Ready for a dessert that’s dressed to impressed? With the perfect blend of sweet and salty, these easy low FODMAP salted caramel cupcakes will rock your socks!
These cupcakes are going to blow your mind!! The base is a basic chocolate cupcake, but we’re going to drizzle bourbon-infused salted caramel over them before we bake them!
In case you wanted to know, baking the caramel sauce creates veins of mouthwatering salted caramel candy over the top of the cupcakes and gives them a brag-worthy caramel crust.
But, while they’re delicious naked, you can’t really call them cupcakes unless they’ve got icing. So we’re going to use the leftover caramel to make salted caramel frosting. *Swoon*
Because we’re using bourbon in the caramel, your frosting may be a little looser than usual. If you’d prefer a stiff frosting, or if you find the bourbon flavour a little strong, you can swap out a tbsp or two for cream when you make the base sauce.
If you’re cool with a looser sauce, I usually pour the icing over the center of each cupcake and let it go where it wants. I think this devil may care attitude is the perfect match for these sinfully delicious treats!
If you make these bad boys, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @fodmapformula so I can see your creations!
Keep it FODMAP friendly
Looking for an epic dessert idea? These low FODMAP salted caramel cupcakes will be the talk of your table! Check out the notes below for tips on keeping this recipe FODMAP friendly!
First up, sugar! Sugar has some reputation issues in the low FODMAP program because it contains the “F” word – fructose. But you don’t need to panic!
Because sugar is made of equal parts glucose and fructose, it’s absorbed differently than fructose on its own. Since no fructose molecules are left behind, Monash has determined sugars like table sugar and icing sugar are low FODMAP.
Check out my full article, is sugar low FODMAP?, for the scoop on why we absorb fructose differently when it comes with a glucose buddy!
Next up, bourbon. According to Monash University, members of the whisky family like bourbon and rye are low FODMAP in servings of 30 ml per sitting. But Monash doesn’t list a maximum serving size.
Monash has explained on their blog that foods with no listed serving sizes can be eaten in large amounts without going over your FODMAP threshold.
In normal circumstances, you would still need to be mindful of the alcohol content (since alcohol is a general gut irritant). But, because we’re boiling the bourbon into caramel, the alcohol content will burn away. So you should be good to go from an alcohol perspective.
Our recipe also calls for cream, whole milk, and butter. If you’re in the elimination phase of the program, you’ll need to use lactose-free cream and milk. For my North American peeps, both Nielson and Lactantia have lactose-free lines that go up to 35%.
Heads up, you will not need to use lactose-free butter! Butter is naturally low FODMAP (because it’s all fat). Double-check the label for added milk ingredients like milk, milk solids, cream, etc. and you’re good to go!
Next up, flour. If you’re in the elimination phase, you’ll need to use gluten-free flour. I’m obsessed with PC’s gluten-free all-purpose flour, but I think it’s only available in Canada (sorry!).
Remember, unless you have celiac disease, you’re avoiding the FODMAP fructan in wheat, not gluten itself.
We’ll also be using cocoa powder. According to the Monash app, cocoa powder is low FODMAP in servings of 2 heaped teaspoons (8 g) per sitting. Servings of 5 heaped teaspoons (20 g) or more are high in the FODMAPs fructan and GOS.
Our recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of cocoa powder total, which works out to 8 g per serving. This is within the recommended range.
Last but not least, chocolate chips. According to Monash, dark chocolate chips are low FODMAP in servings of 30 g per serving. Servings of 80 g or more are high in the FODMAPs lactose and fructan.
We’ll be using 1/3 of a cup of chocolate chips total. This works out to 4.1 g per serving, which is within the recommended range.
FODMAP math
Wondering how these low FODMAP salted caramel cupcakes stack up? Check out the notes below to see how many servings of each FODMAP group are in one of these salted caramel cupcakes. You can read my full article on FODMAP stacking and how to manage it here.
Lactose = 0.1
Fructan = 1.1
GOS = 1.0
Polyol = 0
Low FODMAP Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
Description
Once you taste these decadent salted caramel cupcakes, no other cupcake will do!
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 6 tbsp salted butter, cubed
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp high-quality bourbon, divided
- 1/2 cup lactose-free heavy cream
- 1 tsp salt
Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- 1 + 1/2 cups low FODMAP all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup lactose-free whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 lg eggs
- 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce (above)
Salted Caramel Frosting
- 1 cup salted caramel sauce
- 2 + 1/2 cups icing sugar, divided
- 3–4 tbsp low FODMAP heavy cream
Instructions
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add 1 tbsp of bourbon, the cream, sugar, and salt. Whisk until the sugar has fully dissolved, then allow the mixture to bubble for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
- Remove the caramel from the burner and let it stand for 4 minutes. Then stir in the remaining 1 tbsp of bourbon. Allow the caramle to cool for 30 minutes before using.
Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tray with paper liners.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
- Gently whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, and eggs in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Fill each muffin well 2/3 full and bake until the edges of the cupcakes have just set (about 8 – 10 minutes). Quickly remove the tray from the oven and place 1 tbsp of the prepared salted cramel sauce in the center of each muffin. Return the tray to the oven and bake until the cupcakes are cooked through or until a toothpick comes out clean (about 10 – 15) minutes.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tray for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Salted Caramel Frosting
- Place the salted caramel sauce in a large bowl or the base of a stand mixer and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 3 tbsp of cream and beat until fully incorporated. Add the remaining icing sugar in small batches until the frosting is the correct consistency. Add the remaining cream if the icing gets too thick. Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes using a large piping tip or ice with a knife.
Notes
Recommended low FODMAP serving – 1 cupcake per sitting
The FODMAP math for this recipe was calculated using regular chocolate chips!
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 430
- Sugar: 34 g
- Sodium: 326 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 49 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 69 mg
Keywords: cupcakes, salted caramel cupcakes, low fodmap salted caramel cupcakes, salted caramel icing
You might also like one of these dessert recipes:
- Low FODMAP Chocolate Cupcakes Have a chocolate craving that just won’t quit? These chocolate cupcakes will hit you right in the sweet spot!
- Low FODMAP Brownies Unleash your inner foodie with these epic low FODMAP brownies. Packed with three types of chocolate, these rich, chewy brownies will be the talk of your dessert table!
- Low FODMAP Cake Doughnuts Looking for a sweet treat that won’t upset your tummy? These light and fluffy doughnuts are so tasty no one will guess they’re low FODMAP!
If you like this post, don’t forget to share it! Together we’ll get the low FODMAP diet down to a science!
