You know, when I finally cracked the code to gluten-free baking and managed a spectacular gluten-free chocolate cake, I was so damn happy about it.
I mean no one wants to eat a cake that tastes like it’s not quite as good as the original. You want it to just taste like delicious cake.
Same thing for vegan cake of course, you just want it to taste like cake. Not vegan cake.
Well, these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes are naturally also vegan (I say naturally because, have you seen the name of this blog?) and really if you feed them to your non-vegan gluten-eating friends they will have no idea.
These are just fabulously delicious cupcakes. No one would be the wiser unless you told them.
I first baked these for my brother-in-law’s birthday and honestly all 12 were devoured in about 10 seconds.
The texture of these cupcakes, oh my, the texture. So perfectly moist and spongey.
The taste is so perfectly rich and chocolatey!
And really they’re a cinch to make too.
Last time I made chocolate cupcakes (with gluten), I made a song and dance about not using chocolate frosting.
Well I went ahead and did it here and I was very pleased with the result (even though my piping kit still sucks, I bought a new one now and this one sucks too, so I’m still on the hunt), and the addition of gorgeous little sugar butterflies for decoration made me very happy.
When I’ve looked at other cupcake recipes, I’ve often seen it said that cupcake liners should only be filled 2/3rds of the way. Well I have not found that to be the case at all!
I fill mine all the way to the top. It could be that my cupcake liners are particularly shallow (whine alert: they’re the ONLY ones I’ve been able to find around here), but using all the batter, I find that they’re full to the brim, which you can see pictured above.
Don’t fill them past full of course, but filling to the brim is okay if your cupcake liners are similarly shallow.
The best way to manage the pouring of the batter into the cupcake liners is to first move the batter to a jug so you can easily and neatly pour it into the cupcake liners and then evenly distribute the batter between all twelve.
You will love these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, they are:
- Moist
- Rich
- Spongey
- Highly chocolatey
- Topped with chocolate buttercream
- Absolutely delicious!
Best of all? No one will know they are gluten-free. Or vegan for that matter. They’re just like the best cupcakes you’ve ever had. That’s all.
So let me know what you think of these gorgeous gluten-free chocolate cupcakes why dontcha! Any questions, comments, post them down below in the comment section.
And should you happen to make these babies, tag any pics #lovingitvegan on instagram so I can get excited about them too! Thanks!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
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Prep Time: 20 mins - Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
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Yield: 12 -
Category: Dessert, Gluten-Free -
Cuisine: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Perfectly moist and spongey gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with rich chocolate buttercream frosting. So good you’ll never know they’re gluten-free and vegan!
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (204g) Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend
- 1/2 cup (42g) Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup (200g) Brown Sugar
- 1 and 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (240ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp (10ml) Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- 1 Tbsp (15ml) White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Flax Egg
- For the Frosting:
- 3 cups (375g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
- 1/3 cup (75g) Vegan Butter
- 2-4 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (180 degrees celsius).
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
- Add the brown sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds with 3 Tbsp hot water and allowing to sit for a minute.
- Add the soy milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, applesauce and vinegar and mix in.
- Lastly add the flax egg and mix together.
- Use a hand whisk to get rid of any large lumps (very small ones are fine).
- Prepare your cupcake tray by setting cupcake liners into place.
- Move the batter to a jug that allows for easy pouring and evenly divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners.
- Place into the oven to bake for around 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes are baking, prepare your frosting by adding all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mixing with an electric mixer, starting on low speed and then increasing speed gradually until smooth and creamy. Don’t add all the non-dairy milk at once, start with 2 Tbsp and only add more if needed. If your frosting ends up too thin, add more powdered sugar, if it’s too thick, add more non dairy milk a drop at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- As soon as your cupcakes are cooked, move them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
*Adapted from my Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake (of 12)
- Calories: 369
- Sugar: 48.2g
- Sodium: 288mg
- Fat: 13.6g
- Saturated Fat: 2.2g
- Carbohydrates: 62.5g
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Protein: 3.4g
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I am sooo looking forward to eating these cupcakes. Brilliant recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you! 🙂
Hello,
I made this recipe last night for my vegan friend and she LOVED them!!! I did too, since I am gluten free. They were so flavorful and fluffy!! I paired them with Pillsbury chocolate frosting, since it is naturally vegan! Thank you so much for this recipe and I will add it to my list of things I can bake 🙂 xx Olivia “Nutritious Neverland”
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear that Olivia, flavorful and fluffy is the best! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Hi Allison, I do not eat meat or eggs. I’m always looking for baking recipes without egg. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
It’s a pleasure Ratna! 🙂
Are you able to substitute something else for the sugar? Maybe maple syrup or honey?
