Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

These gluten free chocolate cupcakes are the perfect indulgent treat. They are a healthier alternative to the regular chocolate cupcakes. Almond flour makes these cupcakes gluten free and their natural fat and nutty flavor adds depth, flavor and richness to the final product, while lending extra moisture to the baked good. 

After gluten free brownies, I am here with a gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe. The recipe is adapted from Foolproof Living here, and its a keeper. I did replace some of the almond flour with oat flour. Also, I used regular sugar as maple syrup is more difficult to get and super expensive in India, though I am sure maple syrup would be a great addition too. Since I used regular sugar and did reduce the amount, I compensated it with a little extra liquid to keep the cupcakes moist.

I would love to try these with dates for the sweetness and some orange zest the next time I try them. Will update when I do 🙂

Store bought Vs Homemade Almond Flour

Since almond flour is super expensive, I have started making almond flour at home. It does require certain pre preparation. You need to blanch the almonds, remove the peel, let the almonds dry and then dry grind them on pulse to get a fine powder. Once you sift the powder, the fine flour you get is almond flour that you can use to bake cakes and cookies.

The reason why I use oat flour in both the gluten free brownies recipe and these gluten free chocolate cupcakes is so that I can fine grind any leftover unsifted almond flour. This way all of the blanched almonds is used in a single recipe.

You could of course make these gluten free chocolate cupcakes with store bought almond flour, but then what’s the fun in that. Also storage for nut flours is critical to avoid rancidity. You need to keep your almond flour either in the refrigerator or freezer, and since I am always struggling with refrigerator space, making one recipe portion almond flour at home, helps me avoid storing store bought almond flour problems.

Store bought almond flour is of course finer but having a powerful and reliable grinder or food processor makes it easy to get fine almond flour results at home too. I use my Hamilton Beach JMG for it, and although slightly expensive its one of my most used kitchen equipment. In collaboration with them I also made a video for making these cupcakes, and you can watch it here on my instagram.

How to make Almond Flour at Home

To make almond flour at home, you first start by blanching the almonds. Blanching makes it easy to remove the almond skin, which in turn gives the almonds a smooth texture that results in fine almond flour.

To blanch the almonds, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the almonds and leave in the boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the almonds and rinse with cold water to quickly cool them down. The skins can now be easily removed by just squeezing the almonds. You can then grind the almonds to make almond flour.

Some key points to keep in mind while making almond flour:

• Dry the blanched and peeled almonds thoroughly before grinding them to powder. You do not want the almonds to have any moisture, else you will not get a fine powder. I generally leave the peeled almonds spread out on a baking tray overnight. If I am pressed on time, sometimes I leave it in the sun to dry, or under a fan to dry it in the room for an hour, shaking mid way to have it dry completely. You could bake the almonds to dry the excess moisture out, but its a technique I don’t generally prefer using.
• Only process a cup or so almonds at a time. Blending more than that creates an uneven texture, and you can wind up with clumps of un-ground almonds. Sifting the ground almonds before using takes care of the bigger chunks which you could again grind, but it would mean a lot of unnecessary steps.
• Use the pulse mode to grind the almonds. If you grind the almonds for too long at a stretch, they start releasing their natural oils, and you will end up with almond butter instead of almond flour.

Health benefits of almond flour

Almond flour is a great low carb substitute for regular flour in baking. With a slightly nutty, yet subtle flavor, almond flour is naturally gluten-free and contains more protein than regular flour.

Thanks to almond flours low carb content, it helps in stabilizing blood sugar levels. Because almond flour has high fat content it helps slow down the absorption of carbs and sugar, which also keeps the blood sugar levels stable. source here

Since almond flour is high in fibre and proteins, it is more satiating than typical flour. That means that one cupcake will keep your cravings in check for longer than a regular cupcakes.

But, like everything else, excess of anything is bad for you- so even the good healthy almond flour in excess quantities might not be the best idea. For one, while it is low in carb content, it is high in fat content. It is the good fat, but still limit quantities, like you would with anything else.

Using almond flour in baking

Almond flour thanks to its fat content and nutty flavor adds depth, flavor and richness to the final product. It also introduces extra moisture to a baked good recipe.

Since with gluten free flours its generally harder to get them to rise, using an extra egg or so helps in making the baked good lighter. And that is why the high egg number in this particular recipe for gluten free chocolate cupcakes too. The eggs also provide the needed structure to these cupcakes, and while I wish I could say to use the normal egg substitutes in the recipe- like flax eggs, or curd, since I have not tried it yet, I can not guarantee its success.

Do not confuse almond flour with almond meal, especially for this recipe. While almond meal might work in certain baked goods, to get light gluten free chocolate cupcakes, make sure you sift your ground almonds to get fine almond flour.

Almond flour tends to burn more quickly than other flours, so when baking with almond flour, use a slightly lower oven temperature and also keep an eye out for doneness. Over baked chocolate cupcakes tend to be dry.

Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour

Whereas, almond flour is made by grinding blanched almonds that have their skin removed, almond meal is ground with the skin on. While almond flour is a more fine powder, almond meal on the other hand is more coarse in texture.

To achieve more delicate results in baking – for example when baking cakes, certain cookies, macarons almond flour should be your choice. When looking at a more rustic baked good- like in the case of tarts, crumb toppings, certain cookies or in savory dishes like crusted fish or chicken, almond meal should be your preferred choice.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes made with almond flour

These cupcakes, like most of my baked goods, are not too sweet. Feel free to increase the sugar by 1/4 cup if you would like a sweeter cupcake, or leave the cupcake as is and use a sweeter frosting. I use my chocolate mousse frosting that I used for these peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes. You could use your favorite frosting, or even a simple ganache or chocolate drizzle would do.

A note about the baking time: As mentioned above, almonds tend to burn faster, so I generally bake these at 160-170°C, rather than 180. Also, check on these cupcakes after 10 minutes. Different ovens might bake differently but with mine, I have found that these cupcakes are nicely baked within 10 minutes. I do feel my oven temperatures are off, and that’s why I would suggest to check without opening your oven door first. If you think they look set, then open the door and test with a toothpick for doneness.

The first two times I made these cupcakes I made them without the oil and milk, and while good I felt they could do with added moisture, so have included that in the recipe. The resulting cupcakes were moist, light, chocolatey and absolutely delicious. As good as any regular flour chocolate cupcake.

Variations: I think orange zest instead of vanilla, and little orange juice instead of the milk would make a great variation to these gluten free chocolate cupcakes. Thats on my list to try. Will update when I do so. Or in case you try that out, please let me know. Also, would like to try with healthier sugar alternatives, to make you feel even less guilty when you eat them.

If you haven’t already, please check the full video to make these cupcakes here.