Gluten-Free Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes (Dairy-Free)
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Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes that are both gluten-free and vegan? Yes, please!
These chocolate cupcakes have a dairy-free cheesecake filing and they're sugar-free too. They're a fun treat that works for almost any special diet.
Though I don't do as much gluten-free baking as I used to, I still love making healthier special treats for my family on occasion.
These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Keto Snowball Cookies, and Low-carb Almond Crescents are great, but this recipe for vegan cheesecake cupcakes, well, it really takes the cake (see what I did there?)
I used to make homemade low fat cheesecakes as a special treat for holidays. They were amazing. But our diets have changed.
Now we eat a sugar-free diet, plus we're dairy free (due to my son's life-threatening food allergies), and mostly we eat whole grain only. So I tried to make this recipe to fit what we needed.
I saw cheesecake cupcakes made by another blogger, Ricki Heller, and I knew that I had to make them into a version that we could have.
So I went in the kitchen and got to work.
I tweaked her filling and used my Homemade Chocolate Chips with a few other alterations and they worked out great.
Creamy dairy-free cheesecake filling with crunchy chunky chocolate (or carob) chips, surrounded by a “just right” chocolate cake.
This is a “healthy” recipe, so if you use whole grains they won't be super light and fluffy, but we like our desserts to be more hearty.
How to Use the Extra Filling
You will have extra filling using the proportions in this recipe. I thought about reducing the proportions, but we like having the extra.
My husband likes to add it to his cupcakes by putting a big dollop on top kind of like frosting. He's not at all a fan of frosting, but since these cupcakes are not super sweet it's just right for him.
Our oldest just eats the filling by the spoonful for a snack.
You could, alternatively, use it as a healthy frosting or even a healthy dip.
Recipe Notes
- You can use most any gluten-free flour blend for this recipe. A whole grain blend will result in a more dense cupcake. The cupcakes in the photos were taken of cupcakes made with whole grain gluten-free flour.
- Macadamias will work just as well as cashews.
- See my Homemade Chocolate Chips to make your own chocolate chips.
- Vegans could use a gum like xanthan gum or organic guar gum instead of gelatin.
- Any 1:1 sweetener should work for these cupcakes, but the results may vary some.
- You can use other milk alternatives, including almond milk, instead of coconut milk. See these recipes for coconut milk and almond milk. Of course, dairy milk can be used as well.
- Any other healthy oil should work in place of coconut oil, but I haven't tried it. I would recommend only substituting with another oil that's solid at room temperature.
- Please use Soaked and Dehydrated Nuts or Seeds.
How to Store
I recommend storing these cupcakes in the fridge where they should keep for at least a week. You can also freeze them in a freezer-friendly container to have healthy treats at the ready anytime.
More Allergy-Friendly Treats
These allergy-friendly treats are great recipes to have on hand for those who are on special diets, but even those who aren't can enjoy!
- Homemade Almond Joy
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- No-Bake Coconut Delights
- Luscious Lemon Bars
- Carob Muffins (that work as cupcakes, too!)
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 cups cashews (or madacamia nuts)
- 9 tablespoons water
- 3/8 cup lemon juice
- 7 tablespoons low carb sweetener
- 3/16 teaspoon stevia extract (see Recipe Notes for options)
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/16 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
Cake
- 4 cups gluten-free flour (see Recipe Notes)
- 1/2 cup arrowroot (or other light starch)
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa (or carob for AIP)
- 1 teaspoon gelatin (see Recipe Notes for vegan option)
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 2/3 cups low-carb sweetener
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 1/8 teaspoon stevia extract (or 4 scoops)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
Instructions
- Place all filling ingredients other than the chocolate chips in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.
- Fold chocolate chips into the cheesecake mixture. Set aside.
- Make the cake batter.
- Fill prepared muffin tins about 1/2 full with cake batter.
- Spoon about 2 teaspoon of the cheesecake mixture on top of the cake batter.
- Top each cupcake with remaining cake batter.
- Bake in 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until a tester comes clean when testing the cupcake as opposed to the filling.
Notes
- You can use any gluten-free flour blend you like. One with xanthan gum will work better.
- Sunflower seeds or almonds are another possible alternative for the cashews, but they have more of an intense flavor.
- You can substitute another 1/2 cup sugar alternative sweetener for the stevia extract.
- For a vegan option use xanthan gum or organic guar gum instead of gelatin.
- Other milk alternatives can be used instead of the coconut milk.
- Butter or palm shortening can be used instead of the coconut oil.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
What's your favorite cupcake recipe?
Can you link to the unnatural product you used in this recipe does it come w a scoop? Thx
I’ll do it soon – thanks!
Hi – I did link to it in the ingredients. It does not come w/ a scoop. If you like I can put a scoop link at the bottom of the recipe.
how much is in a “scoop” of stevia?
1/32 of a tsp :). I have linked to the scoops I use at times in certain posts. If you need it, let me know.
Wow, those look good! I’m going to pin them so I don’t lose the recipe and share it with my baking daughter.
Thanks!
Yummy! These look delicious.
These cupcakes look amazing!! Thanks for sharing! :*)
~Brenda @ChattingOverChocolate.blogspot.com
You’re welcome. They are gone gone gone at our home :).
YUM, these look amazing and I love Ricki! I’d love for you to link this up at our Gluten Free Fridays party this week! Its live now! I hope you make it this week! 🙂 Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
These look pretty wonderful, I can’t lie. As a special treat these would definitely hit the spot.
Thanks, France!
These look so wonderful! I’d love to have you share them on The HomeAcre Hop!
Thanks, Lisa. I’ll see if I can :).
Just thought I’d point out that dairy-free and vegan aren’t the same thing. Vegans don’t eat animal products or those produced by animals: the recipe contains gelatin which is a protein substance derived from collagen taken from the tendons, ligaments and tissues of mammals.
I knew that but was typing so fast I forgot! There’s a vegan option now and I changed the wording. Thanks!
Your cupcakes look fabulous!! And so funny–I used to gorge on jelly beans in my 30s because they were “low fat” (even though I didn’t really like them!). Ah, how times have changed, eh? Thanks so much for the cupcake mention, and glad they inspired these! xo
They are soo good! Thanks to you! The only problem is…this time they really stuck to the paper cupcake liners. We didn’t have that issue last time. I recall reading something about that years ago but I don’t recall what it was. Do you typically use the liners?
The jelly bean thing is so funny. Do you have Jelly Bellys in Canada? They are truly amazing and there was a store about 45 minutes north of where I lived when I was a “bean” addict. It was an outlet for the Jelly Bellys. Bad news, right? Anyway, they even had bags of the “rejects” and they were called “Belly Flops”. We even bought those a few times. Hubby and I shared that horrid addiction. We ate whole grains, vegan chilis, etc., but would regularly indulge in those. How funny! I don’t like the regular ones, but those Jelly Bellies were something else.
Times sure have changed. Now we indulge in sugar free, dairy & gluten free cupcakes. Thanks again!
Yes, we have jelly bellys! I had my favorite flavors “back in the day”. And I’d buy the rejects, too (sometimes huge ones where two stuck together, mis-colored ones, weirdo flavors, etc). So funny!
Re: the liners, yes, I do use them. I’ve found things stick sometimes if underbaked or if I let them cool too long in the pans. . .but sometimes, they just stick no matter what. 😉
Well, the first time I made these — no sticking. I did change the recipe a tad so maybe I need to go back to the original. Thanks!