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    El Mundo Eats » Gluten-Free

    Published: Nov 26, 2022 by Bea & Marco · This post may contain affiliate links · 35 Comments

    Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    Jump to Recipe

    These are gluten-free (bet you didn't expect that, right?), made with healthier ingredients and I'm telling you, they're so delicious! Tender chocolaty cupcakes topped with my 2-ingredient healthy chocolate frosting, with less than 290 calories/cupcake with the frosting included!

    Healthy chocolate cupcakes on a cooling rack.

    They don't only look beautiful but they taste amazing! You won't be missing the classic chocolate cupcakes that are so overly sweet.

    I'm using purely gluten-free oat flour for the cupcakes, yep. And they don't have that sticky, dense, gummy-like texture that you usually see whenever you use oat flour. No, sir! I tested this recipe several times to make sure that doesn't happen.

    Some healthy chocolate cupcakes on a cooling rack view from top.

    If you're gluten intolerant then you might want to check out my other healthy gluten-free recipes like my carrot cake cookies, apple cider doughnut cake and my 4-ingredient chocolate bomb. They're delicious and you wouldn't believe they're gluten-free!

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients & Substitutions
    • The Best 2-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting
    • How To Make Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
    • Tips For This Recipe
    • How To Serve & Store
    • FAQs
    • Watch Recipe Video
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Ingredients & Substitutions

    Ingredients to make healthy chocolate cupcakes.

    Oat flour - It's basically oats that you grind into a fine texture. You can buy or make it yourself.

    NOTE: If you make it yourself, measure the amount of oat flour after grinding the oats, not before.

    Cocoa powder - I use unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder. Although I've used natural cocoa powder and it worked fine also.

    Milk (for cupcakes) - Any milk of your choice. I use full-fat plain milk.

    Coconut sugar - I love the hint of caramel from it. So delicious!

    SUBSTITUTIONS: Any dry sweetener of choice. Brown sugar, monk fruit, erythritol as long as it's in dry form, not liquid.

    Coconut oil - Love the slight coconut flavour that it infuses into the cupcakes.

    SUBSTITUTIONS: Any oil of choice will work great. Olive oil, and avocado oil for example.

    Coconut milk (for frosting) - Full fat. Love the flavour! Also, it makes the frosting holds up a bit better than if you were to use low-fat coconut milk or regular milk. Coconut milk thickens significantly when chilled in the fridge due to the fat content, which in this case, helps our delicious frosting texture.

    The Best 2-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting

    Close up of healthy chocolate frosting in a bowl.

    Why do I urge you to make this frosting? Because of these 3 obvious reasons.

    1. It only takes 2 ingredients: dark chocolate and coconut milk, that's it! Use your favourite chocolate be it dark or semisweet. Your choice.

    2. It's light, fluffy, and very sturdy for you to use for frosting, as you can see. The frosting has sharp crisp edges and holds its shape exceptionally well.

    3. It doesn't have cups and cups of processed sugar! It's sweet enough to enjoy without having that feeling of the sugar rush.

    How To Make Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    Step photos on how to make healthy chocolate cupcakes.
    1. Mix all the dry ingredients well, and set aside.
    2. Make buttermilk in a bowl by adding lemon juice to some milk, and leave for 10 minutes.
    3. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk well.
    4. Pour all of the dry ingredients and whisk very well until there are no lumps.
    5. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin liners. Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC) for 18-22 minutes, cool completely before using.
    6. Melt chocolate with coconut milk and mix well.
    7. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
    8. Whisk the chocolate for more or less 10 minutes until it gets light and fluffy and turns pale colour. Frost your cupcakes!

    Tips For This Recipe

    Close up of a peeled chocolate cupcake with frosting.
    1. Mix cupcake batter really well as oat flour is quite difficult to blend as it tends to make small lumps of flour. Don't worry about over-mixing the batter, you won't get dense cupcakes because you won't be developing any gluten (because there's none!).
    2. Whisk the frosting for quite a long time, more or less 10 minutes, to get that fluffy, light texture. If you like the frosting to be looser, add 1 tablespoon of coconut milk at a time, and whisk to get to your desired consistency.
    3. Use a portable oven thermometer to get the accurate oven temperature. I use it all the time.

    How To Serve & Store

    Half eaten healthy chocolate cupcake.

    Serve - I frost all of the cupcakes and serve them fresh! Delicious!

    Store - Store unfrosted cupcakes in an air-tight container at room temperature for 4 days. They last up to 7 days in the fridge. Freeze the cupcakes (frosted or unfrosted) in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge.

    FAQs

    Is oat gluten-free?

    Oat is gluten-free but it's often handled together in the factories with other grains like wheat, which risks contaminating it with gluten traces. Find oats or oat flour labeled "gluten-free" to really be safe if you cannot consume gluten products.

    Watch Recipe Video

    📖 Recipe

    RC Healthy chocolate cupcakes.

    Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

    These are gluten-free, made with healthier ingredients and so delicious! Tender chocolaty cupcakes topped with my 2-ingredient healthy chocolate frosting, oh la la!
    Author: Bea & Marco
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Servings: 12 cupcakes
    Prep Time20 mins
    Cook Time22 mins
    Passive Time1 hr

    Ingredients 
     

    Dry Ingredients

    • 1 ⅓ cup oat flour
    • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ teaspoon salt

    Wet Ingredients

    • ½ cup milk , room temperature
    • ½ tablespoon lemon juice
    • 2 large eggs , room temperature
    • ½ cup coconut sugar
    • ½ cup coconut oil
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Frosting

    • 7 oz dark chocolate with Stevia , chopped in small pieces
    • ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • Measuring cups
    • Measuring spoons
    • Hand whisk
    • 12-hole muffin pan
    • Portable oven thermometer

    Instructions

    Dry Ingredients

    • Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.

    Wet Ingredients

    • Make buttermilk by adding milk and lemon juice into a bowl and leaving it untouched for 10 minutes.
    • Then add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk to mix everything well, using a hand whisk. Now add in the dry ingredients and whisk until you get a smooth batter with no lumps.
    • Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly into muffin pan lined with muffin papers.

    Bake

    • Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC), without the fan, on a lower ⅔ rack for 18-22 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.

    Frosting

    • Heat coconut milk in a pot until it starts bubbling on the edges, and then pour it into a bowl containing the chocolate. Leave untouched for 2 minutes. Using a hand whisk, then whisk the mixture until it becomes thick and smooth.
    • Chill in the fridge for 1 hour. Using a hand-held mixer, whisk the frosting until it becomes fluffy, light and pale in colour. This will take more or less 10 minutes. Scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula now and then.
    • Frost the cupcakes as you wish and serve!

    Notes

    1. Use a portable oven thermometer to get the accurate oven temperature (I use it all the time).

    Nutrition Facts

    Serving: 1cupcake, Calories: 283.3kcal, Carbohydrates: 28.5g, Protein: 4.3g, Fat: 19.4g, Saturated Fat: 14.1g, Cholesterol: 28.6mg, Sodium: 174.8mg, Potassium: 159.1mg, Fiber: 3.4g, Sugar: 5.4g, Calcium: 31.9mg, Iron: 2.3mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @elmundoeats and tag #elmundoeats!

    Originally published on Aug 31, 2019. Updated with improved text, recipe, pictures, and video on Nov 26, 2022.

    More Gluten-Free Recipes

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    • Healthy No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Cups
    • Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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    1. Meg says

      April 21, 2021 at 3:44 pm

      5 stars
      These cakes are absolutely delicious . So moist , which is not the case with many healthy recipes. Definitely going to try other healthy cake recipes on our blog.

      Reply
      • Bea says

        April 21, 2021 at 6:44 pm

        Hi Meg! Glad to know that you liked them. I'm with you on that one, healthy bakes don't need to be unbearable and sad. Thank you for your feedback and yes, do check around our website for more healthy recipes ❤️.

        Reply
    2. Raveena Chakilam says

      February 02, 2021 at 2:32 pm

      Hi. Can I make cake with the same batter ? Can I add some melted dark chocolate into the batter ?

      Reply
      • Bea says

        February 02, 2021 at 7:02 pm

        Hi! I haven't tried but I don't see why not. Hope it helps!

        Reply
    3. Adriana Goncalves says

      December 18, 2020 at 11:47 am

      Hi Bea, how can we substitute the milk? Vegetable milk would work?
      Thank you.

      Reply
      • Bea says

        December 18, 2020 at 11:54 am

        Hi Adriana! You can use coconut milk instead, hope it helps 🙂

        Reply
        • Enna says

          January 14, 2021 at 3:39 am

          what if I dont have an oat flour? Can I use coconut flour instead ? Thanks!

          Reply
          • Bea says

            January 14, 2021 at 1:38 pm

            I haven't tried but I don't think it'll work as both flours react differently. Sorry!

            Reply
    4. Abby says

      October 31, 2020 at 9:50 am

      5 stars
      I have made these twice and they have come out delicious and lovely each time. I used rolled oats ground into flour and sweetened dates instead of coconut flour, I also used vegetable oil instead of coconut oil, and vinegar instead of lemon juice. They still came out yummy each time.

      Reply
      • Abby says

        October 31, 2020 at 9:52 am

        Instead of coconut *sugar

        Reply
      • Bea says

        October 31, 2020 at 1:02 pm

        That's great Abby! It's good to know you adapted it to your taste or what you had on hand and liked it. Thanks for stopping by!

