Gorgeously light and fluffy vegan vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy strawberry vanilla frosting. Perfect little packages of yum!
Ever since making our vegan chocolate cupcakes I’ve had cupcakes on my mind!
Big time!
I couldn’t wait to make more. So I decided to make these gorgeous vegan vanilla cupcakes with strawberry vanilla frosting.
And they came out so well.
I was especially thrilled with the frosting. I wasn’t sure how it would work out to use strawberry flavoring, but it did the job incredibly well and provided the most beautiful pale pink color, and the flavor was awesome. It reminded Jaye of a strawberry milkshake.
You’ll love these cupcakes for their beautiful color, light and fluffy texture and lovely blend of flavors.
Cupcakes are so easy they’re my new favorite thing. So much easier than full cakes (though I love making cakes!), because they bake in less time and you don’t have to cut out parchment paper for the cake pans.
The only tricky part for me was in transferring the batter to the cupcake liners, my first batch of cupcakes was very messy, until I figured out that the best method was to transfer the batter to a jug with a pouring nozzle and pour it neatly into each cupcake liner.
Messiness problem solved.
The great thing about these cupcakes is that the flavors are so mild and blend so beautifully together. You’ve got the light flavors of vanilla blending with the sweet scented flavors of strawberries.
The texture of these vanilla cupcakes is also perfectly light and spongey.
Decorating
Decorate them with some fresh chopped strawberries if you’re serving them right away. If you want to keep them (they keep very well in a covered cake container in the fridge for up to a week), then don’t use fresh fruit for decoration as the strawberries will run and the cakes will become soggy.
Alternatively decorate with vegan sprinkles or dried coconut.
Make Them Gluten-Free
For a gluten-free version of these cupcakes, check out our vegan gluten-free vanilla cupcakes.
Make A Layer Cake
This recipe can adapt to a three layer 6-inch cake. Bake time is 20 minutes.
Storing and Freezing
These cupcakes keep very well in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
They can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted, but don’t add any fresh strawberry decoration if you’re freezing them) for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 1 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
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil*
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
Strawberry Vanilla Frosting
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar (360g)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Strawberry Extract
Decoration:
- Fresh Sliced Strawberries optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Then add the soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and white vinegar.
- Mix until just mixed, using a hand whisk to get rid of any big lumps. Don’t overmix, tiny lumps are fine.
- Pour the batter into a jug that allows for easy pouring and pour evenly into the 12 cupcake liners, ensuring that all the batter is used up.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check the cupcakes at 20 minutes and if a toothpick inserted into the center doesn’t come out clean, then put them back in for a further 5 minutes.
- Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool thoroughly before frosting.
- Prepare the frosting by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and strawberry flavoring to an electric mixer bowl. Begin mixing on low speed, gradually increasing speed until you have perfectly smooth frosting.
- Decorate with fresh strawberry slices before serving (optional).
Video
Notes
- We have also made these with a light olive oil (as in the video) and they worked great! But for more consistent results across brands canola oil or vegetable oil is a better option.
- These cupcakes keep very well in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- They can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted, but don’t add any fresh strawberry decoration if you’re freezing them) for up to 3 months.
These are divine! The only cupcake recipe I use. I always make two batches: one vanilla and one chocolate (replace 1/4 cup of the flour for 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder). So so good! Thanks for the recipe, Alison!
Awesome! Thanks so much Rachel!
Made these cupcakes for friends and got loads of compliments. The non-vegans couldn’t tell the recipe was vegan.
So happy to hear that Sylvan! Thanks so much for posting!
Thanks so much for the recipe, they came out amazing! Can this recipe be adapted to make mini cupcakes?
So happy they came out amazing Tas. I haven’t tried making mini cupcakes but my guess is that you would keep the recipe the same, but just get more out of the batch and of course the baking time would be shortened quite a bit.
I made these the other night and found them to be a little dense…. Anyone else? I follows the recipe exactly so not sure what happened or maybe I am picky. Any tips?
Hi there, if they were dense, then it’s likely that you either used too much flour or you over-mixed the batter or both. Flour must either be weighed on a food scale or you must spoon and level it. And it’s super important not to overmix the batter. Just a quick mix until combined. They are supposed to be SUPER light and fluffy.
Really want to make these after reading the reviews. But I only have apple cider vinegar in, can I substitute the white vinegar for this do you know?
Thanks in advance.
Yes that’s fine!
