Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes and the EASIEST Frosting Ever

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Just in case you need a clean holiday dessert recipe (that doesn’t take all day in the kitchen to make!), these dairy-free/ gluten-free lemon olive oil cupcakes won’t let you down. And the frosting has to be the easiest thing on earth to make. You won’t feel guilty after eating them either because these lemon olive oil cupcakes are missing all usual cupcake suspects.

And by “usual cupcake suspects”, I mean this recipe is free of the following not-so-clean ingredients:

-gluten

-dairy

-refined sugar

-refined oil

-refined flour

-empty calories (because believe it or not, these cupcakes actually DO have nutrients! Specifically, they’ve got fiber from the oat flour, cassava flour and dates, antioxidants from the extra virgin olive oil, omega-3’s from the walnuts and protein and lutein from the eggs.)

Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes with the EASIEST Frosting Ever

Oh! And let’s not forget the dairy free lemony frosting! Not only is it delicious (if I do say so myself), it has to be the easiest frosting ever to make (it takes less than 3 minutes.) And yes, it’s clean too!

In fact, it’s super clean…

The frosting has just three ingredients: coconut butter, lemon juice and pure maple syrup. Since it is made primarily with coconut butter, the frosting is loaded with healthy brain-health-supporting medium chain fatty acids. Also, unlike coconut oil, coconut butter is a plant-based “whole fat” and therefore also contains fiber and iron.

Keep in mind, a “whole fat” will always be healthier than oil! So, even though the extra virgin olive used in these lemon olive oil cupcakes is most definitely a healthier option than the refined vegetable oil used in conventional cupcakes, as we discuss in our Clean Cuisine nutrition book, eating the “whole” olive would be even healthier than the oil. But of course we can’t be ridiculous about it either…as healthy as “whole olives” might be, I’m not using them to make cupcakes lol.

Luckily, you’ll get plenty of “whole fat” in this recipe from the coconut butter frosting though 😉 As for sweetness, unlike conventional frosting mine uses less than 2 tablespoons of natural sweetener in the form of pure maple syrup.

So yes, it’s all good.

Dairy Free/ Gluten Free Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes with the EASIEST Frosting Ever

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Ivy Larson
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x

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Description

Healthy holiday baking is easy and delicious with these clean dairy free/ gluten free lemon olive oil cupcakes (with no refined sugar,) And the lemon frosting has got to be the easiest frosting EVER!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup cassava flour, we like Terrasoul brand
• 3/4 cup oat flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 3 organic (pasture-raised eggs)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, like this one from Watkin’s
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 organic pitted medjool dates, like these ones from Terrasoul

For the Frosting:

• 1 cup coconut butter (softened)
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

For Garnish:

• 1 cup fresh pomegrante seeds
• 1/4 cup lemon shavings

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Instructions

1. For the Cupcakes:
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
3. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the cassava flour, oat flour, baking powder, lemon zest, sugar and salt.
4. In a high speed blender, add the lemon juice, water, walnuts, eggs, vanilla, olive oil and dates. Process on high until mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour wet mixture in with the dry and use a wooden spoon to stir ingredients together until just blended.
5. Divide the mixture evenly among the 12 cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting.
6. For the Frosting:
7. In a medium-sized bowl add the softened coconut butter, lemon juice and maple syrup. Use a fork to whisk ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Use a knife to spread the frosting on the cupcakes.

To Garnish:

1. Sprinkle the pomegrante seeds and lemon shavings evenly over the cupcakes and serve.

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Notes

Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.