Can you make the frosting ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to use? Thanks!
Definitely! If it’s just a couple of days ahead then absolutely you can.
Hi Alison. What GF flour blend do you use?
Many thanks!
Hi Char, I love Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose blend. It’s usually what I use. 🙂
Thanks!
Is the brown sugar a must? If sugar is subbed out for cane will it affect cupcake consistency?
I just baked a batch of these and so far they are the best gluten free/vegan chocolate cupcakes I’ve made from scratch.
Thank you!
★★★★
Hey Lorena, yes you can totally substitute cane sugar here, it won’t affect texture/consistency. Glad you like them!
Hi! Is there anything else I could use in place of the flax egg? That’s the one thing I don’t have!
You could use a chia egg if you have chia seeds? It’s the same ratios as a flax egg.
These turned out great and were a hit at my childrens’ nursery fun day! Thanks 😊
Lovely! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Just baked these tonight, sans frosting. Truly the BEST gf vegan cupcakes I’ve ever had, no exaggeration! Does this recipe hold well as a whole layer cake? Thank you!!!
So happy to hear! Yes, it makes a perfect layer cake, I’ve made one here: Gluten Free Chocolate Cake.
Can I sub cocoa powder for German chocolate bar?
No, that won’t work as a direct substitution.
can I use honey or date syrup? Quantity?
Since those are wet ingredients it would throw off the balance of the recipe. You could do it, but you’d have to adjust the quantities of the other wet ingredients to compensate and since I haven’t tried it like that I can’t advise. You could use coconut sugar as a straight swap though I am quite sure.
I am a Homestead Baker, always vegan, but just starting with GF. I have had such terrible luck with my recipes folate, I decided to try this one,as written, to start. Amazing! I’ve already eaten 2, can’t wait to share them,so I don’t eat the whole batch. 🙂 Thanks!
* terrible luck OF LATE (not folate, lol)
Hahaha, that autocorrect! 🙂
Yay! 🙂 Thanks for posting!
Hey there, can you please tell me what I can use as a substitute for applesauce as this is the one thing I don’t have.
Thank you in advance
A
Hey there, you can just use some extra oil and that will be fine. 😊
I ended up sending my hubby down to the store lol and rather than cupcakes, it became a cake 🙂
I “creamed” it with avocado mousse and used fresh strawberries, dried apricot & dessicated coconut to make it an Elmo cake 🙂
★★★★
Sounds awesome! 🙂
Hi, I stumbled across your website in desperation to find a perfect gluten free vegan cupcake. I have wasted so many ingredients by trialling different recipes and was still underwhelmed. That is until I tried your chocolate cupcakes!! OMG they’re delicious and noone knew these were both GF and Vegan. I’ve made another batch to freeze and they perk up well after defrosting in the microwave. I am now on a mission to try more of your recipes as I recently made carrot and cinnamon cupcakes and felt like throwing them in the bin but I will try your recipe and I am hopeful that they’ll turn out just as good as the chocolate ones!! Thank you for such great recipes now I have found something worth baking that doesn’t taste like rubber!!
★★★★★
That’s wonderful Claire! I am sooo happy to hear that. I also just baked these again the other day to test a new gluten-free flour blend and oh my, they are so good! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
WOWZERS!!!!! I’ve been vegan for almost two years, but just ventured into gluten-free. This recipe is fantastic! I’m an avid baker and appreciate a fool-proof recipe. To be honest, I’m not the biggest sweet eater, and found them to be a bit too rich for my taste (my husband and daughter thought they were perfect!) Do you happen to have a white/yellow cake recipe that is similar? Thank you so much for a great cake!
