Moist and flavorful keto spice cake zucchini cupcakes are gluten-free with no sugar added. Top them off with a sugar-free cream cheese frosting and a sprinkling of nuts for an impressive treat!
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While buying a birthday cake for my husband I saw a great deal on zucchini. I thought a summer squash cake would be a really moist low-carb cake for myself.
I've already created a delicious keto carrot cake using a mix of shredded zucchini. But this time I wanted to create a spice cake without any carrots.
All of the baked goods I've made with shredded summer squash in the batter have come out super moist. So I was eager to try a batch of spiced zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients for the Cake
The zucchini spice cake muffin base is very similar to sweet bread recipes. But to make it low-carb and gluten-free, I used a mix of almond flour and coconut flour.
The rest of the ingredients are similar what you'd find in a regular recipe. However, the sugar has been replaced with a keto friendly sweetener.
Baking Keto Spice Cake Muffins
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In another large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Mix the grated zucchini into the wet mixture.
- Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture.
- Divide the batter between twelve lined muffin tins.
- Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until tops are lightly browned.
You want to take the muffins out of the oven when the low-carb spice cake begins to brown and firm up. The cake will be done if a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
The zucchini cupcakes are pretty delicious as-is without the sugar-free cream cheese frosting. So go ahead and leave them unfrosted if you'd like to cut back on calories.
I use a simple frosting made with butter, cream cheese, powdered sweetener, and vanilla extract. If you like a lot of frosting on top, you'll want to double the recipe.
Adding the frosting adds no additional net carbs because you can subtract the sugar alcohol erythritol which isn't digestible. You can always cut back on the frosting or only frost half the cupcakes.
Recipe Tips
There's no need to squeeze the excess moisture from the zucchini. It should get absorbed by the flour. I used one small zucchini which yielded about one and a half cups of packed grated zucchini.
It's best to sift the almond and coconut flour before using in baked goods to get out any lumps. This will prevent clumps of flour forming in the finished cake.
To save time, I recommend using a nut chopper for the walnuts. I'm not sure how I got by all these years without having this nifty tool. It's so much better than a manual food chopper or chopping by hand!
The cupcake batter should be really thick after adding the flour mixture. Because the batter is so thick, you may need to press it into each cupcake liner versus pouring.
If you choose to leave the nuts out, the batter may not fill up each liner quite as much. And I find smoothing out the tops of the batter with your finger or the back of a spoon will give a nicer looking top after baked.
Reasons to Make Keto Spice Cake Cupcakes
You can pass these yummy spiced zucchini cupcakes off to your non-lowcarbing friends and family. I guarantee they will eat them up without complaints with or without frosting.
Although zucchini spice cupcakes are something I'd typically make in the summer while we are getting zucchini fresh out of the garden, there is no reason not to make these delicious mini cakes in the middle of winter.
Baking a Traditional Cake Instead
You could easily bake this into a delicious spice cake instead of cupcakes. I don't have the baking times for baking this cake in a 9-inch round, but it would likely be about 10 minutes more.
To make a double layer 9-inch cake, you'll want to double this recipe. Doubling the recipe would also produce enough batter for a 9x13-inch baking pan sheet cake.
Other Recipes to Try
Want a few more sweet ways to enjoy zucchini? You must try some of these family favorites:
- Keto Chocolate Cake is made super moist and rich by adding in grated green summer squash.
- Apple Fritter Bread can be made with zucchini to create apple taste and texture without the carbs!
- Zucchini Apple Pie is simple to make when you use this low-carb pie filling.
- Healthy Chocolate Cookies add keto friendly chocolate chips to double the flavor.
- Zucchini Blueberry Muffins combine two of summer's best flavors in every bite.
Follow us on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, and INSTAGRAM for even more tasty keto-friendly recipes!
