These are wonderfully light, soft, souffle-like cupcakes that can be frosted or filled. This recipe tickles my inner science nerd because there is a step where you see the chemical reaction of the lemon juice and baking soda working together to lighten the batter, almost magically. So, suffice to say, this recipe is fun for the kid in everyone!
How did this recipe become a science experiment? When you add the lemon juice (which contains citric acid) to the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), gas bubbles form (the gas is carbon dioxide). I’ll refrain from including the chemical formula in this post (can you tell I majored in chemistry?)
To fill the cupcake, take a small paring knife, and gently cut a hole in the center of the cupcake about midway through the cupcake so you can pull the cut hole or plug out of the cupcake, temporarily. Then take a tablespoon or so of your favorite filling (such as lemon curd or strawberry jam) and place it in the hole. Finally, take the plug of cupcake you cut out of the center and place it back in place, pressing gently to force the filling to spread into the cupcake. Voila! It fits well and it’s hard to notice you’ve tampered with the cupcake because the top is uneven anyway.
Fluffy Cupcakes (makes about 8 cupcakes)
Updated on 11/1/12: Added 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons of honey (changed from 3 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1/4 cup of cooking oil (or melted butter)
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of almond flour (finely ground, blanched almonds)
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Separate the egg yolks and whites. Place the yolks in a separate mixing bowl, and then beat the egg whites with the vinegar until stiff peaks form.
- To the yolks add the honey, baking soda, oil, and vanilla and then blend well with a whisk. Next, get ready as you witness the rise of your batter by adding the lemon juice and beating the mixture until well blended. Finally, add the almond flour to the mixture and blend until well combined.
- Now fold the whipped egg whites into the yolk mixture until well blended.
- Prepare a cupcake pan with baking cups and fill each cup to the top.
- Bake for about 17 minutes, or until the cupcakes have risen, and are golden brown on top and springy to the touch.
- Cool the cupcakes. As they cool, the top will deflate a bit, but they will maintain their springy, light texture.
- Frost or fill, and enjoy!
Jeanine
April 24, 2009 at 4:38 amThese look fantastic! I’m amazed by the gluten-free recipes that use only almond flour. Amazing.
Erica
April 24, 2009 at 6:57 amThanks Jeanine!
Yes, if you are ok eating nuts, they are a great alternative to the other gluten-free flours.
Bobbie
July 4, 2009 at 9:03 amI wonder if you could substitute agave for the honey? Anyone know?
Lauren B
July 5, 2009 at 1:50 pmThese cupcakes look so light and wonderful! I linked to ’em from my cupcake post. Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful nourishing recipes!
Erica
July 5, 2009 at 3:47 pmBobbie – I’ve read that you can use equal amounts of honey and agave, but I haven’t tried agave with this recipe. Let me know how it goes if you do try it.
Erica
July 15, 2009 at 10:47 pmThanks for the link, Lauren!
liz
January 17, 2010 at 6:55 pmthese look lovely! i’m dying to try making them, i’ve had them bookmarked for half a year now. it’s just that i’m always a little intimidated by the egg whites…
Erica
January 18, 2010 at 9:01 amHey Liz, go for it. You’ll love the lightness that the egg whites provide.
cyn
November 3, 2010 at 8:02 pmI tried this last nite but i did not achieve the lightness somehow despite folding in the egg whites….and the taste was way over to lemon-ney.a disappointment for me 🙁 Wondering where i got it wrong.
Erica
November 3, 2010 at 9:26 pmCyn, so sorry this didn’t work for you. I always feel so bad when the recipes don’t work for others. I know how expensive mistakes with almond flour can be. I wonder if you didn’t need as much lemon juice as I call for. I have small lemons. I’m going to edit the lemon juice amount – although I haven’t made this in a while, so I’m estimating how much juice I add, but too little is probably better than too much. One other thing: when I use egg whites I try to remember to keep the peaks stiff while combining them so the batter stays light.
Megan Lieder
December 8, 2010 at 3:46 amThese are delicious! I was searching for an almond flour cupcake recipe for my kids. They will ice them when they get home from school today. 🙂 We live in Germany and I use almond flour almost exclusively. I think I will love your blog! Thank you! Megan
PS These tastes a lot like the almond torte everyone makes around here (which is also made with almond flour)
Erica
December 8, 2010 at 8:59 amHi Megan! Thanks for stopping by. Love the idea of almond torte!
Andrea
December 23, 2010 at 8:51 amThese are awesome! My husband said that they were just as good or better than any cupcake he’s had made with flour! Everyone wanted seconds! Thanks!
Erica
December 23, 2010 at 9:24 amGreat to hear – thanks!
Zoe
February 21, 2012 at 9:01 amHow can I make my own Almond Flour? It costs $17 at the store, and theres only approx. 3 cups of it.
Erica
February 21, 2012 at 12:13 pmSee this post: comfybelly.com/2009/01/the-scoop-on-almond-flour-2/
angela
March 4, 2012 at 9:26 pmI am diabetic and have started using almond flour. Have you tried splenda instead of honey in any of your recipes?
Erica
March 5, 2012 at 7:09 pmI haven’t. I know some folks use glycerin with stevia to sub honey.
