A healthier low carb sugar free carrot cake cupcakes recipe with fluffy cream cheese frosting. Try these amazingly moist and flavorful low carb cupcakes.
I love my healthy low carb carrot cake recipe with its silky cream cheese frosting, but sometimes it's fun to have a great carrot cake recipe in cupcake form – like these low carb sugar free carrot cake cupcakes which are also gluten free and grain free.
Easter is a few weeks away and it wouldn't be complete without a recipe for carrot cake in some form or another. My mother made a carrot cake every year. Her cake was filled with carrots, walnuts, and raisins then topped with cream cheese frosting. It was not light in texture, but rather substantial and full of flavor. It was one of my favorite desserts.
This Easter will be bitter sweet for me. Every year I take my kids to visit my folks in Texas for Easter/Spring Break. Sadly, my mother is in decline and has been in a hospital for the last 4 months – she won't be home. So, the kids and I will stay in California this year to celebrate Easter as a family with my husband – it's been many years since we've had one together.
I plan to continue my mother's tradition and serve these low carb sugar free carrot cake cupcakes this year. My family loves them and the flavor is quite amazing. I kept the carrots to a minimum to keep the carbs low and added just enough spice enhance the flavors.
The cupcakes are topped with a beautiful fluffy cream cheese frosting that stands up to sitting out on a table for several hours and pipes beautifully. It's also less tangy so kids like it better. Instead of putting the walnuts in the carrot cake cupcakes, I chopped the nuts very finely and rolled the edges of the cupcakes in the nuts. The top of the cupcakes were a bit plain, so I topped each with a walnut half.
My healthy low carb carrot cake recipe is substantial in texture like mom's cake was, but this low carb sugar free carrot cake cupcakes recipe results in fairly light cupcake. I kept the shredded coconut in the recipe because I like the extra texture it adds, but I completely changed the technique.
While many causal low carb grain free cakes are what I would consider “dump cakes”, using a traditional cake method for this recipe results in a much finer texture. Cream the butter and sweetener together – it does make a difference. The act of creaming the ingredients introduces millions of micro-bubbles producing an overall lighter baked good.
I think you'll agree that the end result is worth the little bit of extra work. I hope you enjoy these carrot cake cupcakes as much as we did.
Here's a recipe for a more traditional low carb sugar free cream cheese frosting if you would prefer this to the fluffy cream cheese frosting recipe.
Each Low Carb Sugar Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes is 4 net carbs
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A healthier low carb sugar free carrot cake cupcakes recipe with fluffy cream cheese frosting. Try these amazingly moist and flavorful low carb cupcakes.
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/3 cup Sukrin Gold (don't have this? See note below)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup almond flour (I use Honeyville)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 tbsp whey protein powder (helps with texture)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 ounces finely grated carrot (about 1 medium)
- 4 ounces butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped very stiffly (4 oz)
- 1/3 cup Sukrin Icing Sugar (or Swerve Confectioners)
- 1 tsp vanilla
Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line 9 cupcakes wells with liners. Measure dry ingredients into a small bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Finely grate the carrot.
Method: Put the softened butter, Sukrin Gold (or Sukrin :1/Swerve plus maple extract), and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and beat again until the mixture is thick, light and fluffy.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, scraping down the bowl. Add another egg and mix until incorporated and the batter is light and fluffy. Continue alternating the dry and wet ingredients, scraping the bowl after the dry additions and keeping the texture nice and light. Add the carrot and heavy cream at the very end. Mix until incorporated. (The batter should be thick but easy to work with. If it's not, add 1-2 more tbsps of heavy cream, but work quickly.)
Bake: Get the batter into the cupcake liners before it thickens up. Evenly divide the batter between the muffin liners and place into the oven. Turn the oven to 400 and bake for 5 minutes to get the batter rising. Turn the oven back to 350 and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are firm when lightly pressed with a finger, but still sound moist. Remove and let cook completely before frosting.
Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting: Whip the butter and cream cheese together with the vanilla extract and the sweetener. Whip the heavy cream until it is very stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture 1/3 at a time. Frost the cupcakes and refrigerate or serve.
