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.
Lizzie says
Love these! First batch out of the oven and they smell incredible thank you for posting such a great EASY recipe
Jennifer says
This was my first vegan cupcake recipe, and they were AMAZING! I made them for some of my students as a treat, and one of the moms told me in tears that her son, who has dairy and egg allergies, had come home raving about them because for the first time ever he was just “one of the kids.” Thanks for helping me make that happen! I have another class that has not only dairy and egg allergies, but is also gluten-free. Is there a substitute for the AP flour that would yield the same great result?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jennifer! So lovely to read your comment! I do have a gluten-free vanilla cupcake recipe that is based on this one, so that would be perfect, and you could just use the same frosting as this one (more kid-friendly than the frosting on the gf cupcakes!). All the best!
Cindy says
Hello Alison hope all is well made these a week ago and they were absolutely fabulous so moist you can hear the moisture when you squeeze the cupcake the only issue I had and it was probably because I use the storebrand olive oil you can taste the olive oil in the cupcakes slightly do you think if I use a better quality olive oil you would taste it less? It was the only thing that I had in the cabinet other than that they are absolutely amazing as always thank you for the wonderful recipe Definitely going to make these into cake pops LOL!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cindy! So glad you like the recipe! I always use extra virgin olive oil, maybe that’s why I have never had an olive taste in the final result. You can try extra virgin next time or try a different vegetable oil. Canola usually works great too. 🙂
Maggie says
I have just made these for a christening tomorrow, They’ve come out great, thanks. Just a quick question, will they be okay for tomorrow if I put the frosting on tonight and refrigerate ?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maggie, yes definitely! Just keep them covered in the fridge and they will be perfect. 🙂
Smruti says
I just made these and they were amazing! Changes I made to the recipe: I substituted almond meal for half the flour, and added a 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice and 1/2 tsp zest and 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice. For the frosting, I added in up to a tablespoon of freezedried strawberry powder to tint the frosting pink and amp up the strawberry flavor.
Holly says
Loved these! I made them for my friend’s birthday, she’s vegan and loved them. So did I and I’m not even vegan!
The only issue I had, was that I made them the previous night, and by the morning, the cupcake liners had peeled away from the cupcakes.
Does any one know why this might have happened/any tips to stop this next time?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Holly, so glad they came out great! I have not heard of this issue, I think it must be related to the liners themselves, if you try a different brand of cupcake liners I’m thinking that would solve that issue. 🙂
Simran says
These cupcakes are AMAZING. I made these for my sister whose at university, she loved them. I’ve made vegan cupcakes in the past and these were definitely the best. I also added lemon zest to the cupcake batter. Thank you sooo much for this recipe, it’s awesome.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Simran, so happy you loved the cupcakes! Thanks so much for posting and your awesome rating! 🙂
Claire Lawton says
Amazing!!! So easy to follow with amazing results everytime xx
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Claire! 🙂
Kat says
Brilliant results! And easy to change into chocolate cupcakes by swapping half cup of flour for half cup of chocolate powder and some chocolate chips (I added some chopped mint dark chocolate (about 1/3 of the bar or so) and additional pinch of baking soda (I was afraid it wouldn’t rise with heavy chocolate chunks in it) – truly stunning end result!
Thank you very much for sharing this recipie. Should be my go to recipe now and base for any other cupcake experiments.
<3
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Kat, it is definitely a perfect base recipe to adapt as you please! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Danielle King, Intuitively Plantbased says
This is my go to cupcake recipe. I make these cupcakes and freeze them so whenever my vegan kids are invited to a birthday party, I can take these out and they can bring a vegan treat with them so they don’t feel excluded. They LOVE these! I also have my kids’ teachers keep a few in the freezer at school so when there is a celebration, my kids have a fun, delicious vegan treat to have.
Alison Andrews says
That is so fantastic and what a clever idea to freeze them so you always have them on hand. So glad your kids love them! Thanks so much for sharing Danielle! 🙂
Samantha Erwin says
Any way to adapt this for a high altitude recipe? I am in Colorado and always have issues adapting yummy recipes I find!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Samantha, I have never done any baking at high altitude, so I don’t know at all, but I found this article with some info that may help. All the best! 🙂
Charlotte says
Hi, what’s the white vinegar for as I’ve never heard of it?
Alison Andrews says
It’s spirit vinegar and completely clear in color. You can use apple cider vinegar too if you prefer. It works in combination with the baking soda to help lift the cake and is a common addition in vegan cakes.
Sharon says
Hi. Can I use melted vegan butter instead of oil please, I’m a good novelty cake maker but not mastered vegan cakes for my daughter , any advice would be appreciated, thanks
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sharon, vegan butter has a water content whereas oil does not, so it’s usually not a straight swap, I have never tried it with this recipe but I believe that if you’re using vegan butter, you would use 1/2 cup vegan butter to replace 1/3 cup oil. I don’t know how this would turn out though, and the safest thing would be to use oil, but if you do try it with vegan butter, let us know how it goes! 🙂
Sharon says
Hi. Thanks for the tip. I will google what half a cup is as I’m metric in the uk. I don’t buy olive oil but read somewhere that sunflower is as good.
Alison Andrews says
Half a cup of vegan butter is 112g. You could use any vegetable oil in place of olive oil.
eden gardner says
these cupcake are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Yes they are! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Suzan says
These cupcakes are absolutely divine, thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! ♥️♥️♥️
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Suzan, you’re so welcome! So glad you loved them! 🙂
Angela says
Can I use vanilla almond milk to make these?
Alison Andrews says
Yes!