Keto Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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!

While buying a birthday cake for my husband I saw a great deal on zucchini. I thought the squash would be perfect to make a 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

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. In another large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix the grated zucchini into the wet mixture.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture.
5. Divide the batter between twelve lined muffin tins.
6. 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 9×13-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.

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Keto Spice Cake Zucchini Cupcakes

Author: Lisa MarcAurele

4.8 from 25 votes

These spice cupcakes are sugar free, low carb, and gluten free. The moist zucchini cake is topped with a keto-friendly cream cheese frosting.

Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

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Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 266

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

US Customary – Metric

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

The cupcake batter should be really thick so you have to press it into each cupcake liner versus pouring.

Each frosted cupcake has about 14g erythritol which isn’t included in the carb count.

Store cupcakes in refrigerator or freezer. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Nutritional Information without Frosting:

216 Calories 24g Carbohydrates 5g Protein 19g Fat 10g Saturated Fat 27mg Cholesterol 222mg Sodium 126mg Potassium 5g Fiber 2g Sugar 99IU Vitamin A 5mg Vitamin C 42mg Calcium 1mg Iron

 

Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 266 | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 284IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg

Additional Info

Net Carbs: 4 g | % Carbs: 6.3 % | % Protein: 9.4 % | % Fat: 84.4 % | SmartPoints: 11

Values

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    [serving_size] => 1
    [calories] => 266
    [carbohydrates] => 9
    [protein] => 6
    [fat] => 24
    [sodium] => 269
    [fiber] => 5
    [serving_unit] => cupcake
    [saturated_fat] => 13
    [cholesterol] => 43
    [potassium] => 139
    [sugar] => 2
    [vitamin_a] => 284
    [vitamin_c] => 5
    [calcium] => 51
    [iron] => 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: January 28, 2015… Last Updated: September 22, 2020 with new photos and added recipe tips.