**If you don't have Sukrin Gold, which is a wonderful sugar free brown sugar replacement, use 1/3 cup of Sukrin :1 or Swerve Granulated plus 1/8 teaspoon of maple extract.
Low Carb Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Hi…how much Swerve should I use?? I do not have Sukrin.
Thank you,
Barbara
Use an equal amount of Swerve, Barbara. Enjoy! -Kim
Hello! I’m hoping to make this for Mother’s Day this weekend, but I can only find the sugar substitutes online and I’m not sure if they’ll come in by Saturday in order for me to make this. Is it possible to use any sugar substitute like Stevia?
Also, can I omit the whey protein powder? And if I do – do I need to adjust the measurements of any other ingredient?
Hi Elizabeth. Sometimes subbing ingredients in baking recipes leads to less than optimal results – especially in low carb baking where the ingredients can sometimes be fiddly. I would use Truvia or another low carb sweetener that adds a little bulk instead of using only stevia for the cake recipe. You can try replacing the whey protein powder with 1 tablespoon of coconut flour. I have not tested the recipe with these subs. You can use any sweetener you wish for the cream cheese frosting. I hope this helps. -Kim
Hi – looking forward to trying this. What quantity of stevia or erythritol subs for the sweetener used?
Sorry about your Mum. Continuing family food traditions are so special – but also tricky (my cultural background involved a lot of high carb, high fat traditional foods).
Hi Theresa, thanks for the sympathy for my mom. If you are using regular erythritol, use the same amount specified in the recipe and then add stevia per your taste. I use stevia glycerite so that would be 1/8-1/4 teaspoon. I don’t use stevia liquid drops so I am not sure how many drops it would take. I hope you enjoy the recipe and good luck converting some of your old favorites to low carb. Have a nice week. -Kim
Could I use sprouted brown rice protein powder instead of whey?
Anne, I have never used vegan protein powders before. I really don’t know if they work the same, but I say try it. What the whey protein powder does is add to a more bread-like texture. Low carb baked goods are generally more dense and pretty moist. The protein powder ccontributes a tiny bit of dryness and also contributes additional structure. Often times baked goods with a little added protein powder are lighter in texture and less lumpy. So, if you think your protein powder has the same properties go for it – I don’t think it would hurt. The cupcakes will still be delicious with out the whey protein powder, just a tiny bit different in texture? -Kim
Could I use vanilla flavored whey protein, That is all I have.??
Absolutely, Leanne. -Kim
Thanks! Looking forward to making these, thanks so much for the recipe!
My pleasure. -Kim
Are those nutrition numbers for the cupcake only? I plan to make the older, tangier frosting. Thanks.
Great question, Gloria. The nutritional information is for a cupcake and the fluffy cream cheese frosting. -Kim
Kim, I am sorry to hear about your mother. I know this is a difficult time for you and your family. These carrot cake cupcakes look lovely. I love how you garnished them around the rim of the cupcakes. They look so pretty. Your pictures are beautiful as always. They are making me drool. Have a great week.
Thank you so much Katie. I hope all is well with you and your family. -Kim
OH my gosh — these are amazing!! I just made these and I only made 2 changes. As recommended, I used Swerve & maple extract since I don’t buy Sukrin. I also used crushed almonds since my husband doesn’t care for walnuts. These are incredibly moist and the fluffy cream cheese frosting is fabulous!! Thanks for sharing this recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you like the recipe, Stephanie! What a great idea subbing the almonds for walnuts. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend. -Kim
These look delicious! Could I substitute collagen or gelatin for the whey? Or maybe xanthan gum? Trying to use what I already have!
Great question, Patti. I haven’t baked with collagen before – I just stir it into my coffee. I would not add gelatin. The whey protein powder makes the cupcake more smooth like a regular cupcake and provides a little structure and a little dryness. It’s not a deal breaker as the cupcakes will still be tasty without it. Do you have Oat Fiber? You could try 1 tablespoon of oat fiber as a sub. Thanks for the nice compliment and have a nice day. -Kim