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.
the best. love all your recepies
Thank you so much!
omg is this THE Olivia Rodrigo? 🤩 def excited to make these now
Yay! 🙂
Hello!
I made vegan vanilla cupcakes, following your recipe. My concern is my cupcakes have a sugary/ crystal type of taste. Do you have any idea what I might have done wrong? Thanks.
No complaints they tasted so good
Thanks Miranda!
They came out great! is it possible to remove the vanilla from the cake mixture? I don’t like the flavour.
Yes you can!
Slay girly pop these cupidy cakeidys are yum yum in my tum tum munch munch crunch crunch
So so good. Have struggled with making good vegan cupcakes and these were amazing. Was worried when I took them out the oven because the tops of the cupcakes were really hard but when I added the icing it softened. Would recommend!
Thank you so much for sharing and for your great review!
This is my go-to vanilla cake recipe, it’s so incredibly simple but creates such lovely cupcakes! Everyone loves them when I make them, no one ever suspects they’re vegan. And on the simplicity of the recipe as well as how often I use it, I practically have this recipe memorized. Also I LOVE that this has weight measurements, I wish all recipes did. I’ll try to remember to post the cupcakes and cake I’m making today on Instagram and of course tag you.
Happy to hear you enjoy the recipe Ariel! Thanks so much for your amazing review!
Great recipe! The cupcakes were moist and delicious. I lowered the sugar content by about 40g since I don’t love overly sweet treats and that didn’t affect them one bit. Very flavourful, a great base for the mocha Swiss meringue buttercream! Recipe made 9 instead of 12 cupcakes but that’s okay, they were all eaten within two days anyway. 🙂
Thanks for sharing and for your awesome review Elle!
I have a cupcake business and this is the recipe I use when a customer requests Vegan cupcakes. It is simple and delicious. The key is to not overmix the batter as they can be rubbery and dense if overmixed.
Thanks for the awesome review Susan! And totally agree about not overmixing! 🙂
hi, I am making these for someone who is lactose free only. can I substitute the non dairy milk for lactose free milk?
Sure!
Hi! I love this recipe so much but was going to make for someone that has lots of allergies. Could you sub water for the plant milk you think?
Yes you can!
Can I use apple cider vinegar instead of the distilled white vinegar do you think? I have to make these at a short notice tomorrow morning and won’t have time to go to the shops 🙃 thanks
That should be fine!
Recently have had to cut out dairy and eggs for my breastfed baby. It’s been so hard to find any sweets like cakes or cookies, and this is the second time I’m using this recipe. The first time I used the cake version. This is so good, my husband who does eat dairy and eggs said he would have never guessed they are vegan!!
So glad you enjoyed them Amy!
By far, these are my family’s favorite vanilla cupcakes (I have two adult daughters, one who is a strict vegan along with her fiancé.) I’ve made them several times, and I use coconut oil and unsweetened coconut milk in the cupcake batter. A couple times I have used vanilla almond milk, and I think those turned out the best! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks so much for the awesome review Ann!
Thank you for this lovely recipe Alison. I used a little less than 3/4cup sugar and milk instead of strawberry essence in the frosting (as you suggested).. My 2 year old granddaughter helped me decorate them with one teaspoon of frosting per cupcake and grated dark chocolate..Delicious!
Wonderful! Thanks for the awesome review!
I gave this four stars for many reasons some of which are, it was easy, ingredients were not difficult to find or expensive. However I didn’t really love the flavour. Now, being realistic…. everyone else did and I’ve even made dozens for a cake sale. I use lots of recipes from this site and I will continue to. I have also read comments of variations I’m gonna try. Thanks.