Recipe
Keto Spice Cake Zucchini Cupcakes
Video
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 cup almond flour sifted (about 100 grams)
- ⅓ - ½ cup coconut flour sifted (I used ½, may want to use less)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup coconut oil liquified
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar free vanilla extract
- 1 cup low carb sugar substitute I like to only use ½ cup
- 1 ½ cups packed grated zucchini about 295 grams
- ½ cup walnuts coarsely chopped (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- ½ cup Swerve Confectioners Powdered Sweetener
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Line muffin tins with 12 paper or foil liners.
- Stir together almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in medium bowl. Set aside.
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir in zucchini and sweetener, then add flour mixture and stir until combined. Stir in walnuts if using.
- Press batter evenly among cupcake liners. Smooth tops if necessary.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 to 35 minutes until lightly browned on top and cake is firm to touch. Remove from oven and cool on rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting if desired.
Frosting:
- With electric mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter until well combined.
- Add powdered sweetener and whip into cream cheese mixture until light and fluffy.
- Beat in vanilla extract.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
Notes 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.
Copyright
© LowCarbYum.com - Unauthorized use of this material without written permission 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: January 28, 2015... Last Updated: September 22, 2020 with new photos and added recipe tips.
Michele
These turned out so good. The coconut flour did a great job of absorbing moisture from the zucchini. The muffins/cupcakes were lighter than I expected with how heavy the raw product was going into the muffin tins. I followed your recipe and stayed with 1/2 cup sweetener which was perfect. They taste just like the real deal and I will make them again!
Adriana Gutierrez
These were fabulous! Did not have coconut oil somsubbed melted butter, only had cinnamon somused 1.5 tsp. Had no walnuts, subbed almonds. Added almond extract to batter and frosting because…DELICIOUS!
Mary Kay Wetzel
Flavor is good.
Instructions didn’t say to squeeze zucchini and I will next time. Cupcakes too under cooked in time allotted.
Thank you. Will try again.
Lisa MarcAurele
Coconut flour can vary in absorbency so you need to take that into account. I don't recommend squeezing the zucchini out. You may not have cooked them long enough so they should be tested for doneness.
Michele Rovelli
Surprisingly great!
Holli
These are amazing ! No adjusting to the original recipe.
Jill Julie
I Doubled this recipe.... Served them with coffee to a non keto friend and she said she loved them.❤️????... Nice n moist!
My hubby loved them too and he hates zucchini usually.
I used pecans in them as that’s what I had on hand. After frosting them I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top for a pretty finish.
I’ll definitely make them again.????
Melanie
Can you provide the nutritional information if you do not frost these? I like them as just muffins!
Lisa MarcAurele
Added it to the recipe notes. 🙂
Brenda
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! Have you tried putting the cream cheese frosting in the middle of the muffin before you bake them? I found recipes to do this that aren't keto, but haven't found any that are. I wonder if the different flour would alter the way they would set? What are your thoughts?
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Lisa MarcAurele
You could use a cream cheese filling similar to the one I've used for my keto carrot cake muffins.
Crystal
If I had not made these myself and seen what ingredients went into it I would have never believed that they were low carb! Absolutely amazing! Will be making it a staple in my home! YUM!
Tanya Newell
These turned out amazing! I made 3 minor tweaks: used 1/2 cup coconut flour (as suggested), used 1/4 cup Swerve brown sugar in addition to the 1/2 cup of granulated sweetener, and added 2 tbsp of almond milk into the cream cheese frosting to thin it out and make it creamer. Baked mine for 30 minutes since they were still mushy in the middle at 25. These are super moist, flavorful, and very filling. Not dense or crumbly at all. My family and BFF also enjoyed them. Best keto baking recipe I’ve tried so far!
Barb Jamison
We love these keto spice cake muffins! I added extra spices because that’s the way we like them.
Shannon Plunkett
Absolutely delicious!!!
Heather L Church
Hi there... these look and sound great! Just to clarify, the serving size the nutritional information is based upon is for all 12 cupcakes?
Thank you
Lisa MarcAurele
Nutrition is per cupcake.
Carol Matiszik
My first batch following the recipe was too wet even after 2 days in the fridge. Second batch I I made a few changes and got moist "perfect" cupcakes.
