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 keto sprinkles!
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 sweetener conversion calculator 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 classic keto buttercream frosting, 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.
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? 😉
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