Simply the best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes! Tender, fluffy and perfect for birthdays and other celebrations. Easy to make in 1 bowl. If you love these, you will also love my Vegan Vanilla Cake.
This is my favorite recipe for vegan 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!
Top with swirly Vegan Buttercream, Vegan Chocolate Frosting, Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting or Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
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 vegan 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, melted vegan butter and vanilla extract.
- Whisk until smooth and well combined.
Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake for 18-20 minutes. You will get 24 cupcakes out of this recipe, so either bake one pan at a time, or both at the same time if you have two pans.
Let them cool a few minutes in the pan before carefully transferring to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting.
Frosting for vegan 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 Buttercream or other frosting you desire. I use this simple piping kit for decorating cupcakes, but you could simply spread the frosting on with a butter knife.
Check out my little tutorial for how to pipe cupcakes nice and tall in my Vegan Frosting Recipe. I also love to decorate them with sprinkles. Sweetapolita has the prettiest vegan sprinkles, and I always keep some on hand!
Gluten free vegan cupcakes
To make these cupcakes gluten free, you can substitute a quality gluten free flour mix, such as King Arthur’s Measure for Measure. They won’t be quite as light or moist as using cake flour, but it works pretty well!
Want more vegan cupcakes?
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- 1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Pecan Frosting
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
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup melted vegan butter or neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Recipe Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin pan (2 if you have them, if not bake one tray at a time) 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, melted vegan butter or oil and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. There may be a few small lumps, but you don't want any large lumps in the batter.
- Fill the liners 1/2 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Carefully transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack, then place new liners in the pan and bake the rest of the cupcakes until you have used all the batter.
- Cool completely, then pipe on Vegan Buttercream Frosting or another frosting of your choosing. Decorate with sprinkles or sliced strawberries. Enjoy!
- Store cupcakes on the counter, covered for up to 4 days (they stay moist!). They also freeze perfectly for up to 3 months, with or without frosting.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- Gluten free – Use a gluten free flour mix.
- One batch of vanilla frosting was enough for me to frost all 24 cupcakes, but if you want a LOT of frosting on each one, you may want to double the frosting recipe.
- Funfetti cupcakes – Add 1/2-3/4 cup sprinkles to the batter, folding them in at the end.Â
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated with a slightly improved recipe (less salt, vegan butter instead of oil) March 2022. I’m always working on improving my recipes, thank you!
In my gluten free baking experience, I have never had a recipe work without baking soda. This recipe gave me gummy cupcakes as well. I am wondering if it worked for anyone else? I tried bobs red mill and yes I didn’t overmix.
Hi Nora
Made these last night and they are delicious. My question is about the nutrition facts, is the frosting included as part of the nutrition facts? Because I used a different product for the frosting so I’m curious as to the cupcakes nutrition values without frosting please?
Thank you!!
Can I do 1/4 butter and 1/4 oil to get a more moist cupcake for this recipe without messing it up? Have you tried this yet? Or any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
You can try it and see which way you like it better. It will work but I haven’t noticed a difference personally. Thank you!
Hi Nora, I made your vanilla cake recently and wanted to know what is the difference in taste with this recipe for the cupcakes and the recipe for the cake? I know the cake recipe has chickpeas or vegan yogurt and of course the amounts are different. Taste and texture wise is there a difference? Which do you prefer? I am making these for an event and wanted to see which recipe to use.
Thanks so much
The cake is probably more moist I suppose, but they’re both good and you can’t go wrong! The cupcakes are easier to make and I love them personally.
They look good and smell good. I made a half batch as I’m feeding one vegan friend. My only comment/concern is making these cupcakes with normal, granulated white sugar negates them from being vegan. Granulated sugar is run through bone char to make it white. If you’re baking this for someone else, you may want to find out how strict they are with following a vegan diet or lifestyle. You can buy raw or turbinado sugar in lots of stores and online.
Hi Jennifer, granulated sugar can definitely be vegan friendly. As long as you use organic granulated sugar, it’s vegan (at least in the U.S.). In other parts of the world, from what I understand, bone char is not used at all.. So this really depends on where you are in the world. Whole Foods carries organic, white, granulated, vegan sugar. But I often just buy whatever organic sugar I can find, which is usually a little beige in color, not straight white. You do not have to buy raw or turbinado. More details here: Is Sugar Vegan?