Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
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Simply the best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes! Tender, fluffy and perfect for birthdays and other celebrations. Easy to make in 1 bowl.
This is my favorite recipe for vanilla cupcakes. They are the fluffiest cupcakes, not to mention soft, buttery and sweet with the perfect vanilla flavor. You definitely don’t need eggs, butter or milk to make delicious cupcakes, I promise!
What I love about this recipe
- The cupcakes are made in 1 bowl, with a minimal list of simple ingredients.
- You don’t need a hand mixer (except for the frosting!)
- Cake flour makes the cupcakes incredibly fluffy, soft and moist. I made a batch with all purpose flour and the cupcakes were fine but drier and not nearly as fluffy and light.
- They are so easy to make; you will be eating cupcakes in no time!
How to make Vanilla Cupcakes in 1 Bowl
- In a measuring cup, combine soy milk (or another non-dairy milk) and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle (this is vegan buttermilk).
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Pour in milk/vinegar mixture, oil and vanilla extract.
- Whisk or stir until smooth and well combined. You could also use a hand mixer if desired.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full; I filled mine quite full for tall cupcakes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
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Frosting Cupcakes
To truly make these cupcakes in 1 bowl, simply wipe or rinse out the cupcake batter bowl and use it for the frosting. OR if you are feeling really lazy, you could pick up a container of Duncan Hines Vanilla Frosting, which happens to be vegan. I recommend making your own, it tastes way better! But I’m not here to judge. 😉
Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting with Vegan Vanilla Frosting. You could also use Chocolate Frosting, if desired. I use this simple piping kit for decorating cupcakes, but you could simply spread the frosting on with a butter knife.
Want More Vegan Cupcakes?
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- 1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Funfetti Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Mint Oreo Chocolate Cupcakes
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk, (or use another non-dairy milk)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour*
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Recipe Vegan Vanilla Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. I usually spray the liners with a little oil as well to prevent sticking.
- Combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a measuring cup or bowl, give a little stir and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.
- Now pour in the milk/vinegar mixture, canola oil and vanilla. Stir with the whisk, large spoon or a hand mixer until well combined. There may be a few small lumps, but you don't want any large lumps in the batter.
- Fill the liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely, then pipe on Vegan Vanilla Frosting or Vegan Chocolate Frosting.
Notes
- Instead of canola oil, you could substitute melted coconut oil. The cupcakes may be a bit denser and less fluffy though.
- I tested a batch with all purpose flour, and cake flour definitely produced fluffier, softer cupcakes. But in a pinch, you can use regular flour.
- Nutrition information is an estimate only, and was calculated using my Vegan Vanilla Frosting.
- One batch of vanilla frosting was enough for me to frost all 18 cupcakes, but if you want a LOT of frosting on each one, you may want to double the frosting.
Nutrition
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44 Comments on “Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes”
I made these for my sons birthday and they were a hit! Thank you!
Would it be possible to add lemon extract instead of vanilla to make them lemon cupcakes?
Sure, I might also add some lemon zest, to both the cupcakes and the frosting. 🙂
Nice recipe! Would I be able to substitute the apple cider vinegar with white distilled vinegar?
Yes, that will work fine. Hope you enjoy!
Replaced the oil with apple sauce and it worked just great.
Could you fold in sprinkles to this recipe to make it a funfetti cupcake?
Sure!
These were hands down the BEST cupcakes I have ever made. My whole family loved them. I did use store bought frosting though.
Thank you Nora!
You’re so welcome!!
Hi Nora, I came across your chocolate cake recipe on Pinterest, and made it for my fiance’s birthday. It was AMAZING! She’s only been vegan for a year, and having amazing recipes is helping fend off those pesky cravings. – – – In that recipe, you use regular flour, add boiling water at the end. Could that be done with this recipe, instead of using cake flour as written? How much almond milk would I subtract, to replace with boiling water at the end? I’m hoping that’s an option, since our local stores don’t carry cake flour, but we loved the moistness of the chocolate cake. Thank you so much!!! xo, Anna
I totally hear you, and you aren’t the first to ask if you can do the boiling water trick with vanilla cake or cupcakes. But I have tested it and for some reason it doesn’t work great. I have recently discovered you can make your own cake flour by taking 1 cup of flour, remove a tablespoon and add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix it up, and you have cake flour! Hope that helps!
