These hummingbird cupcakes are the perfect spring-time sweet treat! They’re grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, topped off with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

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 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’ll Need To Make Almond Flour 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 at all dense. I specifically used this Anthony’s Organic Almond Flour, it’s fairly priced and bakes like a charm!

Coconut Sugar – Just half a 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 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. Though if you’re not a banana fan, you can use one cup of apple sauce instead.

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’s unsweetened. Our cupcakes are sweet enough!

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

• Make it Paleo: Leave out the dairy-free cream cheese frosting and you’ll have 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 slightly less-fluffy, but still delicious cupcakes.
• Sugar-Free Option: 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!