All the stars! Not being a vegan (I am a carnivore) I really didn’t know what to expect. I made these for my daughters birthday party because we have a friend who IS vegan and I didn’t want her treat to have to be different than anyone else’s. So we all got to try the vegan treat and I got a 100% thumbs up from all party goers! Ages 1-43. Thank you for the great recipe!
I forgot to mention, I did use almond extract on half, and strawberry on the other half.
Wonderful to hear that Sherry! Thanks so much for posting!
Thank you for the recipe! The cupcakes risen beautifully but the icing was very runny – I used everything to the letter. Not sure if anyone else had this issue or whether there’s any suggestion as to how I can fix this? I used Flora vegan butter and just standard icing sugar. Thank you.
Hi Mia, so glad the cupcakes were good! Did you use the flora butter in the tub? Because that tends to be VERY soft. Flora Plant Butter works GREAT though.
Hi Alison , have been scrolling down to get tips on best vegan butter to use for these and I saw you mention Flora plant butter on this post . Is this the best one to use ? Do you have any other recommendations ?
Many thanks for your help
Bridie 😊
Hi Bridie, Flora Plant Butter is a great option! But so is Earth Balance and Miyokos in the US, Nuttelex in Australia. So it just depends on what you have access to. 🙂
Hi Alison, I want to make these cupcakes for a brunch I’m hosting and I want to divide the batter in two and add in one cocoa powder to make some chocolate ones. What do you think is the best way to do it? Just cut everything in half? And how much cocoa powder should I use?
Hi Joanna, I actually would recommend making half this batter and half of a chocolate batter like our vegan chocolate cupcakes. It won’t work great to just add cocoa powder as that will throw out the balance of ingredients so best to do half this one and half the other one. All the best! 🙂
Thank you so much Alison for the quick reply! I’ll do half and half then!
I made the cupcakes and they are white but totally cooked so I read the recipe again and you used baking soda I used baking powder I assumed that baking soda is bicarb soda? They are OK but not too fluffy. I need to try again. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Melissa, yes baking soda is the same as bicarbonate of soda. If you used baking powder then that is the reason they are not fluffy. If you try again with baking soda, you will have a completely different (much much better) result.
I have scoured everywhere and tried and tested cupcakes to no avail…till I tried your recipe!! Absolutely exquisite!!! My daughter who is allergic to everything finally doesn’t feel left out when everyone is eating cakes!!! Thank you so much for an allergy mother thank you thank you!!!
You’re so welcome Zee, I’m so happy you love the recipe!
This is my GO TO cupcake recipe. We celebrate every birthday in my forest program with these delicious treats. The kids are always delighted (even after 5 years of them!) and ask for the recipe.
I’ve come to make a few adjustments, which I think make them lighter and fluffier:
– sub 1/2 the sugar for 1/2 chocolate chips (that’s not for lighter and fluffier, just extra tasty)
– I put in 1/2 the oil
– I use baking powder instead of baking soda and I add some extra
– the vinegar and milk combo is such a great combo for magical vegan buttermilk; I add a touch more vinegar, and then take care to whisk it well and let it sit for a few mins before adding other wet ingredients.
Thanks for this amazing recipe!!
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Katie!
Delicious! Such a hit with everyone, regardless of their food restriction status. I used oat milk (it’s what I had on hand) and I did follow one commenter’s suggestion to add salt to the icing (I don’t love super sweet things) and it turned out lovely! I will definitely be making these again! Thank you for such great vegan recipes!
Thanks so much Sarah!
Just made the strawberry frosting for the first time and it’s delicious! Added a bit of salt to counter the sweetness. Perfect for birthdays and special occasions 🙂
Love this recipe.
I replaced white sugar with coconut sugar which made the cake mixture a rich brown and slightly caramelised the tops. Utterly delicious. Going to try your carrot cake next…
Brilliant website. Thank you. Xx
Thanks so much Jojo!
I have made these twice now (second batch is cooking) and they were delicious (my non vegan partner didn’t even need/want milk with them!). However, they don’t rise quite right, and this ends up with different sized/looking cupcakes. It has to be something on my end, but I’m not sure what. I weighed my dry ingredients, I’m thinking I’ll try measuring them instead and see how that works out.
Hi Ariana, weighing the ingredients is the best way to do it, so that wouldn’t be the issue. Make sure you are dividing the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, also be very careful not to overmix the batter and bake right away after pouring the batter into the liners. The other thing is to make sure your baking soda is fresh.
Today I used this recipe to make a little 6” cake instead of 12 cupcakes. It is perfect! We haven’t tried the whole thing assembled yet, but both components are just perfect!
Fantastic! I love 6-inch cakes, they are so cute! 🙂