Copycat Hostess Cupcakes. The classic childhood treat made over to be low carb, dairy free and grain free. Healthy indulgences!
Today is my 41st birthday. And you might think I made these low carb dairy-free Hostess Cupcakes to celebrate but I did not. See, in order to bring you a recipe, I have to make it, photograph it and write about it several days or even weeks in advance. So these pretty little things were actually made several weeks ago, and they weren’t with my birthday in mind at all. I just wanted them. Waiting until my birthday to make them was just not good enough for me. And really, should we have to wait for birthdays or other special occasions to eat cake? I think not.
I made these dairy-free for no other reason than I wanted to. I don’t have any issues with dairy myself and copious amounts of butter, cream and cheese pass my lips on a daily basis. But I’ve had a can of coconut milk in the fridge for some time, for the express purpose of making low carb coconut whipped cream. I thought it would make a great filling for some copycat Hostess Cupcakes. And I figured since I was going that far, I might as well go whole hog and make everything dairy-free. Food intolerances often got hand in hand, sadly, and many readers have expressed that they have a dairy intolerance along with a gluten or wheat intolerance. I am nothing if not accommodating to my readership!
It was good to challenge myself in this way. I figured it would be easy to adjust my standard recipes for dairy-free ingredients, and for the most part it was. But I learned a few little things in the process, useful tidbits for the dairy-free folks. I already knew that coconut oil makes things more tender than butter. Since these cupcakes needed to be sturdy enough to be filled, I used a little less coconut oil than I normally would butter. I also found that coconut whipped cream won’t stay as whipped at room temperature as traditional whipped cream, so I had to refrigerate the cupcakes to keep the filling from becoming too runny. And finally, coconut oil chocolate ganache…oh my. Very different than butter-based chocolate ganache. It was very runny when I first made it, so I couldn’t get it to stay on the tops of the cakes. I tried refrigerating it to thicken it up, but then it hardened up too quickly so I had to remelt it. Finally I whisked in some cocoa powder to firm it up and let it cool until it was just barely pourable. I spooned it over the tops of the cakes and spread it around.
The results of my dairy-free experiment were utterly delicious. And for those of you that aren’t coconut lovers, they didn’t taste like coconut at all. My kids, who can be a little funny when I use “different” ingredients, went absolutely gaga over these. They met all of my own expectations…chocolatey cupcakes with a creamy vanilla center and a chocolate glaze on top. Like the cupcakes of my youth without the guilt.
Copycat Hostess Cupcakes – Low Carb, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 recipe keto chocolate cupcakes
Cream Filling
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp grass-fed gelatin
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 ¼ ounces sugar-free chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp allulose, (optional)
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Frosting for Swirls
- 1 ounce cream cheese, well softened
- 2 tbsp powdered sweetener
- 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Prepare the cupcakes according to the recipe. Let cool completely.
- Once cool, use a small (1-inch) round cookie cutter to cut out the center of each cupcake. You can also use a sharp knife to cut a 1 inch round hole. Reserve the cores of the cupcakes
Cream Filling
- Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Whisk to combine. Heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave and whisk until the gelatin is dissolved. Cool 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the cream, sweetener, and vanilla extract. Begin to beat at high speed and slowly pour in the water/gelatin mixture. Beat until the cream holds stiff peaks.
- Spoon or pipe the filling into the center of each cored cupcake, filling almost to the top. Cut the very top off of the cores and place overtop the filling.
Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chocolate chips and the allulose in a medium bowl. Heat the cream until simmering, then pour overtop the chocolate chips. Let sit a few minutes to melt, then whisk until smooth.
- Let cool a few minutes until thickened but still pourable. Spoon over the tops of the cupcakes and spread to the edges. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes to firm up.
Frosting for Swirls
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the powdered sweetener and the heavy cream.
- Snip off a small bit of the corner of a ziplock bag. Place the frosting inside and pipe little swirls across the top of each cupcake.
Nutrition
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Oh my! I haven’t had these in so long! Love this recipe; can’t wait to make these tomorrow!
