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 Vanilla 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)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 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.
This was my first attempt at making any type of vegan cake and it turned out amazing! My non vegan husband loves banana cake so I made them for him but I’m I’m probably the one who’s going to eat most of them. They are so good!
Awesome Kim! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! Would adding chocolate chips to the cupcakes be a nice touch?
Yes! Very nice indeed!
Hi!
I’ve made the Vegan Banana Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting so many times and my friends go mad for them! Can I make this into a loaf cake? Do I need to adjust the recipe at all? I assume for a loaf cake the cook time will be around 40mins?
Many thanks
Rosie
Hi Rosie, sure I think it would work as a loaf cake. I would keep the recipe as is, baking time would increase to probably about 40-45 minutes but it may be longer.
Wow! Such a great result, thank you for this recipe.
Awesome! Thanks Daisy! 🙂
Most delicious!
Thanks Geeta! 🙂
I didn’t even get to try one, but my non-vegan testers were very impressed. The vegan butter here is very soft (and the climate is suuuuper warm) so I subbed half of the butter in the frosting for veg shortening/hard margarine stuff. Topped with shaved non-dairy chocolate. Rave reviews all around! Mine took 23 minutes to cook.
Also, forgot to mention: I put some extra batter into a baking cup and stuck it in the microwave for 1 minute. Overflowed a bit but texture was perfect! Can’t really tell the difference other than appearance.
So glad you enjoyed it Ali! Thanks for sharing and the awesome rating! Also cool tip about the leftover batter, smart! 🙂
Can I prep the frosting a day earlier and keep it in refrigerator until time to frost the cake?
Yes sure! If the frosting is too thick to spread/pipe from being in the fridge then let it sit on the counter for a bit until more spreadable.
Did you cut the tops off your cupcakes before frosting?
Hi Kirstie, no I never do that. If you take a look at one of our recipes that has a video, like our vegan vanilla cupcakes, you’ll see I just pipe frosting on top of the dome, never cut off the tops.
Thank you! I am making these for my son’s first birthday party tomorrow. It’s a Curious George theme! I have lots to do so I made the cupcakes last night and they turned out amazing. Frosting today 🙂
Banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting! There’s a combination which is tasty and different.