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Almond Flour Cupcakes have a rich, chocolate flavor and are surprisingly fluffy. They are naturally sweetened and gluten-free, but you’d never know just by tasting them!
If you’re hoping to serve delicious gluten-free chocolate cupcakes for a birthday party or special event, this is the cupcake recipe for you. They have a tender crumb and will rival your favorite cupcake recipe!
These Paleo chocolate cupcakes don’t bake up quite as tall as a bakery cupcake would, but they have an amazing taste and texture, without using any white flour or sugar.
Top them with your favorite chocolate frosting, and you’ll have an impressive homemade dessert!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This cupcake recipe is made with blanched almond flour, which provides a fluffier texture when compared to using almond meal. (Almond meal is made with whole ground almonds, so there are brown flecks in the flour from the skins.)
Using maple syrup as the sweetener keeps the cupcakes moist and fluffy. When I originally tried making this recipe with coconut sugar, I got a more brownie-like texture. (That’s how my Almond Flour Brownies were born!)
Coconut oil keeps this recipe dairy-free, but you can use melted butter if you prefer.
How to Make Chocolate Almond Flour Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. You can whisk these dry ingredients together first, if you’d like to break up any clumps in the flour, but it’s not necessary since there’s no risk of over-mixing gluten-free cupcake batter.
Next, add in the maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract. It’s best if you can let the eggs and maple syrup come to room temperature before mixing the batter, but this will still work even if they are cold from the fridge. If you’re using cold ingredients, stir in the coconut oil last, so the eggs and maple syrup can lose some of their chill as you stir.
Stir the wet ingredients into the batter until it looks smooth, then add the coconut oil and mix again. Use a 1/4 cup to scoop the batter and pour it into the prepared muffin pan.
Once the batter has been divided evenly among the muffin cups, bake the cupcakes at 350ºF for 25 minutes. You’ll know the cupcakes are done when the centers feel firm to a light touch, or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with minimal crumbs.
Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan. Once they are cool, you can top them with your favorite frosting and sprinkles. (Buttercream frosting will melt if you add it to cupcakes that are still warm, so be patient!)
Storage Tips: Leftover gluten-free cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you want to make these ahead of time, you can store these in the fridge before frosting them, too! This chocolate cupcake recipe can also be frozen, if you store it in a tightly sealed container, for up to 3 months.
If you store these cupcakes at room temperature without covering them, they may dry out overnight. When stored in an airtight container at room temperature (or tightly covered in plastic wrap if you leave them in the pan) these cupcakes can develop a sticky texture on the top. They still taste good, but it’s something to keep in mind when storing. The fridge is best!
Frequently Asked Questions
The cupcakes in these photos are topped with Vegan Ganache, which is made with melted chocolate chips and coconut cream. If you prefer a frosting with no refined sugar, try my fruit-sweetened healthy chocolate frosting or vegan cream cheese frosting. Or try Sweet Potato Frosting for some beautiful colored options, without using food dye.
The key to using almond flour is to start with a recipe that already calls for almond flour. You can’t swap almond flour for all-purpose flour or coconut flour without making major adjustments, so look for a recipe that already uses the flour you plan on using.
No, my goal in sharing this recipe is to provide a delicious alternative for those who can’t have regular chocolate cupcakes. If you are hoping to make keto chocolate cupcakes, you’d need to replace the maple syrup with a sugar-free alternative that has a similar consistency. (For example, a maple syrup substitute made with erythritol or other zero calorie sweetener.) I’d love to hear if you have any success making modifications for keto cupcakes!
Honey has a stronger flavor than maple syrup, so you might want to use a little less than this recipe calls for. I’m not sure how that will affect the overall texture, so it will be an experiment if you decide to give this a try. I think the maple syrup flavor pairs better with chocolate, if you’re trying to please a crowd.
Looking for more almond flour recipes? Try Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Flour Cake, or Almond Flour Pancakes for more ideas.
Ingredients
- ¾ cups blanched almond flour
- ½ cup raw cacao powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (I use Real Salt brand)
- ¾ cup maple syrup , at room temperature
- 4 large eggs , at room temperature (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, cacao powder, baking powder, salt, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Stir well, and be sure to break up any clumps that form until the batter is smooth. Stir in the coconut oil last, so that it will be less likely to clump from touching any cold ingredients.
- Once the batter is smooth, use a ¼ cup measure to pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners. They should all be relatively full from this amount of batter. Bake at 350ºF until the center of the cupcakes feel firm to a light touch, about 25 minutes.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan; it's okay if they have a slight dip in the center. When they are cool, you can frost them or decorate as you like.
- These cupcakes should last for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these Chocolate Almond Flour Cupcakes, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
Baked this.easy and delicious
Hi Megan,
I’m confused with the ingredients. Only 3/4 c of flour? to 3/4 c of syrup? 1/2 c cacao?
Something seems off here.
your comments?
thanks,
Bob
Those are the measurements I used in the photos! As you can see, the cupcakes aren’t super tall like a bakery cupcake, but they taste delicious.
Made this for my toddler and she loved it! I will try your frosting soon, but alone this was so light and moist. Winning!
These were amazing. My daughter and mom and dad😁 loved them! Mine ended up with little holes in top and seemed runny, but we loved the flavor and will be a favorite here! Thanks
They were moist but kind of bitter. Maybe it was the cocoa powder I used. Which was Ghirardelli 100% cocoa unsweetened powder.
I do like this recipe it’s perfect for my gluten intolerant friend, also I substituted the maple syrup for honey and added coconut and almond extrat to make an almond joy cupcake and it tasted great, the batter was a little water and the cupcakes didn’t rise how I expected but it still tasted great, I will definitely be using this recipe again