I made these for a party a few weeks ago, and they were a hit! Today is my son’s 14th birthday, and he recently had to go dairy free…he requested these cupcakes for dessert 🙂 Do they need to stay refrigerated? Last time I made them we kept them in the fridge, but they get a bit hard. A friend tried to microwave it for a second to soften it, and the filling melted immediately. Would they be ok sitting out for a couple of hours?
That coconut whipped cream filling is tricky! I think your best bet is to keep them refrigerated and then let them sit out for an hour before eating.
I love that I have found this website, and the things I have made were amazing and I want to bake all the time. If non dairy isn’t an issue what could I use instead of the coconut milk? Heavy cream?
Yup, heavy cream would work just fine. You will need one cup of it.
Hello Carolyn, I am really looking forward to trying out your recipes. I’m making cupcakes as a fund raiser for my church, and I’ve had requests for sugar-free, Keto friendly cupcakes. Do you think it would be okay to sub vanilla flavored protein whey in place of the powdered egg whites? And in other recipes you have? I can’t find unflavored. Also, where do you find xanthan gum? Thank you!
yes, that’s fine, just leave out any additional vanilla. Xanthan gum is often found in the gluten-free aisle of many grocery stores.
These look seriously yummy. Wanting to make for the kiddos who are dairy/grain free. Having trouble finding meringue powder without added yuck ingredients. Are you saying that just unsweetened powdered egg whites works for this recipe? I did find something labeled that way on Amazon. Didn’t say it was meringue powder though.
Yes, what I had was pure powdered egg whites. But you can also use egg white protein powder like this. http://amzn.to/2haPMfR
These are DELICIOUS!!!! Seriously no one even knows they are healthy! Thank you!
Hello Carolyn, Have you thought of adapting this recipe into a copycat Saunders Bumpy cake? Oh how I miss those. That is what I had every birthday. Just a square single layer rich chocolate cake with large thick high rows of buttercream frosting and topped with a chocolate ganache. It looks like everything here would work except you may need to replace the “cream” with a thick buttercream frosting recipe. If you have a frosting recipe that you could point me in the direction of, I could probably try it myself, although I don’t know about the proper proportions to fill an 8″ x 8″ pan.
I have never heard of that at all!
I was so looking forward to trying this recipe but I have to laugh at your calling them dairy free. FYI: eggs are dairy. Guess I’ll have to look elsewhere.
Hi Kat. Let’s clarify what dairy is. Dairy comes from mammals, typically cows and other four-hooved animals, that have mammary glands and feed their young by nursing them. Eggs come from chickens, and chickens are birds. Chickens are not mammals. They do not have mammary glands and they feed their young by regurgitating food that they have swallowed. Eggs are most certainly NOT dairy products. If this recipe were meant to be egg-free, I would have specified egg-free.
For further clarification on this subject, I refer you to this article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/eggs-not-dairy-are-they_n_5976814.html
Why do people think eggs are dairy? I can only assume it is because they are always near the milk in stores. Dairy has to come from milk and chickens do not make milk. This recipe is not vegan, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dairy free.
I have a ragweed allergy and can’t use stevia. Should I just leave it out or add more swerve?
Add more Swerve. My stevia conversion is 1/4 tsp stevia = 1/4 cup Swerve
I just made these for a friend’s birthday and they are better than the original! Sooo yummy! I love that they are dairy free. The coconut whipped cream center is so good. Just wanted to say I could not find unsweetened egg white powder anywhere and I went to 3 different health food stores and a regular grocery store before I gave up. And so I left it out and the cupcakes turned out great. I filled my liners a little higher than you said and made 12 perfect cupcakes. Just in case someone else can’t find it I don’t see why its necessary. Thank you so much for the recipe. I am gonna make them again for my birthday in 2 weeks. 🙂
Glad they turned out. It’s not “necessary”, I suppose but a protein powder will help your cakes rise and hold their shape better. I did a little video about it on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/AllDayIDreamAboutFood/videos/1264344686926251/
Hi there,
I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing to you on behalf on Mashable, a leading source for news and information for the Connected Generation. We have over 40 million unique monthly visitors and 20 million social media followers.