I used 1/2c coconut flour, 1tsp baking powder and drained the grated zuccini before adding it. I also doubled the spices and vanilla just for my taste. I allowed the batter to sit for 10 minutes before filling the muffin papers. I doubled the frosting recipe and added one tsp cinnamon and about 3 tbsp heavy cream to thin it for piping. These were awesome. Thanks for the recipe!!
June
They taste great, but the baking time is not nearly long enough!!
Lisa MarcAurele
It really depends on your oven and altitude, but I can note that in the recipe.
Kristi
In the directions you mention eggs but the ingredient list does not have eggs listed. Are there eggs in the recipe?
Lisa MarcAurele
Read it again. There are eggs listed as ingredients and in the instructions.
Nichole
This recipe is absolutely amazing! All I did differently was add some cinnamon to the buttercream icing. Best keto cake yet!! Thank you so much!!!
Kristy
Made these tonight with leftover squash pulp I had from juicing. I added a little of the squash juice back in. I also substituted pumpkin pie spice for the clover and nutmeg cause I'm not a huge fan. They are so good!
Annette
How much Stevia would you recommend for the batter and frosting, in place of the sweetener in the original recipe? Thanks!
Lisa MarcAurele
It depends on the brand. You can use my sugar substitute conversion chart to figure out how much to use.
Astrid
The batter is super thick and i can't seem to get them to cook all the way through.. what am i doing wrong?
Lisa MarcAurele
It is a thick batter. But, if needed, you can add a little oil or water to thin it out.
Betty Lee
These cupcakes are absolutely delicious! My whole family loves them, even the ones that don't do low carb. I have made them 3 times and everyone is asking for me to make more. The recipe is easy. I highly recommend them!!!
Lisa MarcAurele
Sounds like a hit!
Emily
These are seriously delicious! Definitely the best sugar free/gluten free cupcakes I've ever had.
Jurgita
Do you think recipe would work if I make zucchini bread instead ? Or it would be too heavy and dense .
Lisa
It should be fine for zucchini bread.
Kely
This recipe looks amazing but I'm curious if the nutritional information includes the icing and the nuts? I wouldn't addin either if I made these so just wondering if I need to re-do the nutrition information.
Lisa
It includes the frosting but not the nuts.
Jaebea
Your recipe was in my FB feed today and since I had a couple of zuchinnis, thought I would try it out. I subbed out a 1/4 c of oat fiber and used 3/4 almond flour just to take the recipe down a carb or two. I didn't have any cloves so I ended up just using a heaping tsp of pumpkin pie spice. My sweetner was Lakanto. Omgosh, the person who said they are tasteless must have a tastebud problem because these muffins are WONDERFUL!! I had one for breakfast this morning at work and it's a good thing I only brought one! THEN, this evening, I thought I would add a bit of brown butter glaze. Well, that took these wonderful muffins to another level of flavor explosion!! This recipe will be used many more times in my household!
Lisa
Thanks for writing in Jaebea and letting us know how much you enjoyed the muffins! These are a favorite with my family too.
Collette
I used sunflower flour in place of almond flour. They tasted great but.....the insides were green. Rather odd. Any thoughts on this?
Lisa
It turns out that sunflowers—including the seeds—contain chlorophyll, also known as chlorogenic acid. This acid reacts with the baking powder/soda in a recipe when heated and once the product cools, it turns green
Fancithat
It's the aluminum in in the baking powder. Try to find it without. It will happen in bread making too!
Kristin
How much more almond flour would I need to substitute it for the coconut flour, if possible? Thanks!
Lisa
For this recipe, it should be close to a 1-for-1 substitute.
Karen
Is it required to squeeze excess liquid from zucchini after grating?
Lisa
No. I never do that. It's best to keep the liquid to make the cupcakes moist.
Sarah
These were delicious! Have you, by chance, tried ripe bananas or even apples in place of the zucchini? I wonder if they would turn out similar?
Lisa
I doubt they would be the same. They are a lot more starchy and don't have the same amount of moisture.