Brilliant! You are so talented – thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!<3 <3 <3
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the comment!!
Yay! We made your amazing chocolate cake last month for my daughter’s birthday. Our son’s bday is tomorrow and he requested vanilla cupcakes with the chocolate frosting. Thanks for providing this with perfect timing!! Off to buy cake flour!
You’re welcome!
Hey Nora,
This is by far the best vegan cupcake recipe I’ve baked! They’re super fluffy, light and moist. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
You’re so welcome!
What if the nut milk and acv isn’t curdling?
It should still be okay. Some milks curdle more than others.
Hey Nora! Could this recipe be used to make a cake as well?
It probably could, though you could always make my Vegan Vanilla Cake. It’s quite similar.
Turned out pretty great, but not quite sweet enough for cupcakes in my opinion. I think I’ll add a bit more sugar next time. Linked recipe for frosting was amazing! 🙂
I think it’d be helpful to include your comment about adding cornstarch to all purpose flour to make cake flour within the recipe.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.
Hey Nora! Can I use a homemade cake flour substitute? BTW, I love your recipes. 😀
Yes, that should work well! Thank you!!
I want to make a banana cupcake, can I add a cup of mashed banana to this recipe? It looks incredible. BTW, your chocolate sheet cake is out of this world!!!! My family can’t stop raving…and eating it! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes….everything I’ve tried has been a winner!!!
Thanks so much, glad everyone is enjoying the sheet cake! It might work with mashed bananas, though they will be more moist. Probably will work though!
Yum!!!! These are so good. I made these with King Arthur Gluten Free All-Purpose flour and they probably weren’t as fluffy as yours, but they still turned out great!!
So glad to hear that!
I tried this with almond flour and I can’t explain what came out of the oven! 🙁 What did I do wrong???
Yes, almond flour will not work when subbed for regular flour in baked goods. You will almost always have this problem! It just doesn’t work the same at all. Usually you end up with bubbly, way too moist cake/cupcakes/brownies/cookies.
Wow! It’s like you were here lol! That’s exactly what I had. I am new to gluten free, so I had no idea almond flour wouldn’t work. 🙁 How sad. I guess I’ll have to do a little research next time. Thanks!!
Hey Nora, what is the name of the cake flour you use for this recipe.
Thank you.
It’s just called “cake flour”. I have used many different brands. If you need to, you can use all purpose flour, but cake flour makes the cupcakes lighter and fluffier.
Can this recipe be doubled and still be okay?
Yes, it can be doubled with not problems. Thanks!
Made these yesterday but had no vanilla so changed for coconut flavoring , they are super yummy
I’m so glad to hear they were yummy!
Oh my gosh!! My daughter literally just asked for vanilla cupcakes for her bday next week, and I said, hmm let’s check NoraCooks to see if she has something that might work. Miracle!! You’re awesome
That’s so great!
Ohhh they look gorgeous – there’s nothing so pretty as a cupcake!
I agree!
Thank you! My only complaint is the confusing statement “ You don’t need a hand mixer (except for the frosting!)”. So you DO need one, unless you’re eating plain vanilla cupcakes with no frosting.. which I’m sure people do, but does that qualify as a cupcake?
As someone who doesn’t have a mixer, I was excited to think why would that be included…
Thank you so much, can’t wait to try out some of these recipes.
Sorry if that was confusing! Yes, you don’t need a mixer for the cupcakes and you could choose to use store bought frosting or something like chocolate ganache (which I have a recipe coming soon!). I guess I included it because I still appreciate the simplicity of not needing a mixer for the cake or cupcake part, even if I have to get it out for the frosting. You can actually use a wooden spoon for buttercream type frostings, they just take quite awhile and will work your arm out. 🙂