These vegan gluten free vanilla cupcakes are fluffy and moist and so delicious. No one will guess they are both vegan and gluten-free! Topped with a velvety vanilla frosting and sprinkles.
You will love these light, fluffy, moist and delicious vegan gluten free vanilla cupcakes. They are super easy to make and only require 1-bowl!
A common complaint about gluten free baked goods is that they are too dry. Well, that’s certainly not the case for these cupcakes (or any of our gluten-free baked goods for that matter…). They are perfectly moist and totally delicious.
The recipe is based on our vegan vanilla cupcakes (made with regular flour) and with just a couple of small changes we get the perfect gluten free vanilla cupcake recipe!
And if you love all things gluten free then also check out our easy gluten free chocolate cake, our gluten free pancakes and our gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need For The Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten free all purpose flour – this should be a flour blend that is meant to replace regular flour in baking. You can really use any blend, we have tried a fair few and all have worked out great. One of our favorite blends is Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour. The blend you have may contain xantham gum or it may not, don’t worry about it either way. If your blend doesn’t contain it, there is no need to add it in.
- Baking soda – this must be baking soda and not baking powder. It is also known as bicarbonate of soda in some countries.
- White vinegar – distilled white vinegar reacts with the baking soda and causes the cupcakes to rise.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with any vegetable oil.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with any non-dairy milk.
Frosting
Frosting Notes:
- Soy milk – can be replaced with any non-dairy milk.
- Sprinkles – are entirely optional and just for decoration.
How To Make Vegan Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add gluten free all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and distilled white vinegar. Mix into a batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if they’re done: insert the toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes, it should come out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the tray for a few minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the frosting and add sprinkles to the top.
Chef’s Tips
The cupcakes brown quite a lot on top. This may vary a little depending on the brand of gluten-free flour, but it’s not something to worry about. As you can see from the photo of the cupcake sliced in half (below) the texture inside is perfect.
The cupcakes must be completely cool before frosting. If they are even slightly warm, the frosting will simply melt off, so you have to be patient, which is difficult when they smell this good!
Recipe FAQ
This recipe can adapt to three 6-inch cake layers (bake for 25 minutes) or two 7-inch cake layers (bake for 30 minutes). It can also be made as a single layer 9-inch cake (bake for 30-35 minutes).
We have made vegan vanilla cupcakes with regular wheat flour, check out that recipe.
The BEST results are going to come from using a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. I have had some epic flops trying to use a single type of flour such as rice flour. Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Blend is a great flour to use, but any gluten-free all purpose flour blend is going to do the trick.
No, it will either already be in your gluten-free all purpose baking blend or it won’t, but either way, don’t worry about it. I have made gluten-free cakes with blends that did contain xanthan gum and blends that did not. All have worked out wonderfully. As long as you’re using an all purpose baking blend, you should be good.
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay good for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will stay good for 5-7 days. They are also freezer friendly if you’d like to freeze them. They can be frozen either frosted or unfrosted.
More Gluten Free Baking Recipes
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Vegan Gluten Free Brownies
- Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 ¾ cups Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (238g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
Decoration (Optional):
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Add gluten free all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and distilled white vinegar. Mix into a batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if they’re done: insert the toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes, it should come out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the tray for a few minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon of soy milk.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the frosting and add sprinkles to the top.
Notes
- Gluten free all purpose flour – this should be a flour blend that is meant to replace regular flour in baking. You can really use any blend, we have tried a fair few and all have worked out great. One of our favorite blends though is Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour. The blend you have may contain xantham gum or it may not, don’t worry about it either way. If your blend doesn’t contain it, there is no need to add it in.
- Make a layer cake: This recipe can adapt to three 6-inch cake layers (bake for 25 minutes) or two 7-inch cake layers (bake for 30 minutes). It can also be made as a single layer 9-inch cake (bake for 30-35 minutes).
- Storing and Freezing: Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay good for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will stay good for 5-7 days. They are also freezer friendly if you’d like to freeze them. They can be frozen either frosted or unfrosted.
- This recipe was first posted in August 2016. It has been updated with new photos and tips and the recipe itself has been slightly updated and improved.
Pat Turnbull says
Made these as cupcakes and they are lovely but would like to make a single one in my 12″x9″ baking tray how much mixture would I need please?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Pat, I actually think you’d be good to go, without any adjustment. Baking time would be shorter though, maybe 20 mins or so. All the best! 🙂
Pat Turnbull says
Thank you for the swift reply, will be trying out in a couple of days and will let you know the outcome.?
