I received a text a week or so ago from a friend telling me he was in the mood for a strawberry cupcake. Then a text later that he had located one, ate it, and it wasn’t great. Apparently he did not realize that this meant he had just challenged me to create a GF/DF strawberry cupcake. So I did just that. I’m still on a mission as I don’t think this wins the cupcake prize, but it was tasty and the frosting refreshing and not too sweet.

The cake is from Elana’s Pantry and uses coconut flour which I am a big fan of. I’d adjust this next time to be more cakey, and vanilla-ey if I can.

Strawberry Cupcakes
½ cup coconut flour
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
½ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 7-8 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot powder, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer until thoroughly combined, then fold in the strawberries.

Scoop into prepared tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

Unfortunately, I was having a tough time with the frosting consistency, so didn’t write down the final exact amounts but it went something like this…

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 c cream cheese (vegan optional)
1/2 c butter (earthspread)
1/4 chopped strawberries
approximately 2 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese together. Beat in sugar. Fold in the strawberries. If you want it a little pink, beat half the strawberries in and then fold the other half in. DO NOT beat in all strawberries. The consistency changes too drastically and is drippy.