Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

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.

I have since made these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes for a lot of special occasions. I have a mother and sister who are gluten-free so if they’re coming over for any sort of special occasion, these cupcakes, or the gluten-free chocolate cake recipe that they’re based on, are making an appearance!

Always check the expiry date on your gluten-free all purpose flour mix! Gluten-free flours tend to have a shorter shelf life than regular gluten flours, and on one particular occasion, I didn’t check the expiry date on mine and made my mother a gluten-free birthday cake.

I then proceeded to be horribly embarrassed (and question ALL my baking skills!) when it tasted bloody awful! Only to find out that my flour had expired (at least it made me feel good again about my baking skills!).

So check the dates on your flour, especially if you don’t bake super often, it’s likely you need to get a fresh supply.

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 please do rate the recipe too!

If you’re not completely gluten-free and dabble in a bit of regular gluten baking, then check out our regular vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe. It’s a total winner! I paired it with some mint buttercream frosting but the chocolate buttercream from this recipe is also a perfect match for that recipe, so you can switch that around if you like.

And then check out our gluten-free vegan vanilla cupcakes with matcha green tea frosting if you’d like a delicious vanilla counterpart to this recipe, or our gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes with cashew frosting!

While you’re here, sign up to our email list for a fabulous vegan dinner recipes ebook containing 10 great recipes and to stay updated with all our latest recipe postings. Fair warning, gluten-free cooking and baking is not the focus of this blog, but we definitely still have quite a few recipes that end up being gluten-free anyway, check out our gluten-free recipe section.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

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★★★★★

4.7 from 11 reviews

• Author: Loving It Vegan
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Yield: 12
• Category: Dessert, Gluten-Free
• Cuisine: Vegan

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Description

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!

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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 Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup (120ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
• 2 Tbsp Applesauce
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Flax Egg

For the Frosting:

• 3 cups (360g) Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 cup (42g) Cocoa Powder
• 1/3 cup (75g) Vegan Butter
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 4 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the brown sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
4. Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds with 3 Tbsp hot water and allowing to sit for a minute.
5. Add the soy milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, applesauce and vinegar and mix in.
6. Lastly add the flax egg and mix together.
7. Use a hand whisk to get rid of any large lumps (very small ones are fine).
8. Prepare your cupcake tray by setting cupcake liners into place.
9. Move the batter to a jug that allows for easy pouring and evenly divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners.
10. Place into the oven to bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
11. 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, gradually add it in, you might not need all of it. 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.
12. As soon as your cupcakes are cooked, move them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Notes

*I used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour but I have tested this recipe with other gluten-free all purpose blends and they have all been perfect. Some blends have had xantham gum in them and some have not, and I have not found a difference in the outcome. As long as it is an all purpose baking blend, it should work well for this recipe.

*You can use a different vegetable oil if you prefer, I like using a good quality extra virgin olive oil in baking even though it’s not the usual choice.

*Adapted from my Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Cupcake (of 12)
• Calories: 378
• Sugar: 46.5g
• Sodium: 285mg
• Fat: 14.6g
• Saturated Fat: 3.4g
• Carbohydrates: 62.8g
• Fiber: 4g
• Protein: 3.8g

Keywords: gluten free chocolate cupcakes