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I’m not a big dessert person, but when I do want something sweet, I like to have the healthiest treat I can make so….I like to eat paleo – my favorites being paleo chocolate chip cookies or paleo blueberry muffins. I usually make blueberry muffins for birthday parties and get-togethers because I never had a chance to experiment with making vanilla paleo cupcakes.
But, for family game night this past weekend, I wanted something different everyone could try, vanilla paleo cupcakes. My mom doesn’t eat chocolate so I wanted to make a vanilla paleo friendly cupcake that tasted great! It’s easier to get a paleo recipe to taste great when it has chocolate in it because chocolate almost always makes anything taste good. So, creating a recipe for vanilla paleo cupcakes required many more tries, but so worth it!
I’ve been meaning to share my vanilla paleo cupcake recipe for months now, but have just been so busy I hadn’t a chance to take some good pictures of the cupcakes. When I was making the cupcakes yesterday for a family game night, I thought I would take some pictures since it was a nice sunny day.
Everyone just loved these paleo vanilla cupcakes – even my toughest customers…. my brothers who both don’t eat gluten free! They gobbled up two each!
This is my favorite recipe for paleo cupcakes because they are healthy and taste so delicious! The cupcakes are made with only coconut flour, so they are completely gluten free. They are also paleo and dairy-free.
They are moist, soft, and have a texture similar to regular cupcakes without tasting eggy.
Baking with Coconut Flour:
For this paleo cupcakes recipe, the only type of flour you‘ll be using is coconut flour. Coconut flour is a healthy flour to use. Coconut flour is high in fiber, protein and healthy fats. Foods high in fiber can help with digestive issues, such as constipation. It is also low in sugar and carbohydrates, so it won’t cause your blood sugar to spike. This is especially helpful for those with diabetes. So, even though cupcakes are a sweet treat, this is pretty much the healthiest version of a cupcake, yet it tastes just as good as a regular cupcake (at least I think so).
Vanilla Coconut Flour Paleo Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (measure when liquid)
- 2 tablespoons milk (regular milk, coconut milk or water works)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir well until thoroughly mixed.
- Use a spoon to scoop batter into baking cups.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Frosting Options:
For these vanilla paleo cupcakes, I always just use coconut butter as a frosting. It tastes like frosting and is healthier frosting option! Here are some of my other recipes for paleo frosting I use, for both chocolate and pink frosting.
OMG these cupcakes look so perfect and fluffy! Going to have to try these out for sure! <3
I cannot wait to try these! They look utterly delicious!
These look like the PERFECT cupcake recipe!!
These cupcakes look so moist and delicious. Love it !
That cake looks so moist and delicious! You’ve mastered the art of cupcakes.
I can’t have eggs. Would flax eggs be a good substitute?
Yes, that should work.
How much flax would I use to replace the eggs?
How did yours turn out with flax eggs?
Oh em gee! I’m nut free now so this recipes is made for me! Can’t wait to make these <3
These look so light and fluffy! I can’t believe how much they look like “real” cupcakes! I’m sure they are delicious!
These cupcakes look delicious! Great your emphasis on making your treats as healthy as possible! Great post.
Love me some cupcakes! I love how simple the flavor is, and that’s exactly how I like ’em, with a bit of vanilla.
These cupcakes sound so yummy! I wish I had one to snack on for dessert tonight!
Your icing skills are on point – these look like they came from a store. 🙂 I hope someday I can ice that well too. The cupcakes also look amazing, especially for someone who doesn’t want to deal with (or can’t have) almond flour, etc.
Thank you! My brother’s girlfriend helped with the icing.
These look absolutely scrumptious, what a perfect birthday treat!
Yes, I always make them for birthdays now and they’re always a hit.
Those perfect little cupcakes! You would never know they were made with coconut flour! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks! It’s one of my favorite recipes.
Woot! These look amazing, Lori! I love that you shared this paleo cupcake recipe. Perfect for kids and parties!
Thank you! They’re perfect for parties.
Hi! I absolutely love this recipe as does my family! I like them without frosting which is a bonus! I was wondering if you knew what the nutritional value of these would be or even just calories per cupcake?
