Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Pineapple Cupcakes with Banana Raspberry Frosting

Cute right?  These little pink babies were the result of my latest baking experiment- chestnut flour.  Have you ever baked with chestnut flour?  It's quite commonplace in Italy and is traditionally used in cakes and crepes.  While it is grain-free, and much lower in fat than almond flour, it is also quite a lot starchier, so be advised.  It also has a very distinct smell and taste.  Having tried it out in this recipe, I personally don't think I'd use it by itself, rather I'd combine it with other flours.  This recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of it, and you can definitely taste it.  It has an earthy, nutty flavor and smell, which I feel would be overpowering in a larger quantity, but that's just me!  I'm sure that you could easily substitute the chestnut flour for buckwheat flour without problems.

Have I said how much I love pineapple?  I love pineapple.  Dried, frozen, fresh, canned, dehydrated, vacuum fried, whatever.  I have been wanting to make a pineapple cupcake for awhile, and have had a couple failures along the way.  Thankfully, today's venture was a success.  Have a fresh pineapple on hand?  Use it!  It will only make this cupcake even better.

Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Pineapple Cupcakes with Raspberry Banana Frosting
(say that three times fast!)
1 cup almond flour (lately I've been using the TJ's and it's been fine)
1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 can of pineapple chunks, cut into slivers
3 beaten room temp eggs
1/4 cup oil (i am a big fan of walnut oil these days)
1/2 cup preferred liquid sweetener (i am using SF vanilla sweetener, but use what works for you)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup preferred milk/non-dairy milk/nut milk
1/2 banana
2 tbsp warm coconut butter
2 tbsp just fruit raspberry preserves

In a large mixing bowl, combine first 6 ingredients whisk well to get any lumps out.  In a separate bowl mix your eggs, vanilla, oil, liquid sweetener, and non-dairy milk/nut milk well.  Pour wet into dry.  You want this to be a wet, spoonable batter.  If it's too thick, add a touch more nut milk.  Using your tbsp scoop, drop into lined muffin tin.  This made 9 cupcakes for me, which is the perfect amount.  Who needs a dozen cupcakes lying around?  Then, take 4-5 slivers of pineapple and drop them into each cupcake.  Push them down into the batter, then drop your pan on the countertop a few times to get out any air bubbles.  Drop a few more slivers on top for good measure.  Have dried pineapple on hand?  Even better!   Bake at 350 until the tops are golden brown.  For me this was 40 minutes but use your best judgement.

Lastly,  mash your 1/2 banana in a bowl then mix well with coconut butter and preserves.  No sugar/sweetener needed!

These have a surprisingly light texture to them, which is hard with almond flour baked goods.  The chestnut flour is very light and fine, which helps give this a cakier texture than if it were just almond flour.  While I do really like the taste of almond flour, it can be pretty coarse, making it better suited to cookie/scone recipes I think.  This is a treat you really do not need to feel guilty about.  Dairy not a problem?  Use milk in place of nut milk, and cream cheese in place of coconut butter.  Sub out dried cherries or strawberries for the pineapple, or add chopped walnuts.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  Let me know how it goes!  XoXoGFG