Lianna says
They turned out wonderfully yummy! My 2nd time making cupcakes so I don’t have much context for comparison, but I think I prefer these vegan/GF cupcakes over glutinous wheat based cupcakes! I needed these to accommodate special eaters at my work, and they did the job. Love the nutty flavor of the cupcake. Also very easy to make.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lianna, so happy to hear they were a success! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Helen says
Please can you let me know what you mean / use for vegan butter? Coconut oil? Nut butter? Many thanks Helen
Alison Andrews says
Hi Helen, no I mean a vegan buttery spread, like Earth Balance in the USA, Nuttelex in Australia/Dubai, Vitalite in the UK. If you don’t have a brand that is particularly labeled vegan you can just search for a margarine brand that may be ‘accidentally’ vegan, as in, vegan by ingredient list, but not necessarily labeled as vegan.
Helen says
Thank you for the clarification Alison
Shannon says
Can I use rice flour? My daughter is gluten, dairy and egg intolerant. Having trouble finding recipe that would work for birthday cake. She also cannot have vanilla so would substitute with almond. Any help would be greatly appreciative.
Jean says
Hi
I would love to try these cupcakes, but was wondering, do I need to use xanthan gum?
Alison Andrews says
I used a gluten-free all purpose blend that didn’t have xantham gum in it (Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Blend) but if you use a blend that DOES have xantham gum in it, that’s totally fine. There’s no need to add it in extra though if the blend you have doesn’t contain it. However, you must use a gluten-free all purpose blend (formulated as a blend for baking).
Olivia says
Hi Alison, i just finished baking a batch of these (without frosting).
– The texture is great. I used a personal mix of 40% cornstarch / 30% corn flour / 30% rice flower and the texture is really close to a regular cupcake, maybe a bit fluffier and light with that mix.
– I divided in half all the quantities, and i still got 20 mini cupcakes (instead of 12 minis expected since the recipe yields 12 regular cupcakes). I could’ve made more of them, i think filling the cases up to 3/4 gives a nice volume (i filled mine like you did and it went over the top and stuck a little to the pan all around the cases with some sort of flat edges… Not sure if it’s clear…
– The colour was also very golden. I only cooked them for 22 min instead of 25, thinking i would test and then go up to 25 minutes if not cooked, but i think even 22 min was too long with my oven. I might try a little less next time.
– As for the taste… I’m undecided. It doesn’t taste at all like vanilla cupcakes… It doesn’t taste bad, absolutely not, just not vanilla.
– I also used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar… Not sure if that impacted the taste, since it’s so little of it…
So yeah, after that detailed feedback : texture is great, taste is not vanilla (just “no particular taste” cupcake so it will mainly depend on the flours and tasty ingredients used, probably), oven time is to be monitored, recipe give a bit more cupcakes than expected.
Next time i’ll try your chocolate GF Vegan cupcakes recipe, I didn’t have flaxseed meal today.
Thank you for your recipes !
Fiona Groves says
Hi
I have made your recipe and the texture is great however the colour is very pale compared to your lovely golden colour ?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Fiona, honestly I was very surprised that mine came out so golden, the color going in was very pale! It is likely from using different brands of ingredients. If they taste good (and I hope they do!) then that’s the most important thing.
Jenny says
Hi! When the batter was mixed it was very thick, not pourable. Should I add more milk until it’s runny? Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
It’s hard to say, did you weigh the flour? If not, you may have used too much, in which case, a little more milk may help.
Janan says
Should I use gluten free all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour? Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
The one I used was just the gluten free all purpose flour blend, but the 1:1 baking flour would work fine for this as well.
Audrey L. says
Looks perfect! Can I use this recipe for a cake?
Alison Andrews says
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.
Sarah says
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!
Alison Andrews says
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!
Sarah says
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!
Alison Andrews says
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!
Renuka says
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?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Renuka, yes it’s fine without baking powder.
Kathy says
Sounds delicious! I will definitely be giving it a try; I think the frosting would go very well with a maple walnut cupcake!!
Alison Andrews says
Mmmm, maple walnut sounds divine!
Heidi Kokborg says
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!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad you found us too! 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words! 🙂
Anna says
Wow! Can’t believe these are both gluten-free and vegan!
Alison Andrews says
Yep! It’s pretty cool!