These Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes are a first for me.

Originally Published 11/20/2021

This is also my first blog post in a couple of weeks.

Truth be told, I’ve been in a sort of a funk. Maybe a sort of a funk with a dash of depression.

I’ve been dealing with health issues for some time now and this last week I was officially diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I realize this is a fairly common chronic illness that a lot of people deal with. So in my head I know I’m not alone. I know it isn’t the end of the world. I know it’s treatable.

But in my heart, I’m sad. I’m not that old and from here on out this is something I will have to live with.

Anyone who knows me, or has followed this blog for the last year and a half knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE bread…Or really gluten of any shape, form, or fashion. But my new reality is that Rheumatoid is an inflammatory disease. And my body is telling me hey! hold up!

So I’ve been MIA

for the last couple of weeks because I was thinking about quitting this blog altogether.

Gluten-free is not something I’ve ever wanted to be lol (no offense to anyone out there.) I have never thought, “Oh let me embrace an Anti-Inflammatory diet that gets rid of caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and gluten! It will be so fun!

I don’t even know how to bake gluten-free things, so how will I keep posting recipes on this blog…But here we are.

And one thing I know to be true is some things (a lot of things) are out of our control. The last few weeks have been rough. I’ve let myself be sad that once again life isn’t going to look like what I thought or expected.

But, I’m not one to dwell. And I’m not one to stay down and out long. So I am going to change the things I do have control over. I’m going to help my body out and get rid of some things in my diet. I’m going to start over and learn a new way of baking!

So for my first Gluten-Free offering, (and they are to my surprise extremely delicious) Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting!

(Side note, I do realize these contain sugar and caffeine so they’re not really anti-inflammatory or healthy. I only ate one without frosting…baby steps k? lol)

Anyway, if you’re still reading, let’s make some cupcakes!

These Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes,

come from Becky Excell’s cookbook, “How to Make Anything Gluten Free.”

Just browsing through it so far, I’m so excited! The recipes all look delicious. This might not be the end of the world after all lol.

I decided to use King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Flour just because I love all their stuff. It’s always high quality and works. If you’re also new to gluten-free baking like me, you probably won’t have xanthan gum just hanging out in your pantry. 

This is a super necessary ingredient when it comes to gluten-free baking. It is essentially the non-gluten gluten in the recipe. A blog post on King Arthur’s blog explains that xanthan gum provides, “elasticity and stickiness in our doughs and batters. Since we don’t have gluten present, we need something that acts as the binding agent for the flour, helps hold onto some moisture, and helps give the baked good some structure.” How many times can you write gluten in one blog post? lol  So if you have gluten-free flour and xanthan gum the rest of this recipe is like any other cupcake recipe!

To make these Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes,

start by preheating the oven to 350° and lining a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Next, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum and set it to the side. 

Chop up 3/4 cup of walnuts pretty fine. They don’t have to be sawdust status, some chunks are good! Set these to the side as well. 

Next,

add one cup of butter and one cup of brown sugar to your mixer and whip it until they’re combined and fluffy.

After this, add in the 4 eggs, one egg at a time, mixing after each egg. 

Once the eggs are mixed in, throw in a shot of espresso. We’re lucky enough to have a Breville Espresso machine (still going strong after 8+ years of having it). If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can ask your local coffee shop for a shot of espresso to bring home with you, or mix 4 tsp of instant coffee with 1 1/2 tbsp of hot water.

My personal favorite instant coffee is Starbucks Blonde Espresso. 

Lastly, add in the dry ingredients and walnuts. Make sure the dry ingredients are mixed in super good and then scoop the batter into the cupcake liners.

I can never get the batter into the liners without making a giant gloppy mess. So, if you’ve got a large Ziploc bag lying around, spoon the batter into that, cut a large portion of one corner off, and pipe it into the liners. So much cleaner and less frustrating!

Finally, place the Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes in the oven and bake them for 25-35 minutes. Mine took exactly 30 minutes. They should be well risen, golden, and if you stick a toothpick in the center of them it should come back out clean. 

Remove the tin from the oven and then remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool on a cooling rack.

For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, 

whisk together 1 cup of unsalted, room temperature butter with 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 1 tbsp of heavy cream.

Next, add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time so it doesn’t explode everywhere! Whip it good!

If the frosting seems too thick, you can add in one more tbsp of heavy cream. 

Once, the Gluten-Free Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes are fully cool you can either frost them with a butter knife or pipe the frosting on with a piping bag and star tip.

For a fancier look, finish the cupcakes off with a sprinkle of walnut dust lol. 

And that is it!

My first successful gluten-free bake, thanks to Becky Excell’s cookbook “How to Make Anything Gluten Free.”

If you’d like to make these with gluten, you can just substitute self-rising flour for the gluten-free and omit the baking powder and salt that’s called for in this recipe.

If you try out these gluten-free coffee and walnut cupcakes though, I hope you are as pleasantly surprised as I was at how awesome they taste and how the texture is pretty well spot on with any glutenful cupcake I’ve ever had.

Cheers to new starts, learning new things, attempting to be healthier, and making the most of the cards we’re dealt in life.

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free Coffee & Walnut Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Coffee and Coffee Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting are simple to make and taste so warm and toasty!

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• Kitchenaid Mixer
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Rubber Spatula
• 12-Cup Muffin Tin
• Cupcake liners
• Chopper

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 3/4 Cup Gluten-Free Flour
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 1 Cup Salted Butter room temperature
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 4 Eggs room temperature
• 1 shot Espresso or 4 tsp instant coffee combined with 1 1/2 tbsp hot water
• 3/4 Cup Walnuts chopped fine

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

Instructions

Cupcake Batter

• Preheat the oven to 350° and line your muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the 1 3/4 cup gluten-free flour with 3 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, and a 1/4 tsp of xantham gum. Set to the side.
• Finely chop 3/4 of walnuts and set to the side.
• In your Kitchenaid Mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add in the 1 cup of room temperature salted butter as well as the 1 cup of brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy.
• Next add in the 4 room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing in as you go. Once the eggs are fully mixed in, add in the shot of espresso and mix to combine.
• Lastly, add in the flour mixture and walnuts and mix thoroughly. You may have to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
• Scoop equal portions of the cupcake batter into all 12 cupcake liners. Place the tin on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes or until the cupcakes are fully risen and if you stick a toothpick in the center it comes out clean.
• Remove the tin from the oven and carefully remove the cupcakes from the tin placing them on a cooling rack to cool. Do not frost them until they are fully cool.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• While the cupcakes are cooling, in your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together 1 cup of softened unsalted butter, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and 1 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Next, add in the 3 cups of powdered sugar one at a time, mixing in between each cup. Once all 3 cups are in, turn the mixer on high and whip until the frosting is light and fluffy.
• Next, you can either use a butter knife to frost the cupcakes, or a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Frost each cupcake and finish with a sprinkle of chopped walnuts if you’d like.
• Share with friends over a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Notes

The recipe is adapted from Becky Excell’s cookbook How to Make Anything Gluten Free

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