These vegan funfetti cupcakes are light, fluffy, moist, colorful and perfect for a party or celebration. Super easy to make and heaps of fun!
Funfetti cupcakes are cupcakes with sprinkles baked into them. So they’re super pretty and cute and multicolored inside and of course you top them with more sprinkles.
Lots of fun and kids dig it! (My niece was very impressed).
And it’s super simple to do as you can simply adapt a winner of a vegan vanilla cupcake recipe, which is exactly what I did.
And if you love these cupcakes you’ll also love our vegan funfetti cake.
Ingredients You’ll Need For The Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes
- Distilled white vinegar – this reacts with the baking soda and causes the cupcakes to rise. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- Sprinkles – these should be rainbow sprinkles, also known as ‘jimmies’.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with a different non dairy milk, whatever you have on hand.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with any vegetable oil.
Ingredients You Need For The Frosting:
Frosting Notes
- Soy milk – or any other non-dairy milk.
- Vegan butter – the firmer the better when it comes to vegan frostings. If you have the sticks available that will work great, otherwise tub-style is fine but just choose one that is the most firm out of what is available. Very soft spreads that are always super soft even straight from the fridge can result in frostings that are too runny.
How To Make Vegan Funfetti 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, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar and mix into a batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Add sprinkles and fold them into the batter carefully.
- Divide the batter between 12 cupcake liners and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Check if they’re done by inserting a toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes. It should come out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the tray and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth.
- When the cupcakes have cooled, pipe on the frosting and decorate with sprinkles.
Tips For Success
Measure the flour correctly. If you have a food scale, then it’s ideal to simply weigh your flour for total accuracy. If you don’t have a food 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 it and don’t pack it into the cup.
Don’t over-mix the batter. Mix until just mixed and then stop mixing. Over-mixing can affect the texture and rise.
Fold the sprinkles in gently. When you add the sprinkles just fold them in gently.
Use the right kind of sprinkles. It’s crucial to use the right sprinkles for funfetti cakes and cupcakes and the right kind of sprinkles are rainbow sprinkles or ‘jimmies’. Check the label for vegan friendliness or try these from Sweetapolita.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or covered in the fridge where they will stay fresh up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and then bring to room temperature on the countertop before serving.
More Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Coffee Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
Funfetti Cupcakes:
- 1 and ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (220g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅓ cup Rainbow Sprinkles (50g)
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:
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar and mix into a batter. Don't over-mix.
- Add sprinkles and fold them into the batter carefully.
- Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes. Check if they're done by inserting a toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes. It should come out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the tray and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 2 Tbsp 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 the extra soy milk.
- When the cupcakes have cooled, pipe on the frosting and decorate with sprinkles.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. If you have a food scale, then it's ideal to simply weigh your flour for total accuracy. If you don't have a food 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 it and don't pack it into the cup.
- Sprinkles. It's crucial to use the right sprinkles for funfetti cakes and cupcakes and the right kind of sprinkles are rainbow sprinkles or 'jimmies'. Check the label for vegan friendliness or try these from Sweetapolita.
- Storing. Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature where they will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or covered in the fridge where they will stay fresh up to a week.
- Freezing. They are also freezer friendly (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and then bring to room temperature on the countertop before serving.
- Frosting. The frosting makes enough to generously pipe frosting onto all the cupcakes (as pictured). If you only want to pipe on a small amount or just want to spread the frosting you could halve the recipe.
- Nutritional information includes frosting.
- This recipe was first published in October 2017. It has been updated with new photos and lots of extra tips but the recipe itself is the same.
Just tried these cupcakes and the chocolate ones are cooling. Just wondering can the frosting be made a day ahead?
Thank you
Hi Louise, yes definitely the frosting stores very well in the fridge.
My husband is vegan but the rest of the family is not. I’ve been making your cupcakes and everyone absolutely loves it!! The only thing I can’t seem to get right is the icing. I follow the exact recipe, add some more powdered sugar to make it thick. It is just a little runny! So it’s just somewhat flat on the cupcake..Help!! Any suggestion is appreciated.
