Nothing better than a healthy, Paleo friendly cupcake to celebrate. Or, just get you through the week! These Tigernut Flour Cupcakes are the perfect dessert for a healthy treat. They are moist, lightly sweetened, nut free, dairy free and grain free.
Cupcakes or Muffins?
A cupcake or a muffin? Now, that is the ultimate question.
I did a bit of research on “what’s the difference between a cupcake and a muffin” and the general consensus tends to be that cupcakes are:
- higher in sugar than muffins
- always sweet, never savory
- more moist than a muffin (I disagree on this one – depends on the muffin/cupcake)
- the batter is smoother and fluffier and creates a more airy dessert
- they are topped with frosting
I have to say, based off these characteristics, whether you call something a cupcake or a muffin seems up to you. There doesn’t appear to be a fine line between the two. Although, some passionate, skilled bakers would most likely disagree with me.
Furthermore, when you start talking about Paleo and Vegan desserts it gets even more confusing. You know, since they don’t often follow baking “rules” and use traditional baking techniques. What are your thoughts?
I’m pretty sure the experts would disagree with me, but I decided that these Tigernut Flour Cupcakes were cupcakes, not muffins. They are airy, but moist, sweet (to my palate) and topped with frosting. But, if it makes you feel better about eating them, then by all means call them Tigernut Muffins!
Ingredients in Tigernut Flour Cupcakes
These Tigernut Flour Cupcakes are Paleo friendly and nut free, only require 8 ingredients (and that’s including simple things like baking powder, salt and water) and are incredibly easy to make. Oh, and did I mention they are healthy for a cupcake? Yah, I’m pretty sure they are the healthiest cupcake recipe you’ve ever seen 😉
The ingredients include:
- tigernut flour
, lightly packed - baking powder
- salt
- 2 large eggs
- raw honey
- maple syrup
- avocado oil
- water
Ingredient Substitutions
Because of the simplicity of this recipe, there aren’t many ingredient substitutions.
This recipe calls for maple syrup and honey. Yes, two natural sweeteners. However, just maple syrup or just honey may be used instead of a combination of the two.
The baking oil in this recipe is avocado oil. Perfect for adding moisture, but not affecting the flavor. I also like avocado oil because of it’s high smoke point and nutritional profile. That being said, any liquid oil will work in it’s place. Preferably olive oil or melted coconut oil.
I topped these cupcakes with Simple Mills Vanilla Frosting
– which is the best quality frosting I have seen available for purchase. I usually like to make my own frosting from a combination of coconut cream, maple syrup and vanilla extract, which makes for an even healthier cupcake, but I decided on Simple Mills for this recipe.
More Paleo Recipes Using Tigernut Flour
For more tigernut flour recipes, check these out:
- Tigernut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Chip Tigernut Flour Muffins
- Tigernut Flour Pancakes
Enjoy!
Print
Tigernut Flour Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 cupcakes 1x
Description
Lightly sweetened Paleo cupcakes made with tigernut flour. Perfect for a healthy, quick to bake treat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup tigernut flour, lightly packed
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp raw honey*
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup*
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
- Stir in wet ingredients. Mix well.
- Spoon about 2 Tbsp batter into a lined cupcake tin (recipe makes 8 cupcakes).
- Place uncooked cupcakes in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from oven and cool to room temperature before frosting.
 cupcake tin (recipe makes 8 cupcakes).Notes
*You may use only honey or only maple syrup, but the flavor of these two sweeteners together is delicious…so I recommend using both.
Keywords: cupcake, tigernut, nut free, dessert
Can you replace 1 tbsp of maple syrup for swerve or another stevia sweetener?
I believe any liquid sweetener would work, but I haven’t tried any substitutions so I cannot guarantee results.
Can you use gelatin eggs for AIP?
I’ve never baked using gelatin eggs so I’m not sure whether or not they would work. I assume the cupcakes would turn out quite dense and perhaps a bit gummy in texture.
I’ve made this, they’re very tasty. However. They do not yield 8 with 2tbsp a serving. I double the recipe and barely had 2 tbsp a serving and it made only 12….add a TBSP of cinnamon for a delicious pair with tigernuts natural sweetness.
I’m sorry to hear that. Was the cup of tigernut flour lightly packed? Sifted vs packed makes a huge difference!
We used to eat fresh tigernuts in Ghana. Just baked these and they are fluffy and have a bite to them from the tigernut flour. Far too sweet for me (I have a savoury tooth and always reduce sweeteners in recipes but not this one) but tasty all the same. I would use one Tbs of honey rather than two next time. Cant wait to try your other recipes
I’m so glad you tried these! Yes, I think they’re quite sweet as well. I bet they would turn out perfectly with just one tablespoon of honey 🙂