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.
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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 just like my chocolate zucchini muffins. 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
- Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add in the wet ingredients.
- 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
- Divide the batter between 8 lined or greased cupcake molds
- 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
- Beat butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Slowly beat in powdered sweetener until incorporated.
- Beat in the hazelnut chocolate spread.
- 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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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Low Carb Cupcakes with Hazelnut Frosting
Video
Ingredients
CAKE:
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup Pyure Organic All-Purpose Blend Stevia or Pyure Organic Confectioners Powdered Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil liquified
- 3 large eggs slightly beaten
- ¼ teaspoon Pyure Organic Vanilla Stevia Extract
- 1½ cup grated zucchini firmly packed cup and undrained (about 1 medium)
FROSTING:
- ½ cup butter softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
- ½ cup Pyure Organic Confectioners Powdered Sweetener
- ¼ cup Pyure Organic Hazelnut Spread or other hazelnut chocolate spread
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- ⅛ teaspoon Pyure Organic Vanilla Stevia Extract
- dash salt
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
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
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.
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.
First Published: March 14, 2016... Last Updated February 7, 2019
Kaitlyn
These cupcakes were absolutely delicious! I didn't grate the zucchini as fine as I should have, so you could still see it a bit, but that was my fault. I also made chocolate whip cream to make even more low carb, and it was so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe, definitely will make again!
Lisa MarcAurele
The chocolate whip sound like a great topping!
Polly Gelwan
The chocolate low carb cupcakes with Hazelnut frosting are delicious!! I followed recipe exactly and I did blend the cupcake batter in food processor (as recommended to disguise the zucchini. They baked for 24 mins and came out moist but totally cooked and cakey. One question, from a non-baker; I need to refrigerate them after they’re frosted??
Lisa MarcAurele
I keep them refrigerated just because of the cream cheese in the frosting. The unfrosted cupcakes are okay to leave out for a couple days.
Rosemary
Could yellow summer squash be used instead of zucchini? I have a lot of that available.
Lisa MarcAurele
Yes. I've used yellow summer squash in place of zucchini in many low carb cakes.
Joni Gomes
I LOVE that your recipe calls for zucchini! So good to sneak in those veggies! Could not even taste it!
Beth
Loved these cupcakes - I made them with regular sugar and nutella - what a wonderful treat!
Suzy
I love that you've added zucchini to these! Great way to add veggies and moisture to the mix! Love it!
Maegan
Could you provide nutritional info for the cupcakes without the frosting? Thanks!
Lisa
It's the same as my chocolate cake recipe.
Barbara Hust
I noticed you use zucchinni in a lot of your cake recipes. Is this so the cake is moist?
I made a chocolate cupcake for my husbands birthday (recipe from another popular site) & it was very DRY. Tasted god but crumbly & dry.,
Lisa
Yes. Adding zucchini, especially to coconut flour based cakes, really helps keep the cake moist.
Karen
I found that the cupcakes were still a bit dry even though I baked them at the minimum time required. I squeezed out the excess moisture from the zucchini and I think it removed too much moisture. I don’t recommend doing that. Just leave the zucchini as is. You don’t mention to squeeze out the moisture in your German Chocolate cake and I found it was good and moist. This recipe disappointed me for that reason. Otherwise it’s one I will try again with that slight change in directions. Thanks.
Lisa MarcAurele
You aren't supposed to remove the moisture from the grated zucchini. That's a mistake that I'll fix.
Michelle
Can I use almond flour instead of coconut?
Lisa
Not in this recipe. There are other changes that would be needed so you'd have to experiment with it to get it right.
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner
Those look so yummy and creative! Would love to have you join my meatless Monday link up