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I first made this recipe for easy keto vanilla cupcakes several years ago, with pink frosting for a breast cancer awareness project during the month of October. It has undergone several improvements since then, including better texture and a lot more frosting, among others. With the updates and the right sweetener, they’re so moist and sweet that you’ll be hard pressed to tell that they are sugar-free cupcakes at all.
This low carb vanilla cupcake recipe was originally published on October 3, 2016, and the post was republished in September 2020 to add updated pictures, useful tips, and some ingredient improvements. In case you are curious, here is one of the original photos:
They look much better now, don’t you think:
How To Make Keto Cupcakes
This sugar-free cupcake recipe comes together with just 10 minutes prep.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, Besti, and baking powder.
- Add wet ingredients. Add eggs, almond milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Mix well. The batter will be fairly thick – this is normal!
TIP: Be sure your eggs and milk are at room temperature. Otherwise, your butter may re-solidify.
- Fill muffin cups. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them 3/4 of the way.
- Bake. They are done when they are golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
How To Make Raspberry Frosting For Sugar-Free Cupcakes
The best sugar-free cupcakes have frosting, don’t you think? 😉 While your low carb cupcakes are baking, make the frosting:
- Heat berries. Heat fresh raspberries with water in a very small saucepan on the stove. Bring to a boil, then mash the raspberries down with the back of a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 3 minutes.
- Strain raspberry sauce. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and pour the raspberry sauce into it. Release as much liquid as possible into the bowl, and discard solids.
- Cream butter and Besti. Use a hand mixer to beat room-temperature butter with Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend, until fluffy.
- Add liquids. Add the stained raspberry liquid, plus some almond milk, to thin out the frosting.
TIP: If frosting is too thick, add additional milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
- Assemble. Pipe raspberry frosting on top of the cupcakes!
If you like (and you should), add sugar-free sprinkles!
Keto Vanilla Cupcakes FAQs
Can I use a different sweetener?
Yes. This cupcake recipe without sugar has a few options for sugar replacement. You’ll need:
- Granulated sweetener for the sugarless cupcakes – like allulose, monk fruit allulose blend, or erythritol.
- Powdered sweetener for the raspberry frosting – like powdered allulose, powdered monk fruit allulose blend, or powdered erythritol.
You can use the conversion calculator in my keto sweetener guide to find out the amount to use if you’re using something other than what is on the recipe card.
However, for the moistest cupcakes, I recommend sticking with the monk fruit allulose blends (on the recipe card)!
What kind of almond flour should I use?
It’s important to use super fine blanched almond flour for these gluten sugar-free cupcakes. Do not use almond meal or a coarse almond flour – both of these would result is a more grainy result.
Can I use coconut flour?
No, sorry. You’d need to make multiple other changes for the recipe to work.
If you’re looking for something with coconut flour, try coconut flour blueberry muffins instead, or one of my other coconut flour recipes.
My batter is thick, is that normal?
Yes! This keto cupcake recipe makes a batter on the thicker side. (See the photos above for reference on how it should look.)
How much frosting should I use?
It’s up to you! The sugar-free raspberry frosting recipe below makes enough frosting for approximately 2-3 tablespoons per cupcake.
You can also use a different frosting if you prefer, like sugar-free chocolate frosting or keto cream cheese frosting!
Sugar-Free Cupcake Recipe Storage Instructions
Can you make them ahead?
Yes, you can make this sugarless cupcake recipe a few days ahead. Frost the day of or day before serving for the best keto vanilla cupcakes.
How to store low carb vanilla cupcakes
Store this keto vanilla cupcake recipe in the pantry for 1-2 days without frosting, or store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days (or 2-4 days with frosting).
Can you freeze vanilla keto cupcakes?
Yes, you can also freeze this sugar-free cupcake recipe for 1-2 months. For best results, freeze them plain and frost right before serving.
More Keto Cupcake and Muffin Recipes
If you like this sugar-free cupcake recipe, you might also like some of these other keto cupcake and muffin recipes:
- Keto Banana Muffins – Bakery style keto muffin to satisfy your craving…and made with a secret ingredient to make it taste like banana without any bananas!
- Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins – Just 30 minutes to make this simple recipe that is great for dessert, breakfast, or snacks!
- Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins – Prefer to use almond flour? This is the only keto blueberry muffins recipe you’ll need.
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins – Sugar-free, keto, nut-free, and dairy-free, these low carb zucchini muffins are a great way to sneak in some veggies.
- Double Chocolate Protein Muffins – Loaded with chocolate and protein, these easy muffins take just 10 minutes to prep.
- Keto Chocolate Cupcakes – Rich and sweet, but made without sugar. Ready in 30 minutes.
Tools To Make Sugar-Free Cupcakes:
Click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.
- Muffin Pan – This muffin pan is heavy duty and will be perfect for these raspberry cupcakes.
- Cupcake Liners – You’ll need to line your muffin pan with cupcake liners for this keto cupcake recipe.
- Large Mixing Bowl – This set of bowls are the ones I prefer to use in the kitchen when baking.
- Sugar-Free Sprinkles – These are optional, but are they, really? 😉
Keto Sugar-free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe With Raspberry Frosting:
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Reader Favorite Recipes
The recipe card is below! Readers also made these similar recipes after making this one.
RECIPE CARD
Keto Sugar-free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe
This keto vanilla cupcakes recipe is moist and sweet - the right sweetener is key! Fresh raspberry buttercream frosting on these sugar-free cupcakes takes them over the top.