        Reply
      • Maham Tabassum says

        February 15, 2021 at 4:55 pm

        Hi Abby,
        Can you please help by mentioning how much of the dates you used? Did you just cut them up into small pieces or used a date paste? Will be super grateful if you could share, since I'm not a big fac of coconut sugar but really wanted to try these. Thanks in advance!
        Maham.

        Reply
        • Abby says

          February 27, 2021 at 6:57 am

          Hi, saw this late. I used about 125grams of pitted dates. I got a brand that sells compressed pitted dates. I basically had to chop them up and soak in a little hot water before blending until smooth. Hope this helps.

          Reply
    5. Amy says

      October 04, 2020 at 9:50 am

      Hi Bea, i am planning to make this recipes for daughter's birthday. Can I know what is the egg size for this recipe?

      Reply
      • Bea says

        October 04, 2020 at 3:07 pm

        Hi Amy! It's large (L) size. Hope it helps and have fun!

        Reply
    6. Nancy D says

      June 19, 2020 at 11:59 pm

      I just made these cupcakes, and they turned out great! So fluffy! Which, for me, is so difficult when not using white flour!
      Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.

      Reply
      • Bea says

        June 20, 2020 at 8:42 am

        They are, right? Glad that you liked them, thank you for your feedback Nancy!

        Reply
    7. Dianne Gregson says

      May 15, 2020 at 11:50 am

      5 stars
      So much better than I expected!

      Reply
      • Bea says

        May 15, 2020 at 5:01 pm

        Awesome! Thank you Dianne!

        Reply
    8. Alejandra says

      May 15, 2020 at 12:46 am

      Hi! I also cannot find any oat flour. How much do we need to subtitute for All purpose? Thanks in advance!

      Reply
    9. Abir says

      May 05, 2020 at 3:36 pm

      Hi Bea, I would love to try your healthy chocolate cupcakes as I only bake healthy treats for my family. The only issue is that I could not find oat flour in the market due to shortage of many items with the current situation. I do have organic wholemeal spelt flour but not sure what is the ratio to oat flour in your recipe. Could you please assist?
      Thank you in advance.

      Reply
    10. Vesela Dimitrova says

      January 23, 2020 at 9:15 pm

      5 stars
      Hello Bea,

      I just found your website and already tried two of your recipe! I feel so good I can make some sweets for my toddler and husband that are healthy, yet delicious!
      I've made the cupcakes using the sweet potato frosting from the "Healthy Zucchini Chocolate cake" and they turned out great. Will try next time with the peanut one.

      Thank you so much for all of your recipes, I will keep trying more! 🙂

      All the best!!! Xx

      Reply
      • Bea says

        January 26, 2020 at 9:14 am

        Hi Vesela! I'm happy to know that you're enjoying the healthy sweet recipes, I really love developing them! A yummy healthy cookie recipe is coming up 😉 , just letting you know. Thank you so much! XOXO

        Reply
    11. Omkar says

      January 11, 2020 at 4:14 pm

      Hi Bea!!! I am a huge fan of your recipes. I am looking forward to baking these muffins as well.

      I just wanted to ask can i replace the sugar with honey? If yes how much honey should I use?

      Thanks in advance 🙂

      Reply
      • Bea says

        January 12, 2020 at 8:58 am

        Hi there Omkar! Yes you can use honey instead but you might need to adjust the liquid amount though. I can't really say how much since I haven't tried it, sorry!

        Reply
      • Zayne says

        November 16, 2020 at 1:28 am

        Did you ever make them with honey? If so how much?

        Reply
    12. jenn says

      November 17, 2019 at 3:16 am

      HI, can eggs be substituted with chia egg?

      Reply
      • Bea says

        November 17, 2019 at 7:46 am

        Hi Jenn! I can't really say since I haven't tried it, sorry!

        Reply
    13. Christy says

      November 05, 2019 at 4:27 pm

      Hi can we substitute coconut sugar with brown sugar and coconut oil with refined oil..?
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Bea says

        November 05, 2019 at 4:36 pm

        Hi Christy! It will be less healthy, but sure you can 🙂

        Reply
    14. Mike says

      September 19, 2019 at 5:30 pm

      5 stars
      Hello guys, I am loving your healthy recipes. These cupcakes together with the frosting - amazing.
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Bea says

        September 20, 2019 at 7:52 am

        Hey thank you so much Mike! 😀

        Reply
    15. Patricia Salas Marlow says

      September 10, 2019 at 4:51 am

      Can you please share the recipe for the healthy frosting as well?

      Reply
      • Bea says

        September 13, 2019 at 4:49 pm

        I've shared it yesterday, do check it out 🙂

        Reply
    16. Ananya SK says

      September 01, 2019 at 6:37 pm

      Hello! Can you please share the recipe for the healthy frosting as well?

      Reply

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    Bea and Marco from El Mundo Eats

    Hi! We're Bea & Marco, the married couple behind this food space. I cook, he takes photos & videos. Malaysian & Argentine living in Spain. All eaters welcome!

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