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Vegan gluten free vanilla cupcakes topped with frosting and sprinkles.
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4.93 from 66 votes

Vegan Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes

These vegan gluten free vanilla cupcakes are fluffy and moist and so delicious. No one will guess they are both vegan and gluten-free! Topped with a velvety vanilla frosting and sprinkles.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Cupcakes, Dessert, Gluten-Free
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 12
Calories: 438kcal
Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

  • 1 ¾ cups Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (238g)
  • 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
  • 1 ¼ tsp Baking Soda
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
  • ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar

Frosting:

  • ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
  • 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2-3 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk

Decoration (Optional):

  • Sprinkles

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
  • Add gluten free all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
  • Add soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and distilled white vinegar. Mix into a batter.
  • Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
  • Bake for 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if they're done: insert the toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes, it should come out clean.
  • Let the cupcakes cool in the tray for a few minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons soy milk to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon of soy milk. 
  • When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the frosting and add sprinkles to the top.

Notes

  1. Gluten free all purpose flour - this should be a flour blend that is meant to replace regular flour in baking. You can really use any blend, we have tried a fair few and all have worked out great. One of our favorite blends though is Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour. The blend you have may contain xantham gum or it may not, don't worry about it either way. If your blend doesn't contain it, there is no need to add it in.
  2. Make a layer cake: This recipe can adapt to three 6-inch cake layers (bake for 25 minutes) or two 7-inch cake layers (bake for 30 minutes). It can also be made as a single layer 9-inch cake (bake for 30-35 minutes).
  3. Storing and Freezing: Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay good for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will stay good for 5-7 days. They are also freezer friendly if you'd like to freeze them. They can be frozen either frosted or unfrosted.
  4. This recipe was first posted in August 2016. It has been updated with new photos and tips and the recipe itself has been slightly updated and improved. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 438kcal | Carbohydrates: 70.3g | Protein: 2.4g | Fat: 17.1g | Saturated Fat: 2.7g | Sodium: 325mg | Fiber: 1.4g | Sugar: 56.5g