Happy 4th of July, happy Independence Day! Hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Need a festive dessert for the holiday? Make these cupcakes and decorate with berries – a beautiful and great cooking project for kids to help with (especially the decorating part)! 🙂

And.. the secret ingredient? Zucchini! This makes them moist and delicious, and who can say no to some extra healthiness? 🙂

Ingredients

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons potato starch (or corn starch is fine)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
• dash sea salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or other sugar, white/brown)
• 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely grated zucchini (from 1 medium zucchini), squeezed of excess liquid

Frosting

• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4-1/2 tsp lemon zest
• Berries for garnish (I used raspberries and blueberries)
• Shredded coconut for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tin with paper forms.
2. Whisk together almond flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt.
3. Set a large heatproof bowl over (not in) a pot with 1 inch barely simmering water. Add eggs and whisk until foamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in sugar and continue to whisk until mixture is fluffy and sugar is dissolved, 3 minutes. Remove bowl from pot and, using a mixer, whisk on high until mixture is thick and pale, 7 to 10 minutes (I did this in my food processor with the standard chopper blade).
4. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in melted butter, flour mixture, vanilla, and zucchini. Pour into tin and bake until cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool.
5. For frosting, with mixer (or again I used the food processor here) beat together room-temperature butter, cream cheese, lemon juice and zest until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat until combined. Spread on top of cupcakes and decorate with berries and shredded coconut.

I originally made this recipe as a cake inspired by the queen herself (Martha Stewart’s Zucchini Almond Cake).

Enjoy!