If you love the combination of sweet and salty, then these Gluten Free Salted Caramel Cupcakes are definitely for you. The decadent flavors of buttercream frosting combined with homemade salted caramel sauce on top of a vanilla cupcake come together to form a sweet and buttery treat. It just doesn’t get any better than this.
These cakes are light, fluffy, and full of flavor. Best of all? They’re gluten free, but you’d never guess it by the texture or flavor!
In case you are thinking, “hey Sabrina, this is your first gluten free treat for us”… yes! You are right! And it is courtesy of my close blogging friend Jacqui, whose blog is an amazing display of gluten-free deliciousness. Since I have been traveling non-stop recently she offered to pop in and share these AMAZING cupcakes and I jumped at the chance to have them share them with all of you! So without further ado….
Hello, I’m Jacqui from DishingDelish.com! I’m a fun-loving gluten free cook who’s passionate about sharing easy homemade recipes. During the day I work as a full-time food scientist in New York City, but at night I’m a chef, food photographer, and writer. I hope you stop by and visit me at Dishing Delish, where you’ll find recipes of all kinds that I know you’re going to love!
I’m so happy my friend Sabrina has been nice enough to let me come over here today. I love browsing through Dinner, Then Dessert (so many recipes, so little time!), and can’t wait to share one of my all-time favorite cupcake recipes with you today, the Gluten Free Salted Caramel Cupcake. Thank you, Sabrina!
Let’s talk about the caramel sauce first. It’s surprisingly easy to make! You won’t even need a candy thermometer.
In the first step you need to melt the sugar. I highly recommend using a bigger pot than you think you need for this one. When you add the butter and cream, the liquid sugar will bubble and rise, and the last thing you want is for it to boil over. I also recommend using a long spoon to keep your hand further from the hot sugar.
The great thing about this sauce is that it will last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator, and you can even give it as a gift. Attach a recipe or a bag of pretzels to a cute little jar for a treat everyone is going to ask for over and over again.
Now it’s time to eat talk about buttercream frosting. Ok, first we’ll talk, then we’ll eat. Deal?
This is a pretty basic recipe for buttercream frosting, with a few special additions (like caramel and cream cheese).
I have a few simple tips to help you make amazing buttercream frosting:
- It’s important to let the butter soften to room temperature before working with it. This will ensure that your ingredients will mix together nicely, and you won’t have big pieces of butter throughout your frosting.
- If your frosting is too warm after you make it, you can refrigerate it for a half hour to an hour to get it cold enough to work with. Any more than that (like overnight) and you’ll have to leave it on the counter to come back to room temperature.
- Never frost warm cakes. Your icing will melt if your cakes haven’t cooled completely.
Now it’s time for the good stuff, decorating! You can top these salted caramel cupcakes with anything that goes well with salted caramel. I used gluten free pretzels here, but you can also add chocolate, caramel candies, or other salty snacks like nuts.
Then drizzle with as much caramel sauce as you’d like! Add a little drizzle, or a big ole’ spoonful. It’s up to you.
Personally, I’m on team Big Spoonful anytime it comes to Salted Caramel Cupcakes.
Jacqui is a New York-based author, food stylist, food photographer, and recipe developer. For more great recipes like this, visit her at DishingDelish.com, a food blog that focuses on easy gluten free recipes for the home cook. She also loves to connect on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter!
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 210 grams Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (about 1 ¼ cup, depending on your flour blend)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup light cream
- 1 tbsp . vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp . baking powder
- 1/4 tsp . kosher salt
For the Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup white sugar
- 6 tbsp . unsalted butter , at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp . kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp . vanilla extract
For the Buttercream Frosting
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup caramel sauce
- 3 tbsp . cream cheese
- 1 tsp . vanilla extract
Additional Topping
- Gluten Free Pretzels (optional)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or add liners to cupcake pan and set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and vanilla.
- Then beat in eggs until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture slowly until fully incorporated.
- Slowly add cream until all ingredients are fully mixed together.
- Add batter to cupcake pan evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- When cupcakes are completely cool, pipe frosting on top and garnish with a gluten free pretzel (optional) and an additional drizzle of salted caramel.
For the Caramel Sauce
- In a large pot, add sugar and cook over medium-low heat.
- When sugar begins to melt, stir constantly until completely liquid and it begins to turn caramel-brown.
- Carefully add butter and continue to stir. This will rapidly bubble and rise slightly.
- Once butter is melted, slowly add cream and vanilla extract.
- Stir in kosher salt and remove from heat to cool to room temperature before using in buttercream.
For the Buttercream Frosting
- In a stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer) beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. Slowly sift in sugar while still mixing.
