Baking for my friends and family is my favorite kind of present to give. I love making cookies, pies, muffins, you name it. But when it comes to birthdays in particular, my favorite dessert to bake are definitely these vegan vanilla cupcakes. It doesn’t get more festive than that!
I have to say, this was one of my hardest recipes to get right. I messed up so many times while trying to make the perfect vegan cupcakes, and ate many failed attempts as a result. But finally, I have the arrived at the right recipe that makes for the best fluffy and delicious vegan vanilla cupcakes!
The great thing about this recipe is that you probably already have all the necessary ingredients on hand. There’s really no crazy vegan ingredient that you can only find at a specialty health store.
As you will see in the recipe, I have listed the wet and dry ingredients separately. One of the biggest hacks I learned early on in baking is to mix all the wet ingredients together in one bowl, and the dry ingredients in another. This helps ensure that all the ingredients mix evenly.
After the wet and dry ingredients are mixed, I add the DRY ingredients to the wet, but not all at the same time. I add about one cup of dry ingredients, mix really well, then add another cup of dry ingredients. I do this until I have fully combined the dry ingredients to the wet. This helps ensure that there are no clumps, and just makes mixing a whole lot easier. I also highly recommend using a hand mixer to do this, rather than doing it by hand.
Fun tip: if you like sprinkles, feel free to throw some in the batter. It looks super cute when you cut your cupcakes apart!
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Equipment
- hand mixer
- muffin pan
- muffin liners
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Frosting:
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Mix 1 1/2 cup of almond milk and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the rest of the wet ingredients with the almond milk/ apple cider vinegar combo.
- In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and mix well. Try using a hand mixer to make this process easier.
- Line a muffin pan with baking cups and pour the batter in the cups.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. When they look super fluffy and round at the top, they’re ready. You can try sticking a toothpick in them to check. If the toothpick comes out clean, they have fully cooked. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, give them another five minutes and check on them again.
Frosting:
- Start by using a hand mixer to beat the coconut oil.
- Slowly (about 1/2 cup at a time) start adding the powdered sugar to the coconut oil. Mix with the hand mixer every time you add more powdered sugar.
- Add the vanilla extract and 1-2 tbsp of almond milk as needed to give the frosting a creamy and smooth consistency.
- Once the frosting is at the desired consistency, add the frosting to a piping bag, cut a small hole at the end, and frost your cupcakes.
- Add sprinkles if you'd like!
Quick note about the frosting: it helps if you refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes after making it and before frosting the cupcakes. Sometimes the coconut oil can become runny when it has been out of the fridge for too long.
If you enjoy vegan cupcakes, feel free to check out this recipe for vegan carrot cake cupcakes as well!
