Gluten Free Sugar Free Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes Recipe
Updated May 20, 2020, Published Feb 06, 2012
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A group of my gluten-free blogger gal pals and I have joined together to throw a surprise baby shower for our friend Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. Many of these ladies I have met in person and trust me, there are no better gals to hang with!
We are throwing a virtual pot luck shower and the rules for the food were simple, everything needed to be gluten and refined sugar free.
Since this is a baby shower it seemed like cupcakes or “baby cakes” was an appropriate thing for me to share. Amy is having a boy so I started to think of what flavors represent BOY to me.
I raised two boys so I do have a little experience with the species. Little boys don’t tend to stay pristine for very long, they get scuffed and dirty and even muddy at times. They can also melt your heart in a nanosecond. So of course these baby cakes had to feature chocolate.
I like to mix fruit with chocolate wherever I can but boys are not pure sweet like say a strawberry – they can have a little tart thrown in with the sweet, so raspberries instantly came to mind. Unfortunately a trip to the grocery store yielded only flavorless, un-ripe raspberries. Undeterred, I used no-sugar added, freeze dried raspberries instead. This turned into a happy circumstance as I was able to crush the dried raspberries, mix them into the batter and have a lovely, subtle raspberry flavor running all through the cupcakes.
Since the ladies attending this shower all tend to eat on the healthier side (and it is always a good idea to be respectful of the diets of those to whom you are serving food) I made these with a combination of brown rice and coconut flours with a little tapioca starch to lighten it all up. Of course you can use your favorite gluten free flour blend instead. I also lowered the fat by using fat free Greek yogurt, unsweetened applesauce and low fat (2%) milk – never a bad idea if you want a bunch of women to actually eat your cupcakes! Even though this is a healthier version of chocolate cupcakes, trust me – no one is going to eat of these babies and feel in the least bit deprived!
Another factor that makes these cupcakes a great treat for a “real” (as opposed to virtual) baby shower is that you can make the cupcakes and frosting ahead of time – the frosting will keep for up to 5 days covered and refrigerated and the cupcakes will be just fine if made a day ahead and stored wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.
Please join us in our virtual baby shower for Amy. Hop over to these blogs and see what else is on our fab gluten and sugar free baby shower menu!
Hallie from Daily Bites
Maggie from She Let Them Eat Cake
Alta from Tasty Eats At Home
Lexie from Lexie’s Kitchen
Kelly from The Spunky Coconut
Cara from Cara’s Cravings
Ricki from Diet, Dessert and Dogs
Alisa from Alisa Cooks
Kim from Cook It Allergy Free
Jen from Gluten free Life
Helen from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
Cybele from Cybele Pascal
And of course don’t forget to pay a visit to our guest of honor, Amy from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free to pass on your good wishes!
Gluten Free Sugar Free Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1⅓ cups freeze dried raspberries, (1 ounce)
- ¾ cup brown rice flour, (preferably superfine)
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- ½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
- ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ½ cup low fat, (2%) milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed, (or other neutral flavored) oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
Frosting
- ¾ cup dark agave nectar
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
- Pick out 12 of the prettiest freeze dried raspberries and set aside to garnish the cupcakes, keep them sealed in a plastic bag until ready to use. Place the rest in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin until crushed into coarse crumbs.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the brown rice flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and crushed raspberries.
- In another mixing bowl whisk together the yogurt, apple sauce, milk, eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, oil and coconut sugar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine well. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until they feel firm to the touch and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Frosting
- Bring the agave to a boil in a heavy saucepan and continue to boil for 3 or 4 minutes or until big fat bubbles form (225 degrees on a candy thermometer).
- While the agave is cooking, beat the eggs whites with 1/8 teaspoon of salt until stiff peaks form. Carefully pour the agave into the egg whites with the mixer on low speed. After all the agave has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the frosting is completely cool, about 7 minutes. The frosting should be thick, glossy and smooth. Sift the cocoa powder into the frosting and beat on medium-high just until the cocoa has been incorporated. Use a spatula to ensure all the cocoa has been thoroughly combined.
- To assemble, frost the cooled cupcakes with the frosting and garnish with the reserved raspberries.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look great! How much tapioca starch did you use for them?
Hi Laurenn – it is a 1/2 cup. Thanks for pointing this out, I fixed the recipe.
I followed your recipe except I did not add baking soda because I ran out. I have been baking my cupcakes for over 45 minutes now and they are still not done in the inside. Is this all due to the missing baking soda?
That’s very wierd. I am going to guess that with out the baking soda the air inside is not expanding and that very well could be why they are not cooking in the middle.
Ok, yes, these sound great. Has anyone actually made these???? Some comments other than pats on each other’s tooshies for being clever would be more helpful to those of us looking for real feedback on how they turned out.
Was so happy to find a sugar free dessert recipe but this is NOT sugar free when the recipe calls for 1 cup coconut sugar…a bit misleading for those of us who are actually sugar free. If you could add recipes that use stevia that would be greatly appreciated! ?
Hi Kristina,
You’re right, thanks for bringing this to our attention! It is refined sugar-free, if you want to make it totally sugar-free you can use a sugar substitute.
xo,
Carol