- When sugar is fully incorporated, add (cooled) caramel sauce. Beat for a few additional seconds to fully incorporate caramel sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
This is my celiac husband’s favorite recipe. Anytime i need to make a desert this is always his request.
I’m made this recipe exactly as says however the cupcakes sunk in and are gooey in the middle after cooking. What could be the issue ?
Buttercream and caramel recipe turned out great!
Baking can be tricky to pinpoint exactly what might have happened because it could be from many things. Usually though, cupcakes sink in if the batter is overmixed which creates air pockets that then fall later but if they were gooey inside, it also sounds like they needed to bake longer. Hope this helps for next time.
Amazing !! The Carmel is labor intensive but worth It. So happy with these gluten free cupcakes!
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed them! I really appreciate the 5 star rating.
Oh my goodness, these are so wonderful. We had them at a baby shower and they were a hit! Somewhat labor intensive but well worth the effort to make your own caramel sauce. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Seems bizarre these are listed in a sugar free cookbook!
So, I made these cupcakes, and they were delish. For the sauce- Can’t you just use caramel Ice Cream Topping? Oh well, that’s what I used. Also, all around, the cupcake was a whole lot more sweet than salty, and I wanted more of a balanced mix. So, I added some ground up gf pretzels to the frosting. But, this isn’t a complaint comment. It’s a complement. So, thanks, Sabrina, for sharing this recepie.
These look great! I’m assuming whatever flour blend you use it needs to have the xanthan gum steady in it?
Thank you so much! Yes, I used a gluten free all purpose flour that already contained it. 🙂
These look and sound fantastic! I am looking to make them for my husband’s birthday since he absolutely loves caramel. I was just wondering if the recipe was tailored for standard or mini size cupcakes?
Thank you so much Meghan! This recipe is tailored for standard size cupcakes. Hope he enjoys them as much as I do!
Need to know serving size and carbohydrates in grams??!!
Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets. This recipe does yield 12 cupcakes so a serving size would be one cupcake 🙂
Thank you for posting this awesome recipe! Is there a way to make it sugar-free, maybe with Splenda? I’m unsure of the white sugar to Splenda ratio :/
I’m so sorry but I’m not sure how to adjust as well. I’m sure there are some great resources online that might be helpful.
On the light cream do I just use heavy whipped cream?
Light cream has a lower fat content than heavy whipped cream. I haven’t tried it with that substitution yet but let me know how it turns out if you do!
What light cream did you use?
Light Whipping Cream, but you can use heavy cream as well. 🙂
These are absolutely amazing!!! I made these for my cousin who is autistic and didn’t eat gluten but have made these numerous times for my family because they are so good. The frosting is to die for!!
How awesome!! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how much you guys loved them!
These are just the most awesome cupcakes… I’ve served them at a bridal shower and came away w/rave reviews!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad they were a huge hit at the bridal shower!
This looks awesome recipe… one must try this <3
I use to make a ton of gluten free treats for my family. My daughter had an allergy and I never wanted her to miss out. These look really delish.
Thanks Amy!
These look so amazing! I may have to make these real soon. My daughters would love them as well! I can’t wait to try them.
These Salted Caramel Cupcakes look so delicious. They will be perfect to serve for the holidays. I am always looking for new glutten free recipes to try.
These sound like the perfect cupcakes for me. If making that caramel sauce is as easy as it looks, I
ll be using itt for other desserts too!
Oh man. This looks so good. I haven’t had a good cupcake in so long, this looks delicious.
Get back on the cupcake wagon, lady! We miss you!
Oh my goodness, I love, love, love salted caramel anything… oh and don’t get me started on cupcakes. Ha! These look and sound amazing. Thanks so much for sharing… sounds amazing
I agree on the salted caramel! It’s one of my favorite flavors!
Those look delicious and don’t even look like they are gluten free! I cannot wait to make these for my friend.
Thanks, Jennifer!
This is right up my alley! Cupcakes and caramel!!
Mine too!
I can’t wait to try these for the Superbowl! They look perfect for men and women, and I think they’ll be a big hit especially being gluten-free!
Thanks! I hope they’re a hit!
These cupcakes look amazing!
Thank you!
You had me at salted caramel! This look amazing and I can’t believe they are gluten free! I can’t wait to try making them myself.
I hope you enjoy them!
You always have such delicious sweets, and this is no different. I could certainly go for salted caramel cupcakes!
Thanks, Jennifer! I’m afraid I can’t take credit for this one though – it was contributed by my friend Jacqui!
Cupcakes are my weakness! These sound awesome.
Thanks, Robin!