So you know, matcha is very trendy right now. And not that I’m a person who manages to keep up with trends or anything, but I have been wanting to make gluten-free vegan vanilla cupcakes for ages, so I decided to just go for it and top them with some matcha green tea frosting!
After making my matcha green tea smoothie I knew I was a fan, so why not extend the love to other recipes?
And since making my vegan vanilla cupcakes, I have been wanting to try a gluten-free version, so these two ideas collided in a most pleasing way.
I was pretty much thrilled with how these came out. And so was everyone who ate them!
I was a little surprised at how golden the color was. I’m assuming that’s down to the gluten-free all purpose flour, because in my other vanilla cupcakes made with regular flour, the color is much lighter. Here, it’s this lovely golden color.
The golden color of the cupcakes blends so well with the light green color of the matcha green tea frosting.
I used a tablespoon of matcha green tea powder in this frosting, and the green tea flavor is quite strong when you taste the frosting alone.
But once it’s on top of the cupcakes and the flavors blend together the green tea flavor then seems very mild.
Making cupcakes is one of my favorite things to do these days. They’re just so easy and fun to make!
After making chocolate cupcakes, gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes and now these gluten-free vanilla cupcakes, I’m not sure what’s next!
Carrot cake cupcakes? Red Velvet Cupcakes? Chocolate Orange Cupcakes? All of the above? Any suggestions – post them down below!
You will love these gluten-free vanilla cupcakes, they are:
- Moist
- Spongey
- Light and fluffy
- Perfectly sweet
- Vanilla infused
- Gluten-free!
- Topped with velvety smooth matcha green tea frosting!
Let me know what you think of these beautifully golden gluten-free vegan vanilla cupcakes!
Post any comments or questions in the comment section down below.
If you make this recipe, please pop back and rate it and let us know how it turned out! And if you take any photos tag us #lovingitvegan on instagram as we’d love love love to see them!
- For the Cupcakes:
- 1 + ¾ cups (238g) Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200g) Sugar
- 1 + ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup (120ml) Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- For the Frosting:
- 3 cups (375g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
- ⅓ cup (75g) Vegan Butter
- 3 Tbsp Soy Milk
- 1 Tbsp Matcha Green Tea Powder
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Add the soy milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, vinegar and applesauce and mix using a hand whisk until all the lumps are gone. If a few small lumps remain, that's fine.
- Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Pour the batter into a jug that's easy to pour from and pour out the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners.
- Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, soy milk and matcha green tea powder to an electric mixing bowl.
- Starting on low speed and then gradually increasing speed, whisk until smooth and creamy.
- Pipe onto the cupcakes and serve.
Wow! Can’t believe that one can get gluten-free and vegan!
Yep! It’s pretty cool!
HI Alison! I just stumbled upon your blog (I was looking for a matcha smoothie recipe. Thank you for that!) and I am in love with it! I am so glad I’ve found it. You have so many amazing recipes. I can’t wait to try some of them out 🙂 These cupcakes will definitely go on the must try list!
Wonderful! So glad you found us too! 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words! 🙂
Sounds delicious! I will definitely be giving it a try; I think the frosting would go very well with a maple walnut cupcake!!
Mmmm, maple walnut sounds divine!
Hi Alison!
Found these AFTER my comment from yesterday. I see that some proportions are different (soda & oil).
Will this really be OK with out baking powder?
Also, is applesauce mandatory? Any other substitute? Would pureed pineapples work?
Hi Renuka, yes it’s fine without baking powder. The applesauce adds extra moisture as gluten-free flours absorb more moisture. You could use a bit more oil instead. I have no idea if pureed pineapples would work out the same as applesauce.
Okay please help! I’m not vegan but I’m needing to make cupcakes for a girl who is graduating and has a gluten egg and dairy allergy so vegan is the way for her! Your recipe rose well and turned golden just like yours however when I cut it it’s gummy! Is that normal? I’ve tried so many recipes and yours had best consistency and actually rose while baking so looked wonderful just don’t understand why still is a gum dough consistency! Thanks for your recipe! I plan to try more!
Hi Sarah! Did you poke one of the cupcakes with a toothpick to check if it was ready or did you just go by the time? The reason I ask is because ovens are variable in their temperatures and gluten-free baking can add even an extra layer of variability to cooking times, so this becomes even more crucial. It sounds to me like you may have taken it out the oven too soon. It should definitely not be gummy, it should be perfect cake! You may find that as they cool down the texture may still turn out okay. But if you make them again, that toothpick needs to come out clean to show that there is no gumminess remaining. All the best!
Thanks for such fast help! I will try again! They for sure have the best flavor I’ve tried so far. Can I stick them back in or is it once they start cooling no more baking? I cooked them at 350 for 30 mins! Should I try a different temp? My oven should be pretty close as I bake cakes daily in it but this has been my first adventure to trying vegan!
Usually that should be more than enough time, but gluten-free baking can be more variable, which is tricky! I don’t actually know if you can just put them back in, it’s worth a try though! Preheat the oven again and put them back in for 5 minutes (try the toothpick method after 5 mins) and just see. The risk would be them drying out a bit too much, since they have cooled and then are being reheated. Hope it goes well!
Looks perfect! Can I use this recipe for a cake?
Sure! In this quantity it makes a perfect amount for a 2-layer cake if you use 7-inch round cake pans, or you could do 1-layer if your cake pans are much bigger.