Ah, late June. Never-ending sun, smoothie-pops galore, lake days, and a season with no oven. Wait. What? It's pouring down rain and it's only 65º at the hottest part of the day?! Oh blessed reprieve from the heat! Oven, my friend, let's turn up the heat and make some sweet cupcakes. Grain-free, of course. This recipe was inspired from Elana's Gluten-Free Strawberry Cupcake recipe. You see, I had no fresh strawberries and I use a few different ingredients than she does. So the Maple Pecan Cupcake was born. My family all gave it two thumbs up. Each. So... 12 thumbs, actually. And those thumbs say a lot, I tell you. This group ain't easy to please all at once; especially with coconut flour.
Grain-Free Maple Pecan Cupcakes
Makes 8 cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 pastured eggs
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
1 cup heavy whipping cream (preferably raw, never ultra-pasteurized)
1 1/2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or insides scraped out of 1/2 vanilla bean (a much prettier effect)
1/3 cup pecan pieces (or 1 whole pecan placed on the center of each cupcake)
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Stuff eight muffin cups with liners.
- Combine coconut flour, arrowroot powder, salt, & soda. Add eggs, maple syrup, & vanilla extract. Beat the batter for at least one minute (preferably 2). The key to successfully baking grain-free dishes is beating the egg with the flour really thoroughly.
- Spoon batter in cupcake liners and bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for about an hour.
- Whip all frosting ingredients together except pecans until peaks form. Spoon frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle pecans on top and serve.
