It is important to use cooking spray in both the muffin tins and muffin papers to make sure you don’t loose half the cupcake when you are peeling back the paper. If you choose to make a cake I would suggest to double the recipe, spray the pans, line the bottom with parchment and dust with coconut flour.

The finished cupcake would be delicious with a light dusting of coconut flour or the buttercream frosting. If you choose to go dairyfree with the frosting as well substitute the heavy cream for COLD coconut milk and increase the guar gum to 1 tsp. It is also important to refrigerate the frosting for a minimum of 1 hour but preferably over night. Once chilled it will look like melted butter but once whipped it resembles buttercream frosting and will retain that look as long as it is kept cool.

The nutritional values of the frosting are as follows: Calories: 145| Fat: 14.3g | Protein: 0.3g | Carbs: 4.9g | Fibre: 0.2g | WW Points: 4

The cupcakes on their own are 14g net carbs and 5 Weight Watchers points.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt fine
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp almond milk unsweetened, vanilla
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter unsalted, at room temperature
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp guar gum

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line 8 muffin cups with paper or silicone liners

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.

Whisk in the eggs, agave nectar, oil, milk, and vanilla until completely blended and smooth.

Divide the batter equally among the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 22 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer baking tin to wire rack and cool 10 minutes.

Carefully remove the cupcakes from the tin and place on wire rack; cool completely. At this point you can sprinkle with coconut flour or continue on with making the delicious frosting.

Bring the butter, cream, agave and vanilla to a boil over medium-high heat; cook and stir for 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the guar gum by lightly sprinkling it over the surface and quickly whisking it in a little at a time.

Chill well for several hours or overnight. It should become very thick and stiff. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Store your frosted cake in the refrigerator. The frosting will have a buttercream-like consistency as long as it's kept cold.

http://www.not-too-sweet.com/gluten-free-coconut-flour-cupcakes/