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.
This is the recipe I use over and over again. I’ve added flaked coconut to the batter to make coconut cupcakes. I’ve baked the batter in donut pans for cake donuts. These were one of four desserts for my Mom’s 90th birthday party. I’ve shared the recipe, credited of course, many times with others. Thank you for sharing it with us!
That’s amazing Rhea! Thanks so much for sharing your variations and also for your great review!
Great recipe, the cupcakes turned out great! Have you ever tried this with oat milk instead? Soy milk does have a bit a taste that comes through in the cupcakes. Maybe I just need to add a bit more vanilla extract, or use something stronger like a bit of vanilla bean paste as well as the extract? 🤔
Hi Archna. Yes, you can substitute with oat milk. If you’d like to have a stronger vanilla taste, you can add vanilla bean paste.
Not sure if I’ve already left a review, I don’t think so. But this is my go-to vanilla cupcake/6″ cake recipe & everyone that has ever tried these has loved them. It’s such a simple recipe (I’ve got it memorized) but it has amazing results.
Yay! That’s awesome Kira! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review!
Tried this recipe and the cupcakes were very good but I wanted a bit more vanilla taste. I know I sometimes use distilled white vinegar in my buttercream to lessen the sweetness. Is that why the white vinegar was used in this recipe? Can you not use it?
Hi Andi. The vinegar reacts with the Baking soda to make the cupcakes rise. You could try adding pure vanilla extract or scraping the seeds from a vanilla pod if you want more vanilla flavor. All the best!
I have never made such good cupcakes vegan or otherwise. Brilliant recipe thank you
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Julie! Thanks so much for your great review!
Hi! can maple syrup or datte syrup be used instead of sugar?
Thank you!
Hi! We only tested this recipe with sugar, so I can’t say.
I had to play around with the temp to get them to rise evenly, fan forced didn’t work used conventional 165C.
I tried the recipe using coconut oil (mct) which made them more spongey. Didn’t like. Rice bran oil worked well but i will reduce the amount of oil as they were still too spongey and oil seeped out the bottom and top while stored.
I found the cakes to be too oily.
But otherwise great flavour.
I wanted to thank you for your wonderful cupcake recipe. Although we are not vegan, our son has allergies to both cow’s milk and eggs. I have made these cupcakes a few times now, so that he doesn’t feel left out at parties where there is “regular” cake. They have turned out delicious every time. Our whole family eats them! I have added up to 1/2 cup of sprinkles for a colorful addition. Thank you again, I appreciate you sharing your recipes with everyone =)
Wow, thanks so much for your awesome review Lily! Happy to hear our recipes can bring joy to you and your son!
what quantity of baking powder should I substitute for baking soda?
We don’t recommend substituting baking powder for the baking soda.
These are the best cupcakes! Such a good texture and flavour.
Would the same recipe work for a large sandwich tin cake?
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Laura! You can check out our vegan vanilla cake recipe if you want to make a cake. Happy baking!
Can you substitute gluten free all purpose flour for regular flour?
Yes, you can!
I’ve made these a few times and they turn out perfectly every time. Do you have any suggestions for making the cupcakes oil-free? Could I substitute oil for applesauce?
Happy to hear you enjoy the recipe Nicole! We haven’t tried that before so not sure!
I’m making this for my toddler, could you substitute the white sugar for coconut sugar?
Sure!
Cupcake came out great! But it may be user error but my frosting became runny and didn’t hold form. Not sure where I went wrong.. none the less the frosting tasted great just doesn’t look great lol.
Thanks so much for your great review Cheryl. Not sure what happened either, but happy to hear you still enjoyed the recipe!
Does Self rising flour work for this recipe? If not, what’s the best all purpose flour to use? I used this recipe with self rising flour and it didn’t work
Hi Jaquez. We have not tested this recipe with self raising flour, but if you do want to use it again, I suggest not adding the baking soda as this is the rising agent in this recipe.
This is my first time making vegan cupcakes is there any suggestions of soy that I can use ?Do I use olive oil or canola oil ? Because the ingredients say canola oil but the video says olive oil which one do I use? Also can I replace white vinegar with apple cider vinegar ?
Hi Jaquez. 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. We do use soy milk if you want to use an alternative, almond milk would work just fine. And yes, you can use apple cider vinegar. Hope you enjoy the baking!
Do I use regular soy milk or unsweetened soy milk ? Also, with the almond milk, would you prefer that I use regular almond milk or unsweetened almond milk?
We use regular soy and almond milk Jaquez!
Amazing recipe loved every bit
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Lacie!