Danielle Medley
I made for the first time today. My youngest son started asking about them when the house started smelling like heaven. We all loved them. I didn’t tell my boys or husband that the had zucchini in them until after they tasted them. I used 1/2 cup Swerve in the batter and 1/4 cup powdered Swerve in the frosting. Other than that, I followed your recipe. My only issue was that they stuck to the liners. Should I spray the liners next time? Did I do something wrong to cause that? They were cheap paper liners. Thanks so much for this recipe. I will be using this often!
Lisa
Use the foil liners or silicone ones. Everything sticks to the paper liners.
martine
Do you think replacing the coconut with butter would work? I am not liking the taste of coconut in the recipe
Lisa
It does use coconut flour, but the oil can certainly be replaced with butter.
Jennifer
What can I use as a substitute for the natvia?
Lisa
Any one for one sugar replacer works. Swerve is a popular one.
Susan
This recipe is amazing! I made it as written, but I used 1/3 cup Pyure for the sweetener. So delicious. I do grind up Pyure before I put it in a container.
Lisa
Pyure is one of my favorite sweeteners and I love that it's organic. Good idea keeping it stored ground as I do like the finer texture best.
Marlene
Did not work out for me. I usually make chocolate zucchini muffins & they come out perfect but I think the coconut flour makes it heavy, hence the adding of xatham gum which I don’t love. They were tasteless as if most of ingredients were overpowered by the almond & coconut flour. I would like another option for the coconut oil
Syndee
I can't wait to make these! Do you measure the sweetener before or after you powder it? Thanks!
Lisa
After! It compacts down when powdered.
Barbara
Can I use butter in place of the Coconut oil
Lisa
It should work okay, but I haven't tested it.
Rene'
These were amazing and husband approved! I used butter and Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener. Thank you so much for this recipe, it was such a wonderful treat! 🙂
Lisa
You're welcome Rene!
Rachel Jones
Just made this as my first Low Carb Yum recipe. I made this as a loaf rather than the cupcakes. It took FOREVER to bake. I baked it at 325 for about an hour. I'm glad I left in there as long as I did because it came out perfectly. Anyway, the texture is nice and the flavor is amazing. Can't wait to make more Low Carb Yum recipes! Thanks!
Lisa
As a quick bread, it likely will take an hour or so to fully cook. I'm baking the cupcakes tonight to take to a party this weekend. I'm glad the recipe worked out!
Sylvia
I baked them for almost an hour and they still turned out WET in the middle. I did not squeeze the zucchini, but I think I should have?
Lisa MarcAurele
It could have been the coconut flour used as well as it can vary in absorbency. Typically, allowing the batter to sit for a bit before baking thickens it up.
Jamie
Is there any way to make these almond-free? In allergic but this recipe looks incredible!!!
Lisa
You could replace the almond flour with finely ground sunflower seeds. I use a coffee grinder to grind seeds.
xeladc
Thank you for this recipe.
Instead of the gum can we add an extra egg or just leave out altogether?
Lisa
You can just leave it out. It's not an essential ingredient.
Aisha
can I get away with not adding Xanthan gum!
Lisa
For this recipe, yes. It should be fine without the xanthan gum.
judy a fitzsimonds
Oh my goodness! These are great! I like them better with just cream cheese instead of icing. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Lisa
I do like the idea of just topping them off with cream cheese. Sweeteners are overrated!
Sharon
These were perfect. I used Swerve because I didn't have Nativa and it tastes great, even without the icing. I had originally thought to make these for our home group for the next night, but they're going a different route. They are traveling with us on vacation instead. We're not sharing this time ... maybe next time. ?
Lisa
They make great cake muffins without the frosting!
Theresa
Just ate my first one; really tasty!
I used 1/2 cup granulated swerve in the batter and 2 tbl powdered swerve in the icing. From experience I know that's the right amount of sweetener for me.
I think I may have used too much zucchini (300g) as they are VERY moist. I prefer when recipes give weight as well as measurements as weight is more accurate. It did come to just over 1.5 cups packed.
Did you squeeze any water out of the zucchini? I did, still super moist.
Nice recipe.
