These vegan banana cupcakes are moist, light and fluffy and totally delicious! Topped with a rich and creamy vegan peanut butter frosting.
Chocolate and peanut butter may be a match made in heaven, but you know what’s also a match made in heaven? Banana and peanut butter!
So when I decided to make some vegan banana cupcakes, the natural choice for the frosting was vegan peanut butter frosting.
And honestly the combo is just dreamy. I think you will love it just as much as we did.
And if you love banana desserts then you’ll also love our vegan banana cake, vegan banana bread muffins and vegan banana bread.
What Goes Into These Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes
- Ripe bananas – are the crucial ingredient in these muffins. They must be yellow and spotty (no green in sight) for the ideal level of sweetness.
- Apple cider vinegar – reacts with the baking soda giving these cupcakes a beautiful rise. You can also use distilled white vinegar.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with another non-dairy milk.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with vegetable oil.
How To Make Vegan Banana 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 all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix together.
- Add mashed banana, soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and mix into a thick batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners in a 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.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating.
Frosting Options
We love the pairing of vegan peanut butter frosting with these cupcakes. And of course sprinkle some crushed peanuts on top!
However, our vegan lemon buttercream frosting would also be divine on these cupcakes or try our vegan cream cheese frosting.
Baker’s Tips
Measure the flour properly. If you have a food scale then weigh your flour on the food scale for the best accuracy. Otherwise use the spoon and level method: spoon your flour into your measuring cup (don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup) and then level off the top with a knife.
Don’t over-mix the batter. There’s a reason I always mix my cake and cupcake batters by hand and never in the stand mixer – it’s too easy to over-mix! Mix the batter until it’s just combined and then stop mixing.
Bake immediately. As soon as you’ve divided the batter between your cupcake liners then place them in the oven to bake. If the batter sits too long it can affect the texture and rise of your cupcakes.
Gluten-free. For a gluten-free version of these vegan banana cupcakes the best option would be to try a gluten-free all purpose baking blend instead of the regular flour.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature and consume within 2-3 days. Or keep them covered in the fridge for up to a week. Let them come to room temperature before serving.
Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge and then let them come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
More Delicious Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Biscoff Cupcakes
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Banana Cupcakes:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 cup Mashed Ripe Banana (225g)
- ½ cup Soy Milk (120ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
Frosting:
- 1 Recipe Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix together.
- Add mashed banana, soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and mix into a thick batter. Don't over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating.
Notes
- Measure the flour properly. If you have a food scale then weigh your flour on the food scale for the best accuracy. Otherwise use the spoon and level method: spoon your flour into your measuring cup (don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup) and then level off the top with a knife.
- Ripe bananas – are the crucial ingredient in these muffins. They must be yellow and spotty (no green in sight) for the ideal level of sweetness.
- Gluten-free. For a gluten-free version of these cupcakes the best option would be to try a gluten-free all purpose baking blend instead of the regular flour.
- Storing: Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature and consume within 2-3 days. Or keep them covered in the fridge for up to a week. Let them come to room temperature before serving.
- Freezing: Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge and then let them come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
- Nutrition information includes vegan peanut butter frosting.
- This recipe was first published in September 2017. It has been updated with new photos and an improved recipe.
These cupcakes were delicious and more than met my expectations. I made them to prevent disposing of two overripe bananas. The bananas didn’t quite make 1 cup so I added a tablespoon of peanut butter. I ended up making 14 cupcakes. I’d run out of ingredients for frosting, but they were great without. The cupcakes lasted 3 days as an indulgent treat, I’ll definitely make them again, so easy and fairly economical.
Thank you.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for your great review!
These rule. I have made them multiple times (with the vegan buttercream frosting recipe) and they are always a huge hit. It has become my go-to vegan dessert because there are almost no substitutions. People are shocked to find out that they are vegan after tasting them. I get so many compliments. Just today my friend’s eyes lit up when she saw them because she remembered the last time I made them and got really excited. I also like to add in a cup of dairy-free chocolate chips.
That’s awesome Billy! Thanks so much for your great review!
I love these. I cut out the granulated sugar altogether and added less of the brown sugar and they still tasted fantastic.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for your review Elle!
Wonderful, just wonderful.
These are so delicious! Was wondering if there’s a way to turn the recipe into a layer cake or not??
Hi Emily! We haven’t tested this recipe as a layer cake – but you can check out our recipe for vegan banana cake here. 🙂
Can I sub either coconut oil or unsweetened applesauce for the vegetable oil?
Sure, both options would work.
I just made these (not my first bake from your website, all of which have been spot on!) and they were amazing! I used white rye flour as I’m wheat intolerant, and they rose beautifully! I didn’t make the icing as I only have natural peanut butter in the cupboard and I was happy with a banana breakfast muffin type result. Thanks for all the amazing recipes!
So happy you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing and the awesome review Katharine!
I baked this today and it came out so good. I usually bake with egg and sometimes they don’t turn out good and look flat at the top. These were perfect – the top came out like a dome, outside firm, inside soft and tasted so good. I halved the brown sugar since I don’t like too sweet, still perfect.
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Chelvi!