Hi Lia! So glad the cupcakes are working out great! For the frosting, since it’s turning out so soft for you, start out without adding any non-dairy milk at all, and then only add in a tiny bit at a time so that you get the right consistency. If that still doesn’t work great then my recommendation would be to switch brands of vegan butter to get one that is much firmer. All the best!
Hello Alison, love your site for my dairy and egg allergic child! I’d like to try these for my son’s birthday. What do you think of swapping cake flour for AP flour to make the crumb less dense? Would it change any of the other proportions? Thanks!
Hi Allison, I’m not sure about cake flour, others have used it in our recipes with success before, but I’m not 100% sure if it will work as well. The crumb in these isn’t dense at all, as long as you don’t over-mix the batter and bake them right away they are super light and fluffy. If you do swap for cake flour I would definitely do a test run first and see how they turn out. All the best! 🙂
Hello, I love making your cupcakes, but just need a little advice i have tried making your funfetti cupcakes twice now and both times the sprinkles just dissolve so have no colour in the cake. please tell me what I am doing wrong. Thank you for your recipes.
The type of sprinkles you use are what causes this to happen. Jimmy sprinkles are the best if you can get them.
I have made these and some of you other cupcake & cake recipes and every time get rave reviews. Thank you Alison for helping this fairly new vegan continue to enjoy baked treats!!
Has anyone tried this recipe using an alternative flour to make gluten free? Any tips?
Thanks so much Cara! I think it would work well with a gluten-free all purpose blend. 🙂
Another great recipe – I ALWAYS get great results and feedback when I make your recipes – I am so grateful for your site, thank you.
Thanks so much Yalini!
That’s a clever trick. I’m going to try it on my next batch. Alison, thank you so much, for searching out this answer. Your responses are always great.
You’re so welcome Jeanne! 🙂
I made 100 of these little beauties this past weekend for our Children’s Church. It fit nicely with our theme, “Joy.” I wish I had read Zee’s idea of using swirl colors for the frosting. But still – EVERYBODY (including the adult kids) loved them! I have a question, please. My cupcake liners at the base were oily. It didn’t seep through to get on your hand – not noticeably anyway. What should I have done to prevent this. Your pictures clearly don’t show any oiliness on the cupcake liners. Thank you!
Hi Jeanne! So happy the cupcakes were a success! Thanks so much for the great review! Regarding the problem of the oily cupcake liners, I haven’t had this happen but I did a bit of research and from what I can find out the solution ‘can’ be as simple as using a different brand of cupcake liners. Alternatively, I found an article from Sweet Dreams and Sugar Highs that has another way of addressing the issue!
Would adding coconut milk to the cupcakes change the taste of it too much?
Hi Monica, no not at all, you can definitely use coconut milk if you like. 🙂
Substitute of white vinegar???
Apple cider vinegar.
Just made these and wow! Making these for a friends birthday. I’m not vegan but boy these are amazing! Cannot tell they are vegan. They are so tasty and pretty! Piped them using colours in a swirl. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Whoop! So happy to hear that Zee! A frosting swirl sounds like an amazing idea for these! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Can this be made into a cake??
Sure! You could adapt this very easily into a two layer cake, using two 7 inch cake pans or three 6 inch cake pans.
These are the bomb!!! I made them for my 12-year old vegan son’s birthday and ALL of the kids loved them. They are perfect, exactly like the old school funfetti-from-a-box cupcakes I made in the 90’s but so much more rich (in a great way) and flavorful. I’m making them for the kids’ dessert for Christmas. Who doesn’t love sprinkles on Christmas?
That’s awesome to hear Katrina! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
I’m a horrible baker and I’m in AWE of anyone who can and does! These look FUN and YUMMY!
Hahaha Jennifer, I bet you could make these! They are just too easy. 🙂
So adorable!