★★★★
Awesome Nicole! Glad it was a hit! I have some gluten-free vanilla cupcakes! So check those out. And of course I’ll be adding more gluten free cake recipes soon! 🙂
Made these today… delicious! Truly the best vegan, gluten free, chocolate cupcake I’ve ever eaten. Will be making them again for my granddaughter’s birthday party. Thank you for sharing your great recipes.
That is so fantastic Mary – so glad to hear! 🙂
I love this recipe. I make these for every special occasion. I make my own gluten free flour blend but I find that my cupcakes tend to be more like brownies. Heavy and dense but still good. I am curious, what gluten free flour blend do you use or recommend? Do you blend your own? Please let me know. I am using rice flours and tapioca.
★★★★★
Hi Nena, I have been a fan of Bob’s Red Mill brand of flours, they have the all purpose gluten-free flour blend which is what I used for these cupcakes. I believe their 1-1 gluten-free flour blend is also very good! 🙂 So glad you like this recipe – thanks for posting! 🙂
Can I use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar?
Coconut sugar is also granulated so that should be fine as a switch.
Loved them, thank you! It’s so nice for my allergy toddler and I to enjoy a treat every now and then!
Do they store well in the fridge or freezer? Thanks 😁
★★★★★
So glad you loved them! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! You can keep them covered in the fridge for up to a week and they will stay good. If you want to freeze them you can do so by individually wrapping them and storing in a sturdy container. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Great recipe. So easy. Love this one and your gf vanilla cupcakes too Thankyou. Have shared your recipes and links on my Facebook gluten free and dairy free cooking page. I usedd sunflower oil stead of olive oil ( for a more neutral taste) and baking powder instead of baking soda, different quantity.
★★★★★
Oh great! Thanks so much! And thanks for posting! 🙂
My cupcakes were very dense. Should I have mixed them like a muffin mix, that is hardly any whisking? I used a stand mixer as if it was a sponge cake, was this too much do you think? Should I have barely mixed in the wet to the dry? Thanks.
Hi Vicki, I definitely wouldn’t use a stand mixer to mix the cake batter, you are right, it should just be a quick whisk with a hand whisk until big lumps are gone (tiny lumps are okay). I think this would likely have caused the density, especially if everything else went as planned (flour measures were definitely correct etc). Hope they’re still tasty?
Hi, thanks for sharing your recipe is sounds like an awesome one to try. I’d like to make it soon though I don’t have a flax egg (not sure what it is) and only regular milk. Can you use an egg and reg. milk as substitutes?
Hi Amy, it has never been tested with a regular egg as it was designed as a vegan recipe, the flax egg is linked in the ingredients list to a page with a video which shows you what it is and how to make it, and it’s also described in the recipe instructions. Any milk would be fine, and if you want to try it with a regular egg of course go ahead, but it has not been tested that way. All the best!
hi , can i substitute 1 flax egg to 1 organic egg ? TIA
Please see the comment reply above.
Hi Alison, could you use an egg replacer instead of a flax egg? Thanks!
Hi Celine, I have only ever tested it with a flax egg, but in theory that should be fine.
I’ve made these with a regular chicken egg and they were fabulous!! They rose great, were moist and couldn’t be identified as gluten free! We have many g.f family members and one dairy free. They were a huge hit!!! Thanks for the recipe. I’m sharing the heck out of it!!
Great to hear it worked out so well Cindy! Thanks so much for posting. 🙂
Does the gluten free flour have to contain xanthum gum? Gluten free baking is new to me and I noticed some brands contain it and others do not. Do you personally use xanthum gum in this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Lauren, when I made this recipe I used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour, and that particular blend does not contain xantham gum. However, in the interim I have made this recipe with other gluten-free all purpose blends that do contain it. I haven’t noticed any difference in the final result. So as long as it’s an all purpose blend especially for baking, it should be fine whether or not it has xantham gum. All the best!