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.
Mikky says
I can’t get vegan butter in my country it’s just not something that we can get and even if we can I have no idea where and how expensive anyway is there any way to make the icing without vegan butter but have the same consistency?
Mikky
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mikky, I have a recipe for homemade vegan butter, but to tell you the truth I have tried it in frosting and yes it definitely does work but I didn’t like it as much as the store-bought versions of vegan butter. Some people have used coconut oil in frostings and say they like it, but I feel it would be the same result as my homemade vegan butter, you can refer to my post for more information about that and why I didn’t think it was totally ideal, but it definitely does work! In terms of finding a vegan butter in your country, you can also try just looking at the ingredients on all the margarines, and seeing if there is one that happens to be dairy-free. All the best!
Jamie says
We love these cupcakes! Making them for the second time. The icing always comes out so thick, though, and is difficult to pipe. Any suggestions? Could I add a little almond milk to thin the consistency a little?
Alison Andrews says
So glad you like them! Yes definitely add a little more almond milk to thin out the frosting, just add a tiny bit at a time until you reach the right consistency. 🙂
eden says
sooo cool
Anna says
The best vegan baked good I have ever made. I added chunks of strawberries throughout the frosting. My husband who is a non vegan rated these 9/10.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! So great to hear! Thanks for sharing Anna! 🙂
Kathy says
Can vegetable oil be used as I don’t want a coconut or olive oil taste?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, sure, but the olive oil does not result in an olive oil taste, but as you prefer, it won’t make a difference.
Jo says
I followed this recipe to a ‘T’ and here are my conclusions:
Pros:
-baked beautifully, excellent appearance (except all too high domed)
-moist
-easy peasy recipe
-the batter yielded more than 12 regular size cupcakes
Cons:
-very weird/strong aftertaste that I attribute to olive oil l. I threw them all out so didn’t bother making the frosting. (I’m going to try once more w/a different oil).
-the batter yielded more than 12 regular size cupcakes
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jo, definitely use a different oil. I think certain brands of olive oil can leave an aftertaste but it’s nothing I’ve ever experienced, but nonetheless this is why I have the option to use a different oil.
Lynne says
Amazing! Do the cupcakes need to remain refrigerated?
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Lynne! They only need to be in the fridge if you need them to stay fresh beyond the first couple of days. Room temperature is fine if they are going to be eaten fairly quickly (2-3 days).
Stephanie says
I’m planning on making this for a potluck, but would like to make them in a mini muffin tin. I’m hoping in would work the same way, but had anyone tried it? Thanks for any advice!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Stephanie, haven’t tried this but am just thinking it might shorten your baking time. All the best!
Linda Dayal says
oh wow, these have to be the best vegan cupcakes I ever made. I substituted the olive oil with warmed up organic coconut oil and they where soft, moist and so, so tasty
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
skye says
can i switch the olive oil for rapeseed or vegetable oil??
Alison Andrews says
Sure!
MrsA says
After several hits & misses with other vegan desserts, I decided to try this simple one.
I wasn’t expecting the cupcakes to rise that much but I did assume that there would be some sweet/pleasant taste to them because of the listed ingredients. I was also apprehensive towards the olive oil but I decided to follow the exact recipe expecting to tweak it after our taste test.
Boy, were we surprised! I was in awe that they actually rose like the picture shows & they are tryly cake-like! Also, the olive oil wasn’t off-putting (I did smell it as they were cooling so I personally tasted mines after they were refrigerated) & my picky fam couldn’t get enough.
I do plan to try them with veg oil some time in the future, but for now, I won’t change a thing. The are delicious & easy to make!
Ps. They do keep better stored in the fridge without the icing. I set them & the icing out maybe 1&1/2hrs. before dinner so that the icing would spread nicely & to aviod eating a cold cupcake.
Alison Andrews says
Great to hear they came out well! I have tried other vegetable oils like canola oil that is supposed to be more ‘neutral’ in flavor and you know I didn’t notice any difference. I prefer to use olive oil personally as I think it’s higher quality, but definitely any vegetable oil will work here so it’s worth seeing what you like best. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Anna Andrews says
Delicious, moist and tasty cupcakes
Wendy Wright says
Made these today couldn’t get strawberry flavouring so used puréed strawberries instead. They didn’t look to pretty as my cases were flimsy so cake spread but they tasted amazing like sponge cake with strawberry milkshake. Thank you for this recipe I will make them again with better cases then they can look as good as they taste
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So glad the taste was great! I’ve got a strawberry cake coming soon and I also used strawberry purée for the frosting and it does work very well! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Lateefah Wooten says
Can I use coconut oil instead of olive oil?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, just make sure it’s melted. 🙂
Gina Kristine says
These look incredible! They look really tasty, and the frosting with strawberries – yum!! These pictures made me make my own cupcakes with lemon flavor. I love to run into other vegan bloggers, to get inspiration on a daily basis.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks! Glad you were inspired! Lemon cupcakes are fab! 🙂
Karissa says
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled?
Alison Andrews says
Sure!