Keto Chocolate Cupcakes with Hazelnut Frosting

Deliciously moist keto chocolate cupcakes topped with a sugar-free cream cheese hazelnut frosting. You’ll love the flavor of these easy low carb cupcakes made with coconut flour.

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Pyure, but all opinions are my own.

I’ve been having some cake cravings lately. I’ve been scrolling through too many yummy recipes on Pinterest and probably saw a few too many tasty cakes. It’s tough for me to resist eating more cake than I should so I scaled these down to cupcakes.

My German Chocolate Zucchini Cake recipe was used as a base for these cupcakes. It’s the best chocolate cake recipe I have, but it’s often passed up by those who don’t care for the pecan frosting.

Finely grated zucchini is the secret to making these keto chocolate cupcakes super moist. And the addition of hazelnut frosting really makes them extra special.

If you use just coconut flour, a low carb cake can tend to be a little dry. But, adding shredded undrained zucchini ensures you’ll get a moist cake every time.

You’ll get about 8 cupcakes from the recipe. To bake a one layer cake, you’d need to double the recipe. For a two layer cake, the recipe would need to be tripled or quadrupled.

Making the chocolate keto cupcake batter

1. Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add in the wet ingredients.
3. Stir in the grated zucchini.

How to hide the shredded zucchini

I used the fine grate side of my box grater to get the zucchini shredded into tiny pieces. It’s grated so fine that no one will even know there’s zucchini in these cupcakes.

However, processing the batter in a food processor makes it even more undetectable! Or, you can peel the skin off the zucchini before shredding to remove the green color.

Baking the batter

1. Divide the batter between 8 lined or greased cupcake molds
2. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes until cake tests done

I usually don’t bother using cupcake liners because I have a stoneware muffin pan that has been seasoned. However, I had some cute liners in the pantry so I decided to use them for these low carb chocolate cupcakes.

How to make hazelnut frosting

1. Beat butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
2. Slowly beat in powdered sweetener until incorporated.
3. Beat in the hazelnut chocolate spread.
4. Beat in heavy cream, vanilla stevia extract, and salt until light and fluffy.

For me, buttercream is the only frosting to put on a cake. Whipped cream based frostings are okay, but using a butter base has much more flavor. Adding the hazelnut spread adds a nice touch.

For the frosting, I used a 100% natural sugar free organic hazelnut chocolate spread from Pyure. If you aren’t watching sugar intake, regular Nutella could be used instead.

Frosting variations

For those that don’t like hazelnut or have a nut allergy, you can just top the cupcake with a plain chocolate buttercream frosting.

However, I’m loving the added hazelnut flavor that the frosting adds. Of course, if you are cutting back on sweets, no frosting is always an option too.

If you don’t have the hazelnut spread, you could make your own or just sub in cocoa and a sweetened flavored syrup or a couple drops of a flavored stevia concentrate. You could probably even use a nut or seed butter instead.

Crowd pleasing cupcakes

I guarantee these will be the best keto chocolate cupcakes you will ever try. They are so good, your kids will never know they have a veggie snuck in. And, they are way healthier than the sugar loaded cakes most kids eat these days.

My family of non-low carbers love these cupcakes. They are perfect for diabetics, too. Most of the sugar-free cake mixes marketed towards diabetics are loaded with food additives and artificial ingredients. But not these low carb cupcakes!

Other low carb chocolate treats

If you’re a chocoholic, you’ll appreciate some of these other delicious snack recipes:

• Keto Cream Cheese Fudge is so rich and creamy it’s guaranteed to satisfy any sweet craving.
• Low Carb Chocolate Mousse can be made in minutes for an easy dessert or snack.
• Chocolate Zucchini Cookies are another great way to sneak in veggies in a way the kids won’t complain.
• Gluten Free Chocolate Mug Cake is so quick and easy to make for an instant treat.
• Keto Avocado Brownies are perfect for using up ripened avocados.
• Low Carb Chocolate Muffins are terrific for a brunch or morning snack.

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Chocolate Low Carb Cupcakes with Hazelnut Frosting

Author: Lisa MarcAurele

5 from 5 votes

Deliciously moist chocolate cupcakes with a sugar free frosting. Made with gluten-free coconut flour, a secret ingredient makes them moist.

Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Print Pin Review Recipe

Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 239kcal

Ingredients

CAKE:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup Pyure Organic All-Purpose Blend Stevia or Pyure Organic Confectioners Powdered Sweetener
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons coconut oil liquified
• 3 large eggs slightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon Pyure Organic Vanilla Stevia Extract
• 1½ cup grated zucchini firmly packed cup and undrained (about 1 medium)

FROSTING:

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Pyure Organic Confectioners Powdered Sweetener
• 1/4 cup Pyure Organic Hazelnut Spread or other hazelnut chocolate spread
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon Pyure Organic Vanilla Stevia Extract
• dash salt

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

CAKE:

• Stir together coconut flour, cocoa, granular sweetener, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Mix in eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla stevia extract until well blended. Stir in grated zucchini. If you want to hide the grated zucchini better, I recommend processing the batter in a food processor
• Divide batter between 12 cupcake mold lined or greased.
• Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

FROSTING:

• Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually beat in the powdered sweetener until well mixed in.
• Add the hazelnut chocolate spread and beat in.
• Mix in the heavy cream, vanilla stevia extract and salt and beat to fluffy. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes

Notes

The moisture from the zucchini is needed to prevent a dry cake so do not drain it after shredding.  Processing the batter in a food processor will hide the grated zucchini. Peeling the zucchini is also an option to hide the green color.

Using greased silicone cupcake liners is the best way to prevent the cupcakes from sticking to the mold.

Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 281mg | Potassium: 141mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 690IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg

Additional Info

Net Carbs: 3 g | % Carbs: 5.1 % | % Protein: 6.8 % | % Fat: 88.1 %

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Note on Nutritional Information

Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

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First Published: March 14, 2016… Last Updated February 7, 2019