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These coconut flour chocolate cupcakes are soft, fluffy and have a delicious chocolate flavor. They are gluten free, dairy free, and paleo!
I love just about anything with chocolate! Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make coconut flour chocolate cupcakes taste amazing! After making a recipe for vanilla paleo coconut flour cupcakes, I thought I should make a chocolate version!
Vanilla cupcakes are delicious, but if I had to choose between vanilla or chocolate, my favorite is most definitively chocolate!
How I Altered this Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
I originally planned on using my vanilla paleo cupcake recipe to go off of and alter, but I found it easier to just modify my all time favorite paleo brownie recipe for cupcakes. I changed the amounts of a few ingredients and altered the baking time, and wow, these cupcakes came out delicious!
This recipe would also work for making a small paleo coconut flour chocolate cake too. I’ve made it for a few birthday parties and it turns out great. The baking time is just a little longer.
The Ultimate Taste Test
When you’ve been eating paleo foods for quite awhile, you get used to not having a high amount of sugar and the taste of coconut flour/almond flour compared to conventional flours. For a lot of recipes, it’s hard to make the “paleo” version just as good as a conventional recipe. Often times, the paleo version tastes eggy or the consistency is not perfect. This recipe for coconut flour chocolate cupcakes is the exception!
Seriously, you cant tell that these coconut flour chocolate cupcakes are paleo! They taste exactly the same as a regular chocolate cupcake. I’m so used to paleo that sometimes I’m not the best taste tester.. my family members (who do not eat paleo) are always the best taste testers because I often try to see if they can tell if my recipe is paleo or not.
When I made this recipe for coconut flour chocolate cupcakes and left it out as a dessert for our get-together, everyone loved the cupcakes and they couldn’t even tell that they were gluten free or paleo. Everyone was surprised when I told them that they were made with coconut flour!
I think this is because the rich chocolate flavor really makes these cupcakes taste amazing! The consistency is perfect too, as they are fluffy and just moist enough.
Sweetened Naturally with Raw Honey
I always try to make the healthiest version of a recipe, which means finding healthy alternatives to regular white sugar. Thus, most often, I use raw honey or bananas as a natural sweetener for recipes.
I used raw honey in this recipe for a natural sweetener. It makes the cupcakes taste just sweet enough.
I prefer not to use regular white sugar in recipes because it is high on the glycemic index and is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and gut imbalances. Additionally, it can be hard to digest too.
Paleo Frosting for Your Cupcakes
These coconut flour chocolate cupcakes taste great with and without frosting. If you’d like to add a paleo friendly chocolate frosting to the top of your cupcakes (like pictured above), you can easily make it by mixing coconut butter with raw cacao. I use a ratio of 2:1 for the coconut butter to raw cacao powder.
The paleo chocolate frosting is yummy and easy to spread.
Paleo Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (measure when liquid)
- 5 eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Scoop the batter into baking cups/muffin pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Nutrition
Hi!
Can you substitute unsweetened cocoa powder for the raw cacao powder?
These are phenomenal. We live a very paleo-ish gluten free lifestyle as my 2 younger girls have eczema and this is such a treat! So moist and delightfully good. I have alternated between maple syrup, agave, and raw honey. All in which are stellar!!! I went without frosting and added some Enjoy life dairy free dark chocolate chip morsels too!!!
Could I use almond flour instead?
Yes, you can use almond flour. You may need to increase the amount of flour.
I am curious how full you filled your muffin tins. I did about 2/3 full and they didn’t really rise like pictured in the article. Also, while the cupcake itself doesn’t taste oily the coconut oil definitely saturated my liners. I measured when it was soft but not completely liquid, could that be the problem of just something to expect?
I fill them about 3/4 full. They do rise, but not as much as a typical cupcake.
I just wanted to leave an update.
1. I made another batch measuring the coconut oil in pure liquid form and the oily liners were no longer an issue.
2. I baked mine for 5 minutes longer and they no longer fell in the centerso their tops are more like the photo. I am guessing my oven might be running a little cool (it is more than 20 years old).
3. I am glad I kept doing test batches because these are a real crowd pleaser. I made them for a few birthdays and always get compliments.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Lori, the recipe calls for 5 eggs. Could I substitute them with 5 flax eggs?
Hi Emily, that should work. I haven’t tried it myself though. Let us know how it turns out 🙂
I like how you can double or triple your recipe. But I usually weigh my ingredients. Do you have a conversion chart for the weight of the ingredients?
Hi Anita, I don’t have a conversion chart. You should be able to put the ingredients in one online though.
Can this recipe be used for a cake, maybe an 8 inch round?
Yes, I use this recipe to make cake all the time. It works perfect for an 8 inch round paleo cake. Just increase the baking time a little, by about 10 minutes.
OMG that looks so perfect. I love that it’s minimal ingredients and sweetened only with a bit of honey.
Sweet baby Jesus these look DELICIOUS!
Hi Lori!
Can I substitute the honey with a low carb sugar free sweetener?!
Thanks
Yes, that should work 🙂
Hello! Looking forward to making this. I want to half it and make small cupcakes. Will it work out the same and if I half it. Should I use 2 eggs or 3.
3 eggs should work. You can add a little more flour if it’s too runny.
Can I sub maple syrup for the honey?
Yes, that would work 🙂
What can I substitute for eggs? We have an egg allergy.
You can use applesauce, banana, or flaxseeds/chia seeds. There are quite a few options 🙂
What would be the exact quantities and methods to swap with eggs out?
You could use a flax egg. I haven’t used it myself with this recipe, but it should work.
Why do you use the vinegar? What purpose does it serve? Thank you. The recipe looks good and I can’t wait to try making them. Going to make some sugar free whipped cream to serve with them, and sprinkle on some toasted pecans and toasted coconut. Hurry please! I need to make them tonight! Lol thank you for the recipe!❤️
Hi Linda, the reaction between the baking soda and apple cider vinegar makes it rise a little more and be more fluffy. You can leave it out though and it still comes out great!
Thank you! I have heard of people adding vinegar but was not clear about why. I will definitely add it because I like the fluffy coconut flour cupcakes! Thanks so much!
Can you sub anything for the coconut butter. My son has but allergies and I cannot find one that is not processed in a nut facility. Thank you!!
Hi Kayla, for the frosting there are a lot of different recipes you can use. There are a lot of simple ones with palm shortening, if that would be ok.
What is the recipe for the frosting ?
To make the chocolate frosting I just mix 4 tablespoons of coconut butter with 2 tablespoons of raw cacao powder.