I’m the lifestyle intern and I frequently cover and health wellness. I’m writing a story about surprising foods that someone can grill and I was wondering if I could use the information from this recipe and the images. I would attribute all proper credit to you guys, however you prefer.
I also sent you an email!
Thanks!
Kathleen Wong
Hi Kathleen, you certainly can and I’d love to be included but this isn’t a grilled recipe. Were you looking for my pound cake that was grilled?
I’m making these for a dairy-free friend (& myself!). I’m a little nervous about the “coring” of the cup cake. I use a knife to cut out a 1″ hole. I can envision the cutting around part, but how does it detach? Do I angle my knife so the core I remove is more cone shaped? Now that I write this, it sounds like a stupid question – but I’m submitting it, just to be sure!
Just press inwards lightly with the knife and jiggle it out. That should work. When I core mine with my round corer, sometimes a little stays in the cupcake and I just scoop it out with a spoon.
Hi Carolyn! I seriously live and die by your website (well, my keto does). I have yet to try a recipe that didn’t turn out flipping fantastic, so *thank you*!
I’m having friends over this weekend and I would love to make these babies, but I cannot find sugar-free meringue powder anywhere- unfortunately, the closest Whole Foods is over an hour away. Any idea of worthy substitution?
Thank you in advance!
Hmmmm…you could use hemp protein but it’s greenish – the cocoa powder might be dark enough to cover it up. Or if you don’t have any objection to dairy, then you can do whey protein.
Happy Birthday Carolyn. So glad I found your web sight. It has helped me out for many birthdays and holidays and just any days.
Thanks again
I have a friend who loves junk food, and I told her I could make a healthy version of just about any ‘junk’. I brought these to her house, and she snarfed 2 of them immediately. Her daughter loved them as well. I didn’t have meringue powder, but used egg white protein powder, and it seemed to work. She invited me back, only if I bring another dozen of these! Thank you SO MUCH for the recipe!!!
I love it when we win over a die-hard sugar consumer!
Hey there–I’m not a fan of sugar substitutes. Would coconut sugar work with this?
I am not sure. It would be fine in the cake itself but not for the frosting, I think.
Have you tried erythritol to sweeten such as Swerve or from NOW brands? It has no weird aftertaste and unlike other sugar alcohols doesn’t upset your GI tract. It doesn’t affect like blood sugar levels and it’s totally natural. It’s worth a try if you don’t like stevia or splenda or those others.
This looks amazing Carolyn!! Just a quick question – how does the meringue powder work in this recipe? Does it make it more compact? Thanks 🙂
They are a bit lumpier than things I make with dairy products but no, not more compact.
Hi thank you for posting this amazing recipe!
I followed the directions to a T and mine for some reason did not turn out..
It made more than what you said above and it also seemed very oily, It is also very crumbly and falls apart.. any suggestions…
No, there is no way for me to tell what went wrong. What brand of almond flour did you use? How about the sweetener?
I made these last night- just the cupcake… No filling or ganache. I used Honeyville flours and powdered xylitol instead of Swerve. I also went almost a whole cup of cocoa ( i was almost out anyway and I love chocolate!). These cupcakes are fantastic!!!!! Even my picky nieces loved them (age 4 & 5). And they’re so filling you CAN have just one and feel satisfied. Thank God for your website!!!!:)
Glad you liked them!
I want to try these, but I don’t understand the purpose of the meringue powder. At first I thought it might be a replacement for raw egg whites in the frosting or filling, but I see now that it’s part of the cupcake ingredients. So if it’s going to be baked, what is the benefit of using powder instead of plain egg whites?
In the absence of gluten, which is a protein, additional dry protein helps the cupcakes rise properly.
Hello, if I don’t have the meringue powder, can I use whey protein powder instead?
Yes, that would be fine.
OMG you’re killing me, girl. One of my real weaknesses, Hostess cupcakes.