PrintIngredients
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Cupcakes
Frosting
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Meet Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend, the keto sweetener that tastes, bakes, dissolves, and browns just like sugar, with NO aftertaste and 0 net carbs.
GET BESTIInstructions
Get RECIPE TIPS in the post above, nutrition info + recipe notes below!
Click on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
Keto Vanilla Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, Besti, and baking powder.
Add the eggs, melted butter, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well.
Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups (a large cookie or ice cream scoop works well for this), filling them about 3/4 of the way. You can dot the tops with additional raspberries if you'd like. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
Sugar-Free Raspberry Frosting
Heat the fresh raspberries with a tablespoon of water in a very small saucepan on the stove. Bring to a boil, then mash the raspberries down with the back of a wooden or silicone spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low or low, just high enough for a gentle simmer. Simmer, pressing down occasionally, for 3 minutes.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and pour the raspberry sauce into it. Press down to release as much liquid as possible into the bowl. Discard the solids caught in the sieve.
Cream the softened butter using an electric mixer for about 2-3 minutes, until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sweetener and beat with the mixer again until smooth.
Add the raspberry liquid and milk of choice. Beat again until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add additional milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. (For extra creamy frosting, pulse the frosting in a high speed blender.)
Pipe the raspberry frosting on top of the cupcakes. If desired, top with sugar-free sprinkles!
Readers Also Made These Similar Recipes
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 keto cupcake
Want some moral support or recipe help?
Nutrition Information Per Serving
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database. You can find individual ingredient carb counts we use in the Low Carb & Keto Food List. Net carb count excludes fiber, erythritol, and allulose, because these do not affect blood sugar in most people. (Learn about net carbs here.) We try to be accurate, but feel free to make your own calculations.
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Sweetener Conversion Calculator
Keto Low Carb Macro Calculator
Low Carb Keto Food List + Printable PDF
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29 Comments
Karen
I love that these were so easy to put together. They baked beautifully. Good crumb. Taste…….meh. I do understand that people’s sweet meters very…..but when I eat something sweet I expect sweet. These had the very faintest sweetness to my palatte.
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Karen, Feel free to increase the amount of sweetener to 3/4 cup without changing the ratios of the recipe. Also, did you use the same sweetener on the recipe card? If you used something else, sweetness levels can vary depending on the sweetener used.
Nikki
I used stevia, and it seemed more like an eggy, pancake, not so cake, or sweet. It was good, just not what I expected..
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Nikki, I am sorry these didn’t turn out as expected. Did you use baking stevia or concentrated stevia? Without the bulk from the sweetener, the recipe likely did not turn out as intended.
Mistie Heiken
How many carbs without the icing?
Thanks
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Mistie, I’m not sure of the carb count without the icing. You can enter the recipe into an online recipe calculator (minus the frosting ingredients) to get an accurate carb count.
Theresa
Can you make a whole round cake with this recipe, or only cupcakes?
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Theresa, Yes this recipe can be made as a cake round. Bake time will roughly be the same. Start checking for doneness around 18 minutes.
Priya Lakshminarayan
They are so delicious…I have been making them on repeat! Thank you
Nellie Tracy
Such a good recipe! Love these cupcakes!
Allison
I’m not sure which I like better, the cupcakes or frosting. Perfection!
Charlotte
Just wondering: Do you ever use silicone cupcake liners? Why or why not? Thanks!
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Charlotte, Keto baked goods are more fragile than traditional foods. Silicone liners can work great if you buy them thin enough to easily flip the muffins out of. If the silicone liner is too thick, you are likely to break your muffin in half or lose a lot of it at the bottom of the liner. I hope this helps!
Beth
I am in love with this recipe! The rasberry frosting has me wanting to frost everything in sight! Delish!
Jane Saunders
Your tips and all the additional info are fantastic. Posts like this really helps me understand the recipe before I begin baking.
Elena
Delicious recipe!
Julie
Hi, I made the frosting using a KitchenAid stand mixer and it came out extra hard and clumpy. The more almond milk I afforded, the more it got hard and the liquid wasn’t absorbed. What am I doing wrong?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Julie, Was your butter cold? That would be a likely reason – it needs to be softened at room temperature.
Stephanie
Looks so delicious! Could you substitute strawberries and use strawberry extract?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Stephanie, I haven’t tried that, but you probably could. Let me know how it goes for you!
Sharon
How are these dairy-free? The recipe comes up under dairy-free recipes. Just wondering if I am missing something?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Sharon, The only potential dairy in this recipe is butter, which is sometimes a gray area because many people with dairy allergies are still able to tolerate butter. If not, you can easily use ghee instead. I haven’t tried the frosting with ghee though, so the results may be a little different. The actual base of the cupcakes should be almost the same using ghee.
Taryn
Beautiful! And delicious. Perfect combination.
Tasha
I’m loving all the pink in this post! What a fun challenge for a great cause!
Sarah
Oh, you had me at raspberry buttercream frosting! These are so adorable!
STACEY
These are so adorable Maya, and match your site! Entering the giveaway.
Jennifer
The 10,000 cupcake challenge is such a fun way to support the fight against breast cancer! Your cupcakes are beautiful!
Georgina
Those cupcakes look gorgeous! And I entered the giveaway!
sugarfreelondoner
Maya, your cupcakes look very pink and very delicious! It’s great that you are supporting the fight against breast cancer. I think most people have a loved one who has been affected by cancer and every little bit of support helps.