11 Tasty Vegan Cupcake Recipes

Oh, cupcakes! Maybe it’s that they’re tiny versions of regular cakes or that it’s fun to mix up different cake and frosting combinations, but I just love whipping up vegan cupcakes for pretty much any reason. Let’s keep Cupcake Week going with some more vegan cupcake recipes!

To someone unfamiliar with how far vegan baked goods have come, a vegan cupcake probably conjures up memories of a gritty texture or a dry, tasteless cake. That can’t be further from the truth. I’d put these vegan cupcake recipes up against conventional cupcakes any day. With just a little vegan baking know-how or the right recipe, you can whip up vegan cupcake recipes that will fool even your omni friends

Cheater’s Frosting

Making cupcakes from start to finish is super simple and takes about half an hour, depending on how complicated your icing plan is.

One of the things that can make cupcake baking a bit harder is if you’re making your own frosting from scratch. If you don’t have an electric mixer, beating that vegan margarine is hard work! My arm is always a little sore after I make frosting from scratch. Here are a couple of ways to cheat and make the frosting as simple to make as the cupcake!

• Non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening. Most frosting recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of shortening to margarine (or butter), but I am going to tell you my secret to decadent, easy vegan frosting. Use all shortening. We are not making health food here, people, and shortening has a creamy texture. It’s easier to get all of the powdered sugar lumps out of the softer medium, and the resulting frosting is freaking delicious. Just remember: cupcakes are a sometimes food!
• Store bought vegan frosting. You don’t need to shell out the big bucks to get vegan frostings! Many frostings in your grocery store’s baking aisle are vegan. Just peek at the ingredients to make sure. A quick way to look for dairy and egg ingredients is to skip to the end of the ingredients list and look for the allergen warning. Since eggs and milk are allergens, it should tell you if the frosting you’re holding contains egg or milk ingredients.

OK, so we have that frosting thing sorted. Are you ready to bake?

11 Vegan Cupcake Recipes

1. Knock Off Butterfinger Cupcakes
2. Green Tea Cupcakes with Almond Flowers
3. Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Molasses-Rum Buttercream Frosting
4. Vegan Strawberry Milk Cupcakes
5. Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes
6. Orange Ginger Cupcakes with Spicy Ginger Frosting
7. Chocolate Beer Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Buttercream
8. Vanilla Cupcakes with a Marmalade Surprise
9. Vegan Pink Salted Caramel Cupcakes
10. Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes
11. Champagne Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Bonus recipe: These aren’t technically cupcakes, but I had to share this recipe for mini raw vegan carrot cake from Good Girl Gone Green. YUM!

Do you have a favorite vegan cupcake recipe? I’d love to hear it!