Keto Lime Green Cupcakes with Lime “Butter”cream (dairy-free, nut-free, paleo)
These nut-free Keto Lime Green Cupcakes have a luscious and satin-y, dairy-free lime “butter”cream frosting (hint: no butter!) and are the perfect healthy treat for St. Patrick’s Day class parties and celebrations!
Curious about using essential oils in your food, like in this recipe?
Download my FREE Guide to Cooking with Essential Oils!
The perfect St. Patrick’s Day keto cupcakes are here, y’all!!
I actually got my act together in January to come up with a fun, tasty, naturally green treat for March 17th!
You’re going to love the bright, fresh, spring flavor of these Keto Lime Green Cupcakes with Lime “Butter”cream frosting!
First up… How to Make Keto Green Cupcakes
Newsflash: NO ARTIFICIAL COLORING was used in the making of these yummy Keto Lime Green Cupcakes!
My long-time readers will not be surprised by this. When it comes to artificial coloring, we JUST SAY NO.
These Keto Green Cupcakes have a lovely flavor combination of lime + Matchinga.
Matchinga is a superfood green powder from my partner in health, Perfect Supplements. It’s a 50/50 blend of matcha powder and moringa powder, loaded with polyphenols and antioxidants.
It just so happens that the deep green color of Matchinga bakes up nicely to make green cupcakes! (I also used Matchinga to make my Keto Matcha Donuts!).
Save 10% on Matchinga with my discount code ALLTHETHINGS.
Second…How to Make Lime Green “Butter”cream Frosting
Notice “butter”, there?
There’s not really butter in this frosting — hence, “butter”.
But, the texture is so creamy and smooth, just like buttercream! Because… avocados!
As I teach myself how to bake without dairy, I’ve found a friend in avocados. They make such a great dairy sub in frosting — like my Keto Avocado Chocolate Frosting.
There’s plenty of zingy lime flavor in this frosting, so no worries about it tasting like guac, ok? 😉
If you’re throwing a party or attending your child’s class party, everyone will love these healthy St. Patty’s day cupcakes! Bonus: making them keto means no sugar crash later!
Ingredient Subs & FAQs
The absolutely necessary ingredients are:
- coconut flour <– Save 10% on my favorite coconut flour with my discount code NOURISHING
- eggs
- lime essential oil <– Save 10% on my favorite essential oils with my discount code NOURISHING10
- fresh limes
- avocados
- baking powder & salt
- coconut oil — in the frosting
Now, let’s discuss how much freedom you have with these ingredients, to sub as needed for your dietary preferences.
Don’t want to use coconut oil?
Feel free to use avocado oil IN THE CUPCAKES ONLY — not in the frosting. I have not tried this recipe with butter, so I can’t say how it will turn out. I bake with expeller pressed coconut oil to avoid the coconut flavor in my baked goods. Save 10% on my favorite expeller pressed coconut oil with my discount code NOURISHING.
I don’t have Matchinga. Can I just use matcha?
Yes! I understand if you don’t want to purchase a specialty ingredient… although not everyone keeps ceremonial matcha in their cupboards. Remember, you can save 10% on my favorite Matchinga with my discount code ALLTHETHINGS.
Can I use any keto sweetener?
Yep. I make my own blend, Dietz Sweet, because it saves money over buying pre-made blends, and we love the taste. If you have Lakanto or Swerve or THM SuperSweet, use one of those.
I’m not keto. What sweetener can I use?
Normally, I’d sub coconut sugar. In this case, however, I’m not sure how that will work with the green color of these keto lime green cupcakes or the frosting. I’m afraid you’d have brownish-green, puke-colored cupcakes — not fun green St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes!
So, this one time, I’m recommending organic evaporated cane juice (NOT paleo) as a replacement for the keto sweetener.
I don’t want to ingest essential oils. Do I have to use lime essential oil?
I understand your hesitation, however, I have found that baking with essential oils is a totally safe way to use them. First, essential oils are very heat-sensitive — and these cupcakes are baked. So, any medicinal properties are destroyed.
Second, though the frosting contains uncooked essential oil, there are only 5 drops — to frost 12 cupcakes. That’s less than 1/2 a drop per cupcake.
You can try leaving out the EO in the frosting, but I think you’ll be disappointed with the flavor. It really is necessary.
Tips for the BEST St. Patrick’s Day Keto Lime Green Cupcakes
#1 — Follow the recipe as-written.
It took me a couple of tries to get these keto lime green cupcakes actually tasting like cupcakes and not muffins! It works as-written, with the minimal subs (mentioned above).
#2 — Use PERFECTLY ripe avocados for the “butter”cream”.
Don’t try to get away with using over-ripe or browning avocados here. Any color variations will show! No powders or colors are added to the frosting — so it will only be as beautiful as your avocados.
Use perfect avocados.
#3 — REPEAT: Go with lime essential oil.
I haven’t tried this recipe with lime extract, nor do I intend to. Once I started cooking with essential oils, I found the flavor of most extract to taste fake.
Learn more about using essential oils in your food (complete with safety info) with my FREE Guide to Cooking with Essential Oils!
Keto Lime Green Cupcakes with Lime "Butter"cream Frosting (dairy-free, nut-free, paleo)
These nut-free Keto Lime Green Cupcakes have a luscious and satin-y, dairy-free lime "butter"cream frosting (hint: no butter!) and are the perfect healthy treat for St. Patrick's Day class parties and celebrations!
Ingredients
For the Keto Coconut Flour Lime Cupcakes
- 5eggsroom temperature
- 2limeszest and juice
- 1/2cupcoconut oilmelted or softened
- 3/4cupDietz Sweetor your favorite keto sweetener; use coconut sugar for non-keto
- 1/2cupcoconut flour
- 1/4cupPerfect Matchinga
- 10 to 15dropslime essential oil
- 1-1/2teaspoonbaking powder
- 1/2teaspoonsalt
For the Avocado Lime Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2cupDietz Sweetpowdered
- 3tablespoonscoconut oilmelted or softened
- 2large Haasavocados
- 2limeszest and juice
- 5dropslime essential oil
- 1teaspoonvanilla extract
- 1pinchsalt
Instructions
Keto Coconut Flour Lime Green Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin.
Add the cupcake ingredients to a high-speed blender in the order listed.
Process until smooth.
Divide the cupcake batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and set on a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Avocado Lime Buttercream Frosting
First, powder the sweetener in a high-speed blender.
Then, add the remaining frosting ingredients and process until completely smooth.
Transfer to a piping bag, if desired, or spread the frosting on the cupcakes once cool.
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