Lisa
I did not squeeze water out of the zucchini. It is difficult to judge shredded zucchini by cup measurements. Weight is much more accurate.
Sam
I've made these twice now and they are incredibly delicious! I would like to try adding pumpkin puree to these but am not sure how to do it without destroying the texture. Do you have any suggestions for how to do this?
Lisa
You could like add pumpkin in place of some or all of the zucchini. You'd have to experiment a little.
Inez
Made these tonight. I threw in some hemp seeds, oat fiber and ground flax and added a little baking soda and yogurt to counter the extra dry ingredients. I reduced the sweetener some, as we'll be using these for breakfasts.
Please don't be offended that I altered the recipe, as you gave me a great jumping off point! I will make these as cupcakes with frosting another day.
Love your recipes, most of which I don't go so far off the reservation to make.
Thanks!
alison pyle
I had my doubts with this recipe when the batter was so thick but these are incredibly moist and delicious .
Lisa
The moisture comes from the zucchini!
Katie
Absolutely fantastic! Bring on the zucchinis! Now I know I will be using them up all summer! Thank you for the response, I used 1/2cup Swerve and just a dab of stevia glycerite and these turned out perfectly?
Mari
I made these last night and cannot thank you enough for a wonderful recipe! So moist, so tasty, so yum! I substituted the sweetener for 1/4 cup plus 1/8th cup erythritol, and 1/4 cup splenda. I love working with erythritol, and adding some splenda in my recipes takes away that 'cool' taste that everyone talks about. I did not frost them, they were delicious warm with butter on the top! Thanks again!
Lisa
My pleasure! Great tip on the sweetener! I like to blend sweeteners as well.
Megan
"Nutrition per cupcake: 244 calories, 23.1g fat, 217mg sodium, 21g carbs, 3.7g fiber, 13.8g erythritol, 3.5g net carbs, 4.9g protein"
I don't understand how there can only be 3.5 net carbs? 21 carbs minus 3.7 fiber would still equal quite a few net carbs, right? Am I missing something? If so, please educate me because I am seriously craving zucchini bread and would love to make these.
Thanks, Megan
Lisa
It's because erythritol is included in the total count. You need to subtract that too as it has barely any impact.
Ros
Wow. All I can say is this is the best recipe out there for zucchini muffins that I've tried to date. After three years of counting carbs and a newly converted gluten-free fanatic I am so grateful for all these dedicated bakers helping me get back to my old favs. I substituted olive oil for coconut oil only to see if I could get even closer to the old oil recipes, doubled the cinnamon and used xylitol only because it is my sweetener of choice. Oh my goodness. Lisa I knew just from the picture they would be great, but it is beyond heaven. I use http://www.caloriecounter.com and it is still spot on for carbs. I'm pinning, yumming and mass emailing this to everyone I know. Thanks
Lisa
I am thrilled that you enjoyed it so much! Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Ros
Correction: I use http://www.caloriecount.com (not caloriecounter.com as stated above) for nutritional information on everything I make.
Jenifer
It was late by the time I was finished making these, but I couldn't resist scarfing one down since they smelled so good! They taste just as good as they smell! I loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
Lisa
They are pretty hard to resist. Glad you liked them!
Jenifer
Ahh, add the sweetener in the instructions. I'm making these right now and almost forgot because it isn't there. Good thing I tasted the batter.
Lisa
Wow! Can't believe I forgot to put the sweetener in the instructions. Thanks!
debbi
I don't have natvia do you have the portions of stevia and eur ?
Lisa
For the cupcakes, you'll need 1 cup sugar equivalent. The frosting requires about 1 cup of a powdered sweetener so if you powder a granular use only 1/2 cup before grinding to a powder. I'd say try 1/2 cup erythritol with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of stevia extract for the cupcake batter. May need to taste test to get the right sweetness. No need to frost because the plain cupcakes are fantastic.
Katie
If using Swerve in the cupcake batter, would you recommend the full 1 cup?
Lisa
If your taste for sweet has diminished, I'd recommend reducing the sweetener to anywhere from 3/4 to 1/2 cup.