These vegan matcha cupcakes have a delicious and subtle green tea flavor. They are moist, fluffy and perfect and topped with a gorgeous matcha frosting.
When I decided to make some matcha green tea cupcakes I had it in mind that they would likely come out green. Or at least a little green? Even though my matcha powder is only light green, I still thought the baked result would be green.
But no. It was not even close. The baking reactions that take place between the flour and the matcha result in a cupcake that is much more brown than green.
But not to worry, with some gorgeous green liners and a beautiful matcha frosting they are still super pretty.
And the taste? Well if you love green tea then you will LOVE them. The flavor is subtle but divine.
This is much more of a ‘grown up’ cupcake that tends to be a hit with adults but not so much with kids though. So it’s not something you’d bake for a kids party (our funfetti cupcakes would be perfect for that) but it’s great to bake for something more grown up.
And if you love matcha then also check out our matcha smoothie, matcha ice cream and vegan matcha cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need For The Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes
- Matcha – ideally this should be pure matcha powder.
- Baking soda – this is also called bicarbonate of soda in some places.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with any other vegetable oil.
- Vegan buttermilk – we make a vegan buttermilk by mixing distilled white vinegar and soy milk which curdles beautifully into a great buttermilk substitute. Almond milk also works but it’s not as thick and rich as the version made with soy milk. You can also use a different non-dairy milk of your choice. It will still work in this recipe even if it doesn’t curdle with the vinegar.
Frosting Ingredients:
Frosting Notes
- Vegan butter – the firmer the better for making frostings. If you can get vegan butter in a stick form this will work great, but tub styles also work great (this is what we used) just choose the firmest option.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with any other non-dairy milk.
How To Make Vegan Matcha 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.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and matcha powder. Mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it sit for a minute to thicken and curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla extract and mix into a batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners in your cupcake tray.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let them cool for a few minutes in the cupcake tray and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, matcha powder and soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If needed, add more soy milk.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on the frosting.
Recipe Success Tips
Measure the flour properly. If you use too much flour by accident, the cupcakes will be dry, so measuring properly is really important. If you have a food scale then this is the best way to ensure you use the right amount, simply weigh it on your food scale. If you don’t have a scale, then use the ‘spoon and level‘ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with a knife.
The color – we also tested these vegan matcha cupcakes with some green food coloring added to see if that would result in a green cupcake and they stayed brown. So there is no point to add any green food coloring to these cupcakes! But even though they’re not green, they are still a lovely shade of light brown and there may even be a tinge of green in there if you squint at it really hard.
Storing and Freezing
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days or keep them covered in the fridge where they will stay good for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly (either frosted or unfrosted).
More Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Matcha Cupcakes
Ingredients
Matcha Cupcakes:
- 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (220g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 Tbsp Matcha Green Tea Powder
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar + Soy Milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Matcha Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- 2 Tbsp Matcha Green Tea Powder
- 2-3 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and matcha powder. Mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it sit for a minute to thicken and curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla extract and mix into a batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners in your cupcake tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let them cool for a few minutes in the cupcake tray and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, matcha powder and 2 tablespoons soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If it’s too thick, add the extra tablespoon of soy milk.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on the frosting.
Notes
- Measure the flour properly. If you have a food scale then weigh out your flour for perfect accuracy. If you don’t have a scale, then use the ‘spoon and level‘ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Vegan buttermilk. This can be made with almond milk instead of soy milk
- Storing. Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days or keep them covered in the fridge where they will stay good for up to a week.
- Freezing. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months (either frosted or unfrosted).
- This recipe was first published in August 2017. It has been updated with new photos and tips.
Hi there, I was wondering if it is okay to substitute the buttermilk with something like water. There are just some allergies in my household and I’d like to be careful. Your recipe looks amazing nonetheless! Thanks!
Hi Rebecca! Rather make a different type of vegan buttermilk than using water. You can make your own vegan buttermilk with any other plant milk and add 1tbsp of vinegar. The vinegar is what helps to activate the baking soda and make the cupcakes rise.
So I tried this the original way but I’m at a very high altitude!! So if anyone wants it less sweet and more green, add 2 tbsp of matcha instead of 3 and add less sugar to the frosting (2 cups) and more butter (3/4 cup). At a high altitude, i added 2 cups of flour and 1 1/4 cup of soy milk mixed with 1.2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Also, I only added 1/2 cup of sugar. Baked at 375 for 12 min. Only 1/6 tbsp of baking soda. This worked for me at high altitude. Thank you for the layout of ingredients so I could play around with the recipe ♥️
Hi!
Could you please tell me what vegan butter could I possibly use? Would margarine work? What are the best options?
Margarine would work fine.
Delicious! I used almond milk and vegetable oil and I added chocolate chips, they turned out perfect. It was green on the outside but brownish inside.
For what it’s worth, I’ve made this twice (in different geographic locations and with different brands of matcha) and both times mine actually did stay bright green. I used canola oil, and I used cider vinegar. Either way, it was delicious!
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Ben! 🙂
Could you sub melted coconut oil for olive oil or no? I’m looking forward to making these!!
Yes, I think that would be fine.
I made this, and it was very good. The second time I made it, I added a lot of cinnamon and it really elevated it to the next level. It was FANTASTIC with cinnamon. I also used gluten-free flour (Bob’s 1:1) and it turned out great.
Awesome, thanks for sharing.
Light and fluffy and different