Sharronda
March 13, 2012 at 10:51 pmCan I use sweet leaf Stevia as my sweetener and if so how much would I use.
Amanda
July 19, 2012 at 7:31 pmI am very impressed with this recipe and so glad I found it! I’ve only been experimenting w/ almond flour for about a month, but am excited, as a former chemical engineer and baker gone gluten-free, with how you created bubbles in the batter! Worth the effort!
Planetpj
October 19, 2012 at 1:23 pmMaking these with pumpkin added, they smell awesome!
Wonderlusting
December 15, 2012 at 3:56 pmI followed your recipe and they came out great and was very useful when I began experimenting myself with pistachio
Cathi Gross, Ventura, CA
December 18, 2012 at 1:15 pmHi: I came from you webpage about Sunflower Seed Flour in place of Almond Flour. I too have problems with most Nuts, and was interested to see what happened with you experiment with Sunflower Seed Flour. It must not have worked, because the recipe calls for Almond Flour instead of Sun-Flour which is made from soaked, dehydrated and ground sunflower seeds. It makes a great substitute for almond flour. Find a step-by-step picture tutorial for Sun-Flour here. So, I am confused, to what really happened. Maybe the website is not working or taking to the correct webpage for Sun-Flour Muffin experiment. Anyway, would be interested in knowing what happened. I have been using Coconut Flour and Coconut Butter for baking, but it’s always nice to find another possibility. You are very creative and your ideas seem to be on the same length as mine in baking. It’s funny I am on the SCD Diet, but I really hardly using anything that’s allowed. Of Course no grains, but no dairy (but I do use Ghee), no nuts (except Coconut, but some do not believe Coconut is even related to the nut family), no nightshades, no beans or legumes. Mainly just Meats & non-starchy vegetables. So, that’s about it. Thank you again for your creativeness with sunflower seeds. I hope you find some more success with it. Sincerely, Cathi Gross, Ventura, CA
Shirley Westphal
February 19, 2013 at 9:59 pmI’m new at GF baking. Please confirm the type of oil you used. I’m anxious to try these. I’m loving your other baked goods.
Shirley
Erica
February 20, 2013 at 12:26 amI haven’t made these in quite a while, but I used whatever cooking oil I had around (sunflower usually) or melted butter.
Maryanne
March 22, 2013 at 5:57 amThese sound so yummy. I bet they would be amazing filled with creamy lemon curd!
Maryanne
March 22, 2013 at 6:56 amOkay, they’re in the oven. The batter tastes great! I used half honey and half maple syrup to sweeten, and doubled the recipe and filled 12 muffin cups to the top. Can’t wait to eat these!
Erica
March 22, 2013 at 8:45 amyes!
Jessica
May 23, 2013 at 9:15 amI made these with unsalted butter and they are pretty tasty! But they’re kind of heavy and greasy. Would oil yield a slightly lighter consistency and less greasy cupcake? If so, is extra light olive oil okay or would you recommend something else (we don’t do canola or corn oil). I’m also wondering, when folding in the egg whites, do all of the lumps need to be eradicated or is it okay if there are little lumps of egg white in the batter? Thank you!
Erica
May 23, 2013 at 9:53 pmsorry, I haven’t made these in quite a while. I don’t remember them being greasy. Try my very vanilla cupcakes if you are ok with coconut flour.
Jessica
May 25, 2013 at 7:18 amI have a feeling that the heavy/soggy resulted from some kind of issue with the whipped egg whites. In the photos your cake looks much more dry than my cupcakes do. The flavor is delish, though, despite the sogginess. I’m going to try the other almond flour cake recipe and see if that gives a better result for me!
Jessica
August 14, 2015 at 7:09 amWill these cupcakes hold up well for frosting or so they crumble apart easily?
Erica
August 16, 2015 at 11:51 amI would suggest the very vanilla cupcakes.
Carolina
December 17, 2015 at 11:33 amJust made these due to a frosting craving, cannot wait to try them! This recipe was super easy! I doubled the recipe and filled 12 cupcake cups to the top. I’ll be making a chocolate buttercream frosting to fill and frost these.
Erica
December 18, 2015 at 8:49 amCool! thanks.
Earl Moore
August 7, 2016 at 5:04 pmThese baked up nicely! I substituted the Honey with an artificial sweetener (3 tablespoons since it’s often TOO sweet). I liked the science aspect of the recipe, reminded me of something Alton Brown would do. While they cooked up beautifully, mine had a bit of an acidic taste that turned me off. However, i’ve had the same problem every time I added some sort of vinegar to the recipe. I made a frosting and that helped a bit with the taste. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Cindy
July 30, 2017 at 1:33 amI’m wondering if you can sub flax eggs to go dairy free as well?
Erica
August 5, 2017 at 7:04 amI haven’t tried it with this recipe and I wouldn’t go beyond 2 flax eggs. This is one of my early recipes.
Rachael
January 11, 2019 at 10:44 amThese turned out so good! So delicious and much lighter than I had expected. I doubled the recipe and made some regular and some mini cupcakes. I think the mini ones turned out better, they hardly fell at all. Arranged into flowers with a sugar free frosting, they were perfect for little ones first birthday.
Erica
January 11, 2019 at 10:45 pmGreat to hear! Sounds beautiful. Happy first birthday 🙂