These hummingbird cupcakes are the perfect spring-time sweet treat! They taste incredibly decedent despite being grain, dairy, and refined sugar-free. These adorable cupcakes are chock-full of delicious crushed pineapple and shredded coconut. And in case you thought they couldn’t get any better, they’re also topped off with a dairy-free cream cheese frosting that is out-of-this-world good.

Hummingbird cupcake topped with pineapple and toasted coconut with a bite taken out.

It’s funny because I’m literally eating a hummingbird cupcake (and getting cream cheese frosting all over my keyboard) as I write this. I’m full-on addicted to the babies. They’re sweet, but not too sweet. Incredibly versatile – enjoy them as a snack, dessert, or heck you can even eat them for breakfast!

The first time I ever ate a hummingbird-anything was at this cute little muffin place by my parents house. My mom got me to try one of their hummingbird muffins and I’ve truly been hooked ever since. I then discovered hummingbird cake and was like – woahhhh, I didn’t know life could get EVEN better! And in case you’re like, Sam WTF is a hummingbird cupcake?! It’s similar to carrot cake, but has crushed pineapple and shredded coconut instead of carrots. It also features a cream cheese frosting, just like carrot cake. If you’re looking for a muffin instead of a cupcake, simply make these without the cream cheese frosting. My suggestion here is – take a plain cupcake, top it with a little crunchy almond butter, and enjoy it as a sweet afternoon snack!

What You Need To Make Hummingbird Cupcakes

Almond Flour – I chose almond flour as the base of these cupcakes for two reasons. One, it’s grain-free, making these cupcakes so light and healthy that you could literally eat them for breakfast if you wanted to. And two, it yields a soft, crumbly cupcake that doesn’t fall apart when bitten into, but also isn’t too dense.

Coconut Sugar – Just a 1/2 cup of coconut sugar is all you need in these cupcakes! This is what I mean by they’re sweet, but not too sweet. Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index than the usual white sugar. It also contains many more vitamins and minerals than most other sugars. If you don’t have coconut sugar, you can either use brown sugar, cane sugar, or white sugar instead.

Mashed Bananas – You won’t find a single hummingbird recipe without mashed bananas in it. In conjunction with the pineapple and coconut, a little banana is truly magnificent. It adds a touch of sweetness and incredible flavor. You can use 1 cup of apple sauce instead, if you’d like.

Crushed Pineapple – Like I said earlier, crushed pineapple is a main ingredient in these hummingbird cupcakes. I buy canned crushed pineapple and rinse out the liquid before using in this recipe. Though you can use finely chopped fresh pineapple instead.

Shredded Coconut – Similar to the crushed pineapple, these wouldn’t be hummingbird cupcakes without a little coconut. My one thing when baking with coconut is to make sure it is unsweetened. Our cupcakes are sweet enough, we don’t need the coconut adding to that.

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

Make it Paleo – Leave out the dairy-free cream cheese frosting and you’ll have yourself delicious little paleo hummingbird muffins!
Make it Vegan – Use your favorite egg-substitute in place of the eggs in this recipe. I have not tested this recipe using flax eggs, though I can image that it will yield less-fluffy but still tasty cupcakes.
Make it Sugar-Free – Leave out the frosting and sub 1/2 cup of your favorite sugar-free sweetener for the coconut sugar. You can also leave out the coconut sugar altogether, if you’d like!

Hummingbird Cupcakes (GF/DF)

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

cupcakes

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

2 Cups Almond Flour, see NOTES
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted, see NOTES
1 Cup Mashed Banana, about 2 bananas
2 Eggs, see NOTES
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Crushed Pineapple, drained
1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut, unsweetened
For the cream cheese frosting:
1/2 Cup Dairy-Free Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Dairy-Free Butter, softened
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, mix together the coconut oil, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients, crushed pineapple, and shredded coconut into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
Transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting by adding all ingredients to a bowl and beating with either a hand or stand mixer until combined. Dollop frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Notes

Almond Flour: Be sure to use almond flour, not almond meal.
Coconut Oil: You can use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or melted butter instead.
Eggs: I like to remove my eggs from the fridge a couple hours before baking. If your eggs are too cold when added to the batter, they might cause your coconut oil to re-harden.

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Hummingbird Cupcakes (GF/DF)

What You Need To Make Hummingbird Cupcakes

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs