I had just converted my mother to a ketogenic diet, and her birthday was coming up soon. I was scraping at the air trying to find something that was low carb, delicious, and would rifle her cravings away for any type of real cake. I remember a few years back, I had made soy bean brownies…right then and there I knew I had to make a cake from them.

Luckily my local supermarket sells organic soy beans, so I headed over there and picked some up. I went online to search for some recipes, but low and behold – there’s not many out there! I found my old brownie recipe and adapted it from that, making sure it would rise more and be more fluffy that those dense, chocolatey morsels.

I ended up making this twice – once as a cake, and the second time as cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out much better when I used Splenda. The first time I only used stevia, and I was not pleased with it at all (not to mention the aftertaste was much stronger).

If you’re looking for a delicious, low carb chocolate cake – this will be the one. Soy isn’t fantastic for you, so keep that in mind, but everything is in moderation, right? For those of you who are curious about why I chose soybeans, as they are quite controversial, check out this article.

These cakes are extremely moist, but make sure you are tasting the batter as you make it. Sometimes brands of cocoa powder taste different, and if you don’t use enough, you will have a bean-like aftertaste.

Yields 8 total cupcakes at 3.4g net carbs each.

The Preparation

Cupcake Brownies:

1 (16-ounce) can organic soy beans

can organic soy beans 5 large eggs

eggs ¾ cup granulated Splenda

granulated Splenda 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

unsalted butter, softened 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

vanilla extract 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder

baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda

baking soda ½ teaspoon sea salt

sea salt 1 tablespoon water

Icing:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

unsalted butter, softened 1-2 tablespoons granulated Splenda

granulated Splenda 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

cocoa powder 2 tablespoons heavy cream

heavy cream 1 tablespoon peanut butter

peanut butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Execution

Cupcake Brownies

1. Preheat your oven to 325 F.

2. Open your can of soy beans and drain them. Put them into a colander and rinse them WELL. Seriously, they are in a salty brining liquid, and need to be washed for at least 1-2 minutes. I use my hands to make sure all the beans have been washed well, but you must be gentle to ensure they stay intact.

3. Dump your beans into a mixing bowl (or blender), this is where the fun will begin.

4. Add 3 eggs, 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract, and about 1-2 Tbsp. Splenda.

5. I like to use a hand blender, as my real one is not great. If you have a good blender, then use it. Blend it very well, make sure there’s absolutely no lumps from the beans whatsoever. It should be the consistency of a semi-watery batter when you are finished.

6. In a separate bowl, mix together your 5 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder, 1 tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

7. This is a bowl intensive recipe, so be prepared for some dishes to clean afterward. Get another bowl out and add your room temperature butter and the rest of the Splenda.

8. Cream it together until its light and fluffy, then add your remaining 2 eggs. Continue to beat with a hand mixer for another minute.

9. Slowly add your bean mixture to your creamed eggs, and blend well.

10. Use the colander you used to drain the beans, and sift the cocoa powder mix into your batter. Slowly mix them together until you have everything in there. In my picture, the batter looks dense. Keep blending it until it becomes lighter in color and more fluffy. This will ensure that they rise well.

11. Get out your cupcake tray and spray them down with coconut oil. Add your cake batter to the holes, filling them up almost completely full. For me, this made 8 total cupcakes.

12. Stick them in the oven and set a timer for 40 minutes.

Icing

1. In yet another mixing bowl, put your 8 Tbsp. butter and cream it well.

2. Add your splenda and continue to beat until it is well mixed.

3. Add your heavy cream, vanilla, and peanut butter and continue to mix until it is consistent.

4. Slowly add your cocoa powder and stir it in with a spoon until it is incorporated. Then you can beat it for 1 minute until everything is mixed well.

5. Refrigerate your batter while your cupcakes are in the oven.

Finishing Off (Optional)

1. Once your cupcakes are at room temperature, remove your batter from the fridge.

2. Mix your batter well with a knife, ensuring that the consistency is back to light and fluffy.

3. Generously apply your icing to your cupcakes.

4. In a mixing bowl, pour in 1/2 Cup heavy cream and Splenda to taste.

5. Whisk heavily until the cream is light and fluffy.

6. Cut the corner off of a Ziploc bag, and fill with cream.

7. Add your cream on top of your cupcakes once iced. If you have an actual pastry bag, more power to you!

This makes a total of 8 servings of Low Carb Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes. Each serving comes out to be 336.13 Calories, 29.13g Fats, 3.04g Net Carbs, and 11.44g Protein.

Low Carb Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes Calories Fats(g) Carbs(g) Fiber(g) Net Carbs(g) Protein(g) 1 (16-ounce) can organic soy beans 560 24.5 45.5 38.5 7 45.5 5 large eggs 358 23.77 1.8 0 1.8 31.4 ¾ cup + 1-2 tbsp. Granulated Splenda 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1425 161.25 0.12 0 0.12 1.69 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 49 0.01 2.17 0 2.17 0.02 8 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 98 5.92 25.01 16 9.01 8.47 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 0 0.64 0 0.64 0 ½ teaspoon baking soda 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream 102 10.82 0.82 0 0.82 0.85 1 tablespoon peanut butter 96 8.22 3.57 0.8 2.77 3.55 Totals 2689 234.49 79.63 55.3 24.33 91.48 Per Serving(/8) 336.13 29.31 9.35 6.91 3.04 11.44