So glad you like the recipe! You can put the ingredients in a recipe calculator online. I haven’t calculated it myself yet 🙂
Made three batches yesterday for my daughters birthday party in her school. It was a total success. Definitely mix wet and dry separate and you’re in business. Thanks so much Lori!
So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
For those people who’s cupcakes are turning out darker it could be due to the type of honey you used, a darker shade of honey will produce a darker cupcake.
Great point!
I really hated working with Coconut flour but after reading some comments on leaving all ingredients at room temperature, I decided to give it one more try. I am super happy! It came way darker than your picture but moist and flavorful. Thank you
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
I made these today. They are very flavorful however they turned out dark and sank in the middle. Where did I go wrong?
Did you change any ingredients?
I made this today and it was pretty good! I added 2 tablespoons melted ghee to the better and I used a square cake pan, don’t bake much so I don’t have a cupcake tin, I baked it for about 30min. It turned out fluffy and moist.
Glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Thanks for sharing how they turned out.
I measured my coconut oil in liquid form but my cupcakes turned out dense as well. Next time I will get all of my ingredients to room temperature before adding them all together. My cupcakes also were not as light in color as the photos you have. Mine looked more like cornbread. Wah wah.
Yes, try bringing them all to room temp. 🙂
These were really great! I think it would be an awesome base for adding other flavours as well.
Next time I’m going to try adding some ginger and nutmeg. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks for sharing how they turned out! Glad you liked them 🙂
I made these this past weekend for my daughter’s birthday. They turned out great! I’m surprised because this was my first time baking anything paleo. My daughter just started the paleo diet 6 months ago. Before that, I had never heard of paleo before. I used store bought frosting for the cupcakes though. I think it was paleo. My daughter seemed to approve of the ingredients.
Do you have to use raw honey?
No, you can use regular honey.
Is there something else I could use instead of honey?
I used Monk fruit to sweeten.
I used Monk Fruit as the sweetener. Delicious!
How much monk fruit did you use
I’m going to try them with monk fruit too. Not sure of the amount either
Yes, you can leave it out or use a different sweetener, like maple syrup.
How much maple syrup would you use ?
Hi there, I made these tonight and put 70g mashed banana (for half the recipe) and also added blueberries, while I think it needed something to make it more stable they were yummy. I would definitely make these again. Mine were also darker in colour
One probably still needs to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine them.
I tried that I think the problem is the wet ingredients need to be room temperature so the coconut oil doesn’t solidly again
When baking, all of your ingredients should be room temperature, you can put your eggs in a bowl of hot, not boiling water, you might have to change the water once or twice to warm them.
That’s what I did and they are delicious..
Can you post step by step photos? Mine did not mix well and the batter looked like crumbly apple sauce…I followed all instructions to the ‘T’
I have a texture issue with these. I think it’s because of my coconut oil cooling. I end up with a cornbread like consistency, and my cake is full of air holes.
Oh no sorry to hear that. Yes, the coconut oil is tricky. I measure it when it’s liquid. Then sometimes when combined with cold eggs it can harden into clumps. So, I pop the mixing pot in the oven for a few minutes to heat the mixture, then stir. Then pour it into the cupcake pan.
I made them and everything was room temperature and my coconut oil melted but it was also the consistency of cornmeal. They were still very good but I’m wondering how I could improve. I did cut back on honey because it looked a bit too sweet but I don’t think I would have needed to. Will definitely try to make them again.
Hi Heidi, you want want to warm the mixture a little more to make sure the coconut oil is fully liquid. When the coconut oil is clumpy, it can affect the muffins a little bit.
Mine did not turn out light and fluffy at all but very dense and almost not cooked like..Is there something I did wrong? I followed the instructions perfectly.
Sorry to hear that. Hmm..did you measure the coconut oil when liquid?
how many muffins does this quantity make?
I made these last night, for me it made 8, but I filled them almost to the top. Next time I will fill a little more than half. These were very soft and delicious. I refrigerated them to firm them up a bit before serving.
Did yours rise? Mine seemed to remain at the original level I filled them.
Mine didnt rise, but all in all it is a good sweet treat, its definitely a recipe I can work with for pancakes 🙂
It makes about 8 to 9 medium sized muffins.
How long do they keep? Xx
Have you ever tried this recipe with xylitol?
I haven’t tried it but, that should work.
I tried it with THM gentle sweet and it came out great!