This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.
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.
This looks really good! Is the honey really enough to sweeten it?
Yes it is 🙂
These cupcakes turned out super good. They are light and fluffy like regular cupcakes. I put in less honey 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 and I added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and they were just the right sweetness with a lemon flavor. Thank you so much for this recipe. I followed all the comments and made sure that the batter was warm before I added the melted coconut oil and everything turned out good. I’m glad to have a good cupcake recipe that does not have almond flour in it.
Happy to hear you liked them! Thank you for sharing how they turned out!
Hello,
This recipe looks amazing.
Do you think it would work if I leave out the sugar and put in a banana instead??
Thanks
Absolutely!
Are there more flours to add other than the 1/2 cup coconut flour (or am I missing something in my reading)? Thank you! Gorgeous cupcakes!
That’s all the flour you need 🙂 Coconut flour is a dense flour so you don’t need much.
For low carb I substituted sugar free syrup for honey and added a little gelatin and it came out great. Definitely need to mix wet ingredients separately (I started with beating the eggs until foamy) and sift dry ingredients together for a smooth batter. I also weighted the coconut flour.
Thanks so much for the recipe! This has been my most successful attempt with coconut flour yet (:
Thanks for sharing how it turned out! Glad to hear you liked it!
Mine came out tasting like eggs.
Hi Eddie, Sorry to hear that. You could try an egg substitute for some of the eggs like applesauce.
Hi , thanks for this recipe. Can I substitute xylitol for the honey? If yes what quantity?
Yes, absolutely! I’m not sure what amount you would use as I haven’t tried it myself.
Oh wow. These are amazing. Thank you so much for these. First paleo cakes I’ve tried and have actually been a success. Thank you again
So glad you like them!
Hi I would love to try these but I only have baking soda not baking powder. Do you need to have both?
Thanks!
You can leave it out. It will come out pretty similar.
How many can you eat? As I don’t want to mess up my diet but only myself on the diet,not sure if worth making for 1 plus I would end up eating them if they were there.. Thanks
They’re pretty healthy compared to regular cupcakes. I eat one a day at work as a treat.
They freeze great!
Has anyone used olive oil? or another dairy free substitute for the coconut oil? Thanks!
Any oil should work. Coconut oil does not contain dairy though. 🙂
I used vegetable oil today and they came out stellar!
Wow, I just made this recipe and my cupcakes came out so good and delicious! (The only funny thing it’s that they turned out brown color instead of the color you have in your photos – I followed the recipe) Thank you so much for this recipe 😉 I’m looking forward to trying other recipes from your website 🙂
So glad you liked them!
These were absolutely amazing! Definitely get your eggs room temperature and separate the wet & dry mixture. I didn’t have quite enough honey so I used maple syrup with cinnamon. I was a bit confused on coconut butter (and how to find it) but I mixed it with agave and vanilla, stirred in some chopped strawberries and topped it with toasted coconut flakes. Wow! I brought them to the gym for a friend’s birthday and everyone wanted the recipe! Thanks for creating something so good but don’t have to feel guilty for!
Made these today, and was careful to follow the directions. I also mixed my liquid and dry ingredients separately before combining them. However, they did not rise, remained dense in the middle as others have commented. Not sure how to improve this unless altitude is impacting it. I only live at 3K ft, so normally a change is not needed.
Hmm..did you measure the coconut oil when liquefied? I wonder if it could be the altitude; I live at 200ft.
Is the batter supposed to be a thicker consistency? My batter was like mashed potatoes.
Yes! It should be the consistency of mashed potatoes 🙂
Made these for my birthday! Turned out great. So moist. Separated wet and dry ingredients first, room temp eggs and liquid coconut oil. I topped them with date paste and coconut flakes. Mmm. My family was skeptical of healthy cupcakes, but now they want these for their birthdays too!
So happy to hear you like them!
My friend is Allergic to Apple cider vinegar. Can we use regular?
Absolutely or you can leave it out.
What is the nutritional value for these cupcakes?
Hi Melissa, I haven’t calculated it yet. You can use a free online calculator by just plugging in the ingredients.
I’ve made this recipe many times but instead of honey I use maple syrup which to me makes them very moist . I make mine in a 12 mini bread pan.
I added raisins and chopped walnuts which made this fine recipe even better.
I’m so glad I made this recipe. It has become one of our favorites .
Glad you liked them 🙂
What are the carbohydrate content in each cupcakes? I’m doing keto at the moment. Thanks.
Do you think these would work with egg replacer?
I made these for a friend who gave up eggs. I tried using two different egg replacements one, chia seeds and water, not good at all, two was applesauce in place of the egg. Much better and edible my friend loved them. I did have to cook them much longer and they still weren’t totally firm. I think I would reduce the amount of applesauce next time. Hope this helps.
I think they would 🙂
So is the icing just coconut butter? Was some sort of sweetner added?
I use plain coconut butter with a little coconut oil so it’s easier to work with. No sweetener needed. The coconut butter is perfect frosting 🙂
Could these be made with gelatin “eggs?”
Yes they can.
Since I have gone paleo I have made quite a few desserts and most miss the mark big time. Not these cupcakes, totally amazing! I had some of the batter and couldn’t believe how much it tasted just like a boxed cupcake mix batter! ! I didnt make frosting, they don’t need it but, I think I will try to next time. I followed the recipe exactly and did what others recommended and mixed the dry and wet ingredients separately before mixing together. Thank you for such an awesome recipe, these will be my go to when I need that sweet treat!
So glad you liked them!
Oh my stars!! I have been GF now for almost four months and the biggest things I have missed is baked goods!! I made these the other night….followed directions exactly….except I filled my donut pans with the filling….they made eight little “bundt” style cakes!! I put chopped strawberries and blueberries on top!! So delish!! My batter was somewhat grainy in consistency, but I think maybe it was because I need to sift my coconut flour. I can absolutely see how adding some cinnamon next time would enhance the flavor profile. They are very “moist” (I hate using that word, but for lack of a better one……) and I have them stored in a ziplock gallon baggie. I don’t see them lasting much longer in my house though!!
So happy to hear that 🙂 I’ll have to try them with strawberries that sounds great!
Hi!
I’m going to try this recipe this week, and am thinking of replacing the coconut oil for butter. Do you think they will turn out good?
Thank you,
Venessa Greco
Yes, that should work.
Just made them!! Light and fluffy! This will be one of my new favorites!
So happy to hear that!
Yours are so pretty! Mine turned out like cornbread 🙁 do you use the whole egg or just the whites? Wondering if setting the cold ingredients out for a little while before and then mixing the dry ingredients first may help as others have said.
Also, what kind of coconut flour do you find works best for baking? I had a hard time getting the clumps out even with a mixer.
I use the whole egg. Yes, it would be helpful to get the eggs room temperature.
I am keto, what can I replace the honey with?
Thank you
I’m going to try replacing with Swerve.
Do we do the same amount as the honey? I’m wondering how the consistency will adjust going from liquid to granular. I am Keto also.
You could leave it out 🙂
Maybe Maple syrup?
Hmmmm followed directions and yes the coconut oil was liquid for measurement but they look like and have a consistency of cornbread.