These lemon cupcakes are like summer in your mouth! Bursting with fresh and tangy lemon flavor, these eye-catching treats are topped with elegant swirls of sweet raspberry cream cheese frosting. The fitting combination makes for a heavenly summer dessert fit for any occasion. These tantalizing cupcakes are so light and flavorful that no one will guess that they’re ketogenic!
Raspberries are the perfect way to add sweetness with a little extra tang. While fruit can be a bit higher in carbs, a little fruit can go a long way. In this recipe, a few raspberries make a big impact. For the frosting, I recommend using frozen raspberries opposed to fresh raspberries. As frozen raspberries defrost, they soften and bleed which allows the raspberries’ flavor to be easily incorporated into the frosting.
While these cupcakes are great for dessert, they also make a satisfying breakfast. (Nobody needs to know that you had dessert for breakfast!) Since these cupcakes are made with almond flour, they’re much more filling than a traditional cupcake. They will keep you feeling full all morning long!
If needed, these cupcakes can easily be prepared ahead of time. To keep them fresh, they should be covered and stored in the refrigerator. I’ll often make a batch of these in the beginning of the week so that I’ll have a quick and filling snack to grab if I’m in a rush.
While these cupcakes are ketogenic, they definitely don’t taste like it! Kids happily gobble up these scrumptious treats without a second thought. Whether you’re making these for a family dinner, fancy party, or just as a snack, these lemon cupcakes will fit the bill!
Yields 12 servings of Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting
The Preparation
For the lemon cupcakes:
- 2 1/3 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 3/4 cup stevia/erythritol blend
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 large egg
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
For the raspberry frosting:
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup stevia/erythritol blend
- 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The Execution
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with papers.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, sweetener, and zest until combined.
3. Whisk melted butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should form into coarse crumbs.
4. Add eggs and stir until incorporated. The batter will begin to stick together.
5. Add almond milk, vanilla, and lemon extract and whisk until the batter is smooth.
6. Carefully fill the prepared cupcake papers until they are about ¾ full—about 2 heaping tablespoons for each cupcake.
7. Place cupcakes in preheated oven and bake for 29-32 minutes or until the cupcake bounces back when pressed.
8. Let cupcakes cool on a rack until they reach room temperature before frosting.
9. In a large bowl, whip together cream cheese and butter using an electric mixer.
10. Blend in sweetener and frozen raspberries until combined.
11. Add whipping cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and blend until smooth.
12. Using a piping bag, frost cupcakes as desired.
This makes a total of 12 servings of Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting. Each serving comes out to be 339 calories, 30.3g fats, 4.9g net carbs, and 8.9g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 2 1/3 cup almond flour | 1511 | 130.5 | 57.4 | 33.9 | 23.5 | 54.8 |
| 1 teaspoon baking powder | 2 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon sea salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum | 8 | 0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 |
| 3/4 cup stevia/erythritol blend | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoon lemon zest | 6 | 0 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 3 large egg | 236 | 15.7 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 20.7 |
| 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk | 22 | 2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| 1 tablespoon vanilla extract | 37 | 0 | 1.6 | 0 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoon lemon extract | 25 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 16 ounce cream cheese | 1551 | 154.2 | 18.6 | 0 | 18.6 | 27.9 |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 1/3 cup stevia/erythritol blend | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3/4 cup frozen raspberries | 76 | 1 | 17.5 | 9.5 | 8 | 1.8 |
| 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream | 152 | 16.1 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| 1 teaspoon lemon juice | 1 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 12 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Totals | 4088 | 365.5 | 105.5 | 47.1 | 58.4 | 108.1 |
| Per Serving (/12) | 341 | 30.5 | 8.8 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 9 |

Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting
Ingredients
For the lemon cupcakes:
- 2 ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¾ cup stevia/erythritol blend
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- 3 large egg
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon extract
For the raspberry frosting:
- 16 ounce cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ⅓ cup stevia/erythritol blend
- ¾ cup frozen raspberries
- 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with papers.
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, sweetener, and zest until combined.
- Whisk melted butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should form into coarse crumbs.
- Add eggs and stir until incorporated. The batter will begin to stick together.
- Add almond milk, vanilla, and lemon extract and whisk until the batter is smooth.
- Carefully fill the prepared cupcake papers until they are about ¾ full—about 2 heaping tablespoons for each cupcake.
- Place cupcakes in preheated oven and bake for 29-32 minutes or until the cupcake bounces back when pressed.
- Let cupcakes cool on a rack until they reach room temperature before frosting.
- In a large bowl, whip together cream cheese and butter using an electric mixer.
- Blend in sweetener and frozen raspberries until combined.
- Add whipping cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and blend until smooth.
- Using a piping bag, frost cupcakes as desired.














These look/sound yummy. I noticed your footnote about the “stevia erythritol blend” used in the recipe being twice as sweet as sugar, but Swerve is what you have listed. It does not contain stevia, and it measures the same as sugar. Just sayin’ :~)
Thanks for catching that! That’s totally my fault, somehow I got Swerve and Pyure mixed up. 🙁
So is it supposed to be Pyure or Swerve?
They both essentially have the same ingredients, so either would work. The oligosaccharides in the swerve would be similar to the stevia in pyure.
10/10! Had to omit the Xanthan gum because it isn’t available in our local stores, but they still turned out completely delicious. I let the raspberries sit in the swerve and lemon juice while I softened the cream cheese in the microwave and then blended with butter.
Thank you for giving me such a great fruity dessert that fits in with our way of eating!
