Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of Melted or Softened Grass Fed Unsalted Butter or Ghee
• 1 tsp. Organic Vanilla
• 1/2 cup Organic Coconut Sugar or Organic Brown Cane Sugar
• 2 Large Organic Pastured Eggs
• 1/2 cup of Organic Whole Milk, Organic Coconut Milk, or Grass Fed Cream
• 1 1/2 cups Organic Blanched Almond Flour or Organic "Sifted" Hazelnut Flour
  
• 1/4 cup Organic Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Fermented Unsweetened Cacao Powder 
• 1 tsp. Pure Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Aluminum Free & Gluten Free Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Whipped Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup Grass Fed Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 to 3 Tbsp. of Organic Raw Honey
  
• Spash of Organic Vanilla

Tip 1:  I prefer raw honey over agave nectar because it's lower on the glycemic scale.

Tip 2:  You can either buy hazelnut flour or make your own at home (preferably using properly soaked and dried hazelnuts).

First, remove the hazelnut skins.  Then put them into a blender and blend until a nut flour forms.  Then sift the flour for a better texture in your cupcake recipes.

How to Remove Hazelnut Skins

Cupcake Instructions:

1. Whisk wet ingredients together in a big bowl.  Then whisk in the dry ingredients until you get a smooth consistency.
2. Use an ice cream scoop to transfer the cupcake batter into the individually lined cupcake pan.
   
3. Fill to 3/4 of the way full or just a little more.  Makes about 10 cupcakes.
   
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for approximately 20 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack.
5. Be sure your chocolate cupcake recipes are completely cool before frosting them.
   

Whipped Frosting Instructions:

1. Whip the heavy cream using a stand mixer or use a hand mixer.
   
2. When cream starts to thicken, add your sweetener of choice and the vanilla.
   
3. Beat on high speed until cream is ready to use as a frosting. 
   
4. Use a makeshift piping bag and pipe frosting in a circular motion onto cupcakes.  Top with edible decorations.
   

Ganache Ingredients:

• Almost 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) of Organic Whipping Cream or Heavy Cream (35% milk fat)
  
• 3 cups (600 grams) of Organic Dark Chocolate Chips

Ganache Instructions:

1. Heat cream - preferably in a double-boiler and bring to a bare simmer.
2. Add in the chocolate chips and stir until completely combined with the cream.
   
3. Remove from heat and let Ganache cool for a few minutes before using as a frosting.
   

Tip 1:  Decorate by adding toasted nuts, toasted coconut, cocoa powder, sprinkles, etc. to your cupcake frosting.

You can use a Ganache recipe to pour over your chocolate cupcake recipes to give it that glossy look.  Or whip completely cooled Ganache to create a fluffy lighter frosting that's great for piping.

Or keep Ganache at room temperature until it hardens to a spreadable frosting for your chocolate cupcake recipes.

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Organic Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/4 cup Organic Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Pure Baking Soda
• 1/2 cup Melted Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/4 cup Organic Coconut Milk
• 1/4 cup Organic Maple Syrup
• 2 Large Organic Pastured Eggs
• 1 tsp. Organic Vanilla Extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Organic Palm Shortening or Organic Coconut Cream
• 1/4 cup of Organic Maple Syrup
• 2 tsp. of Organic Vanilla Extract

Cupcake Instructions:

1. Add dry and wet ingredients to a large bowl.  Then mix ingredients together until well combined.
2. Then pour batter into your lined cupcake pan.  Recipe should make 9 cupcakes.
   
3. Bake cupcakes in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about 15 to 18 minutes.
4. Check to see if done by using a toothpick.  Cool your cupcakes on a cooling rack.
   

Frosting Instructions:

1. Your cupcakes must be completely cool before you can frost and decorate them.
2. Beat ingredients with a hand mixer until thick enough to frost cupcakes. 
3. Then pipe frosting on top of your cupcakes or spoon frosting on cupcakes.

Do you love to adjust other people's recipes, but have been confused about how much leavening you really need to use when you change a recipe?

Well maybe this information will finally help you to avoid that funky metallic off-taste that sometimes occurs when you cut down on the amount of sugar in recipes.

When adjusting a chocolate cupcake recipe to be lower in carbs or sugar, you need to understand how to adjust the leavening.

The following ratios are good to know, so that you can evaluate recipes before actually baking to ensure success.

For Non-Acidic Recipes:  1 Cup Flour = 1 to 1 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder

For Very Acidic Recipes:  1 Cup Flour = 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder and 1/8 tsp. Baking Soda

And baked goods with a lot of heavy ingredients like carrot cake cupcakes, may need a tiny bit more leavening.