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.
Jo says
What liquid do you add to frosting besides vanilla and strawberry not looking like frosting according to recipe I found
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jo, add in a small amount of soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) if needed. Just go really slow as a little can go a long way.
Claudia Hamilton says
Thanks for the recipe, I need to try them. Can I also make a cake from this recipe? If it makes good cup cakes, why shouldn’t it work for a cake. Please answer. Thank you. Claudia
Alison Andrews says
Hi Claudia, sure! Check out our vegan vanilla cake, which is these cupcakes in cake form. 🙂
Mandy says
Made these today for the first time. They do come out light and fluffy but I think the olive oil overwhelms the whole cake and tastes very strange. I’ll try again with a different oil.
Kelley says
I found an earlier answer for my question about leaving the cupcakes out overnight (after frosting), but I meant to comment originally that I actually made mini muffins with this recipe. Since I’m making them for my 1-year-old’s class, I used the recipe to make 36 mini muffins. I guessed at 15 minutes for baking and they turned out great!
Alison Andrews says
Oh awesome! Thanks for sharing. So happy they turned out great as mini muffins! xo
Kelley says
Hi. I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was wonderful! My son is allergic to dairy and eggs, so I plan to make these for his class party tomorrow (so he can actually enjoy the main treat!). When I made these over the weekend, I was sick and ran out of energy before getting to the frosting. But I definitely plan to make the frosting from scratch for tomorrow’s party. Two questions:
1) Can I frost tonight and leave them out overnight, or do they need to be refrigerated?
2) One little girl in the class is, sadly, allergic to strawberries, so we have to leave those off. Do I need to substitute something for the strawberry flavor, or will it not make much difference in the texture?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kelley, you can just add in a little non-dairy milk to replace the strawberry extract and it will be totally fine without it. All the best! 🙂
ALFR says
Hi Alison – If I don’t have strawberry flavoring for the frosting, what would you think of substituting strawberry jam? If you think this would work, what amount would you suggest? Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
I think that might work! I would use the same amount as the strawberry extract, so 2 tsp.
ALFR says
Thank you!
Meghan says
How did using jam turn out?
Renee says
Hi, my kids have egg, wheat, dairy, peanut and soy allergy. With your cake recipe can I use gluten free flour? Will the gluten flour make it heavy?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Renee, if you check out our gluten-free vanilla cupcakes, that recipe can be adapted to a 2-layer 7-inch cake. All the best! 🙂
Carolyn says
I personally don’t like olive oil in baking – even evoo has a taste to me. Can I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil? That’s all I have at home right now
Alison Andrews says
Any oil should work fine, coconut oil should just be melted first before it goes into the batter. 🙂
Michelle Ellis says
Hello, when I made this I left out the salt (I didn’t have any in) and I used self raising flour instead of all purpose flour with baking soda (I couldn’t get any all purpose). The centre of the cupcakes were lovely but the outside was a little chewy. And especially the half batch I added food colouring too. Was it because the mixture was too wet? Do I need to add more flour to balance it out?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Michelle, if you add in a significant amount of food coloring, I would add a little extra flour to balance it out. If it’s a small amount like 1 tsp then I wouldn’t worry, but if it’s a couple of tablespoons then I would usually add a little extra flour to compensate. Usually if the batter is too wet though, your cupcakes would be stodgy, I’m not sure if that’s what you mean by chewy. Glad the centers were good though! 🙂
Bernadette McMahon says
Amazing recipe, they were delicious. My son who is a chef even gave them the thumbs up, will be making them again….thank you for posting recipe:)
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad they got the thumbs up! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Mary Randell says
Thank you so much. This is the best vegan cake I have made by far. Do you think I could make a chocolate version by replacing 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of drinking chocolate?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mary, so glad you like it! Thank you! Sure, you could play around with different flavorings for this recipe, or you could check out our vegan chocolate cupcakes! 🙂
Emma Goligher says
Hi Alison I’m really excited to try this recipe, just checking though is the oven temperature stated for fan ovens or regular ovens? Thanks in advance!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emma, the temperature specified is for regular ovens. If you are doing it on the fan setting that would take it from 350°F down to 320°F.
Susie says
I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times and it’s now my go-to for vanilla cupcakes.
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the awesome review Susie! 🙂
Dina says
Can you explain why there is a need to add vinegar? Thanks !
Alison Andrews says
The vinegar reacts with the baking soda causing the cupcakes to rise.
Cathy says
Dont need vinegar, i got too much of a reaction and ended up with a flat baking tray of cupcakes which was interesting but wedded together, the tray and the paper cases. Made 100 of these to sell and no one could tell they were vegan. Incidentally made choc ones and although i bought 100% cocoa, it still said may contain milk. On looking into this. Its because drinking choc made at same factory which does contain milk.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cathy, that is curious! But so glad you had a success with them in the end and no one could tell they were vegan! A lot of things that don’t contain any milk but are processed in factories where milk products are also made, have to have this warning as there is a very small chance of cross contamination and in the case of a life threatening allergy, the warning needs to be there. 🙂
Amanda S says
So good! My nephew couldn’t even tell that they were vegan and he is picky! I substituted 2 tsp soy milk in the frosting since I couldn’t find the strawberry flavoring. But when I find it I’m definitely making these again!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you (and your nephew) enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for the great review. 🙂