Update 12/2: After we finished the first batch, hubs asked every other day for me to make them again. Two days ago I complied, and with the xanthan gum they turned out even better than the first time! I also really wanted a sharp lemon flavor so I also added about a teaspoon of pulp to the mix, which turned out really well. (Obviously this increases carbs, so if you’re super strict take that into account)
I’m so glad it worked without the xanthan gum! Thanks for letting us know, I’m sure somebody else out there is wondering if it will work. 🙂
I’m sorry I’m really confused. I’m inputting all of the nutritional info directly from the website into my keto diet app and it’s calculating the net carbs at around 22. Am I off or are you? Because these are absolutely delicious and I will be crushed! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Erythritol isn’t processed by the human body so we tend to not count the carbs in it since they are not digested like normal carbs. You can read more about it here: https://www.ruled.me/keto-d…
Hello! I love this recipe so much and it actually has become a staple in my house. I’m a little concerned though because when I plug it into my keto app each cupcake is coming up as having around 23 net carbs, not 5.5. It’s usually pretty accurate so I’m a little concerned. Can you tell me is it incorrect or are you? Please tell me it’s the app because I will be so sad!
Your app is probably not subtracting the sugar alcohol from the total carbs in the recipe. 🙂
Can glucomannan be substituted for xanthan gum?
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure, please let me know if it works!
Do you think I could 1/2 or 1/4 the recipes?
We love these cupcakes in my house. I now make them weekly. Wondering if I could freeze these as I’d like to make two batches and freeze a dozen I’d only have to make them every other week.
Could I sub coconut milk for the almond milk?
Can you use Heavy Cream (or 1/2 cream, 1/2 water) as a substitute for the Almond Milk in the cupcakes?
can i substitute Swerve instead of these other sweeteners?
Yes, you can.
I think you could get away with that, yes. Just keep in mind that it will add more calories and fat to the macros.
Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem!
Erythritol isn’t processed by the human body so we tend to not count the carbs in it since they are not digested like normal carbs. You can read more about it here: https://www.ruled.me/keto-diet-plan-best-and-worst-sweeteners/
I don’t see any reason why not.
They both essentially have the same ingredients, so either would work.
Highly recommend this one. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b083d6b34bcdc031a8bd36361427492d3624dc215a333c0865ce8b193782a59e.jpg Oh my Lord is this recipe fabulous. I couldn’t tell the darn difference between a regular cupcake and one of these. I think I could half the icing order as I don’t have a piping bag and I am not big on icing. But that is just me! I think I am only going to do the cupcake portion next time as it tastes so awesome even with no icing! Love it!
I’m really happy you liked it Linda – they look great!
Highly recommend this one. https://uploads.disquscdn.c… Oh my Lord is this recipe fabulous. I couldn’t tell the darn difference between a regular cupcake and one of these. I think I could half the icing order as I don’t have a piping bag and I am not big on icing. But that is just me! I think I am only going to do the cupcake portion next time as it tastes so awesome even with no icing! Love it!
These look fabulous – can’t wait to try them! Would it be possible for the assembled cupcake (with icing) to be frozen? Flash freeze them then wrap in cellophane?
Thank you! I haven’t tried freezing them with the frosting, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The frosting is quite fat-heavy, so it should freeze well, it may just take a bit longer than the cake portion to defrost when ready to eat.
Will try it then and let you know – thanks!! Your recipes are sooo awesome!
Sounds good! And really happy to hear you like the recipes 😊
This is probably the most ‘normal’ tasing low carb treat recipe I have tried. Usually I am disappointed by the ‘treats’ I make but this had a normal texture and tasted good. The light lemon flavor of the muffin/cupcake is really good. I used actual lemon zest and lemon extract. I might play with the frosting. I would probably like it with just straight whipped cream with sweetener and vanilla.
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Your photo looks great and I’m glad to hear you liked this treat. If you have the chance the change it up any to suit your tastes – let us know what you did!
Well mine do not look as tasty as the ones in the recipe, but man are they good!!!
Thank you for it! Delicious!
I did not have enough almond flour so I have used 1/3 almond and 2/3 coconut flour, more lemon juice and made only half of the frosting (it was enough to cover all of them). Was worried what it will turn out like – absolutely not dissappointed!
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They look absolutely awesome! Glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Yes! I would freeze the cakes separately, and you can even freeze the frosting – just allow to come to room temperature then pipe it on top of the thawed cakes.
These are so good!!! Thanks so much for this recipe !! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db92a431baf79d86cceb05dfbd41ba0ad9223d8904f542aebfaabe8e6f22b1b8.jpg
Thanks for the feedback and pictures! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
These are so good!!! Thanks so much for this recipe !! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Quick Question, it says each serving is 336 calories…I’m not getting something, is that per 1 cupcake? When I divide the total calorie by 12 I get 124. Please clarify
and thank you!
The total calories of the recipe is 4040 calories. 4040/12 = 336.66 calories.
I just finished making these and OMG!! Taking them to work tomorrow to prove you can have delicious food that’s healthy!
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My first attempt… last year not sure why pics didnt post
Thanks for trying again, Shannon! These look perfect 🙂
Let me tell you this is the best frosting I have ever tasted. I had frozen mixed berries. I literally almost cried for joy. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! My birthday is tomorrow (I am a triplet, and I can’t eat the other cakes, so I made a chocolate cake.) I needed a berry frosting and I came across a lot of them. I’m glad that I settled with your recipe. My family who isn’t doing keto started licking the bowl. I’m going to have an amazing birthday cake because of you. Thank you.
Wow, this means the world to us! Thanks so much for the feedback, Kaureen.
I hope you had a wonderful birthday and an absolutely delicious cake 🙂