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.
Srishti Agarwal says
Hi. I have a doubt to clarify. What is Strawberry Flavoring in this context? Do you mean Strawberry Essence??
Alison Andrews says
Yes strawberry essence! 🙂
Rajvi Parmar says
Hi,
Would Strawberry and Cream Essence work with the frosting instead of the Strawberry Essence?
Alison Andrews says
If it’s an extract/essence, then probably it would work great. I haven’t tried that one, but I’m sure it would work fine.
Kurt S says
Forgot to pick up cake mix for last minute cupcakes, and found this recipe! This had to have been the quickest cupcake recipe that I’ve ever made. This recipe also made a perfect 12 cupcakes. Always hate having to throw 2 extra cupcakes in the oven. Overall a perfect recipe for quick satisfying cupcakes! (Drink every time I wrote “cupcakes.”)
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Thanks Kurt!
Rosie says
yes! these are so good! I’m so bad at baking, i find that vegan cakes that i make always turn out to be really stodgy but these were fantastic, i have eaten them all thank you so much x
also i used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar and it was fine
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks so much Rosie!
Marjo says
Hi!
Could I use anything if I can’t find vegan butter and would like to try not to use normal butter?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Marjo, dairy-free margarine is also fine to use, otherwise it’s also possible to make your own homemade vegan butter.
Josnne says
Hi
Just about to make these cupcakes.
Is bicarbonate of soda the same as baking soda??
Thanks Jo
Alison Andrews says
Hi, yes it’s the same thing. 🙂
Lauren says
Making these again, but wondering if I could double all the ingredients to make 24 cupcakes? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Yes definitely! 🙂
Abbie Clayton says
Hi Alison, Thank you for this recipe. It is so easy and delicious. I get so many non vegans saying it is there favourite. Could you please tell me if you have ever tried freezing them and how it turned out?
Thanks Again
Abbie
Alison Andrews says
Hi Abbie, so happy to hear that! Yes these are freezer friendly! 🙂
Rosa says
Made these for my birthday today and they are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had! I skipped the strawberry in the frosting and subbed for 2 tsps of soy milk. The cupcakes are so moist and fluffy and better than I even imagined they’d be! Thank you for such a reliable recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Rosa! So happy to hear that! And happy birthday!
Amanda says
Hi! I followed the recipe exactly as it is but I just substituted white vinegar for apple cider vinegar and they didn’t rise or cook evenly… could I have done anything wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Amanda, I’m not sure what you did wrong, there can be a few reasons, the rise in these cupcakes is from the baking soda reacting with the vinegar, so it has to be baking soda and can’t be baking powder. You also should mix the batter until ‘just’ mixed, if you overmix a vegan batter, this can cause an issue with rising. Hope this helps!
Tania says
Hi there, I don’t seem to have any white vinegar, was wondering if this ingredient was compulsory? 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tania, the ingredient is crucial as it reacts with the baking soda and causes the cupcakes to rise. However, you can switch it for apple cider vinegar if you have that instead?
Lauren says
These are so good!! And so easy!! I did actually weigh the flour and sugar per your suggestion. I used unsweetened almond milk instead of soy, avocado oil instead of olive, and apple cider vinegar instead of white. Topped with buttercream-following the recipe but using a stick of butter, little less than 3 c powdered sugar, couple splashes of almond milk and vanilla extract.
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear they were a success! Thanks for the great review Lauren!
Luanettee' says
I love these so much! i did a little edit for the recipe based on what was in my sister’s house. Instead of the soymilk, I used almond milk. I also made a batch of chocolate cupcakes by melting some chocolate in the microwave quickly and gradually adding some batter to it till it was mixed thoroughly then added that to the bigger bowl.
My family it tastes like a non buttery version of JOhnny cake and cornbread. lol
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
Sofia says
The recipe turned out great! My toddler son loved it so much (he has a dairy and egg allergy). And my husband also loved it! Quick question, can I freeze these cupcakes with the frosting on top? Thanks!
Sofia
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sofia, so glad you like them! Yes, you can freeze these cupcakes with the frosting! All the best. 🙂
Eden says
Hi, was wondering if Apple cider vinegar would work, instead of white vinegar.
Was planning to make this recipe today and just realized I’m out of white, and my car is unavailable to go get any until too late for baking for tonight’s gathering.
Alison Andrews says
Apple cider vinegar will work fine. 🙂
Linda says
Could I use Plant Butter instead of the Olive Oil? How much do you think I should use?
Alison Andrews says
You probably could, melt it first and use the same quantity. 🙂