I’ve really been craving a classic vanilla cupcake recently, and wanted to try my hand at making grain-free vanilla bean cupcakes. To me, vanilla beans are the epitome of classic elegance in dessert flavor form.  I ordered half a pound of vanilla beans online months ago, used half of them to make a bunch of little bottles of homemade vanilla extract (find out how to do that yourself here!), and still have a bunch left.  I highly recommend ordering beans online in bulk, since it’s much more economical and they’re likely to be much fresher than overpriced grocery store beans.

 

These cupcakes are light and fluffy, because they’re made with coconut flour instead of almond flour.  Of all the paleo & gluten-free treats I’ve made, these may be the closest in taste and texture to their gluten-laden cousins.  I highly recommend them!  They’re also perfect for people with nut allergies or for bringing to birthday celebrations in nut-free classrooms.  This recipe makes a very small batch (good for people like me with no restraint), but can easily be doubled.