These healthier red velvet cupcakes are everything you love about the original – sweet, chocolatey, moist cake with cream cheese frosting! We made these cupcakes for Valentine’s Day and topped with pink, red and heart-shaped sprinkles to make them festive! These cupcakes are so easy – only takes 30 minutes to make! – and they’re reduced sugar and protein packed! We reduced sugar with Truvia Sweet Complete Monk Fruit Sweetener but still used regular powdered sugar in the frosting. We upped the protein in these yummy cupcakes with King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour.

Ever since becoming a mom, what I eat and feed my family means so much more to me. I want overall good health and energy to care for my family, and I want my kids interested in eating more than just junk food. But, I never want to keep my family from enjoying celebrations and “party food” like cupcakes, so, recently, I’ve started looking into healthier swaps for refined sugar and flour.

A swap for sugar I’ve discovered is Truvia Sweet Complete Monk Fruit Sweetener, which is an easy 1:1 swap. Monk Fruit Extract is a calorie-free sweetener that comes from monk fruit, which is native to the mountains of China and Northern Thailand. This sweetener is zero calories and replaces sugar anywhere you’d normally use it – coffee, teas, baking, etc.

For an alternative to flour, I’ve enjoyed exploring King Arthur brand’s Keto Wheat Flour and Gluten-Free Flour, because they’re also an easy 1:1 swap in recipes. The Keto Wheat Flour is an awesome way to boost my kids protein intake with 17g of protein per serving. My family isn’t gluten-free, but I uncovered the health benefits of removing gluten from my diet when I did the Kroma Wellness 5-day reset (I’ll write a blog post about that later), so King Arthur Gluten-Free is also a great option.

Below is my recipe that I updated from the original Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe found on Peanut Butter and Jilly. My recipe is not vegan, but it’s delicious!

Healthier Red Velvet Cupcakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Yields: 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (My favorite is MALK)
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup monk fruit sweetener (We used Truvia brand)
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cup King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour (or King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour)
• 5 teaspoon red food coloring

Frosting:

• 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoon butter, softened
• option to top with sprinkles of your choice

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350
• Mix together the almond milk, melted butter, monk fruit sweetener, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and food coloring until well combined.
• Add the flour to the bowl and mix until a thick batter forms. Spoon the batter into 12-14 lined cupcake molds and bake in the oven to 25 minutes.
• While the cupcakes are baking, use an electric hand mixer to mix together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, and butter. If you desire a thicker frosting, add ¼ or more powdered sugar to the mixture until desired consistency is reached. Allow cupcakes to cool, then spread the frosting onto the cupcakes. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try these and what you think! Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok for more easy recipes, healthy lifestyle and ideas for your family!

XO Maggie

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