Refined Sugar-Free Maple Carrot Cupcakes with Lactose-free Cream Cheese Frosting

I brought these refined sugar free and lactose free maple carrot cake cupcakes over to my grandma’s house today. She’s a 90-year-old Irish Catholic woman who always speaks her mind, so when she says these are some of the best cupcakes she’s ever tasted, she is not lying. Endorsement of the year right there! My grandma and I are also on the same low-fiber, low-residue diet, so we had a good laugh about that.

Carrot cake is my favorite cake — yes, of all the desserts in the world, my favorite cake is the one with vegetables in it. Laugh at me all you want, but carrot cake is incredibly moist from the liquid content of the grated carrots and yields a beautifully-spiced cake. Converting the cake batter to a refined sugar-free recipe was actually quite easy for this one. Pure maple syrup replaces cane sugar, and the additional liquid is offset by reducing the amount of oil that you would normally use for a carrot cake, so it’s a win-win: no refined sugar, and less oil!

This recipe makes 11 cupcakes on the dot for me, but you could probably get an even dozen out of this recipe if you don’t overfill your muffin tins like I tend to do.

And what is carrot cake without that tangy cream cheese frosting? My original posting of this recipe included a whipped coconut cream topping, but I’ve since figured out how to make a pipeable refined sugar free and lactose free cream cheese frosting. Just look at the beautiful stiff ruffles in this photo!

Most bakers know that for a cream cheese frosting, you always use a block of cream cheese, which is higher in fat, instead of a tub of cream cheese spread, which tends to hold too much water and get soupy. The problem is, most lactose-free cream cheese options only come in a tub instead of a block.

This frosting is just three ingredients (butter, lactose free cream cheese, and honey) and its success all has to do with the order in which you combine those ingredients — butter and honey first, then cream cheese! Apparently sugars naturally draw liquid out of foods with higher water content, but by coating your sweetener in high fat butter first, the sugar is less effective in making liquid seep out of the cream cheese. Science, FTW!

I’d also recommend placing the cream cheese between two paper towels and gently pressing the excess liquid out as if it were a block of tofu. I use the Green Valley brand lactose-free cream cheese for this recipe.

These cupcakes looks great decorated with crushed pistachios, which also happen to be the only nut I can eat.

Refined Sugar-Free Maple Carrot Cupcakes with Lactose-free Cream Cheese Frosting

These deliciously moist refined sugar-free maple carrot cupcakes pair a sweet and spicy carrot cake with a tangy sugar-free and lactose-free cream cheese frosting. Maple syrup replaces refined sugar and significantly reduces the oil content in the cake batter, and just three ingredients make up the perfect pipeable frosting.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Decorating time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 235 kcal

Ingredients

  

For the cake

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots

For the frosting

• 8 oz butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 8 oz lactose-free cream cheese

Instructions

 

For the cake

• Sift all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) together into a stand mixer or large mixing bowl.
• Add oil and stir to combine.
• Add eggs one at a time, continually stirring.
• Add maple syrup, vanilla, and grated carrots and mix until all ingredients come together to form a cake batter, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary to make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• Line one medium-sized muffin tin with cupcake liners, then fill each liner approximately halfway until all batter is used (should yield about 12 cupcakes).
• Bake at 350^°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool completely before decorating.

For the frosting

• Remove cream cheese from the tub and place between two paper towels. Gently press excess liquid out of the cream cheese like its a block of tofu.
• Combine softened, room temperature butter and honey in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer and cream together until fully combined.
• Once the honey is completely coated in butter, add the cream cheese and whip until smooth and fluffy.
• Transfer to a piping bag and decorate cooled cupcakes.

Notes

You can use this recipe for a full-sized cake, too! The recipe above yields about 12 cupcakes, which is roughly equivalent to one 9-inch cake layer. Double the recipe above to make a two-tiered cake, and bake at the same temperature for 30-40 minutes. Don't forget to grease and flour your cake tins or line them with parchment paper!

Keyword Cupcakes, Honey, Lactose-free, Maple Syrup, Sugar-free