These vegan Oreo cupcakes are rich and moist with contrasts of texture between a crunchy Oreo base, rich chocolate cake and velvety frosting!
When I first started thinking about making some vegan Oreo cupcakes, I wasn’t sure how exactly one would do this.
Would you put Oreo pieces into your cupcake batter? Would it just be a case of propping an Oreo cookie on top of a cupcake and calling it a day? Or mixing Oreo crumbs into the frosting?
And so I went browsing recipes and pictures of Oreo cupcakes and saw that yes, all of these, or one of these or some of these.
I didn’t want to put Oreo pieces into the actual cupcake batter because I thought that might be a bit wasted, OR, worse, it might affect the texture of the cupcake itself, which you just don’t want.
So I decided to bake the entire Oreo cookie into the base of the cupcake, frost them with a simple vanilla buttercream frosting and top them with Oreo crumbles and half an Oreo cookie on top. And this was just perfect.
I did try mixing oreo crumbles into the frosting directly, but I didn’t like how it came out. It turned the frosting a gray color. It tasted good but the look was bad. Whereas Oreo crumbles sprinkled on top of a vanilla frosting was super pretty.
The Oreo cookie at the base of the cupcake bakes perfectly into the cupcake, so you have a delicious crunchy cookie base, with moist and rich cake in the middle and smooth, velvety frosting on top.
And if you’re worried that baking a whole cookie into the base of the cupcake might make the cookie seem a little over-baked (after all – it’s already cooked when it goes in), then never fear. The Oreo cookie withstands the extra baking wonderfully, and comes out pretty much the same way it goes in, except for the fact that it is now part and parcel of the cupcake.
An extra half Oreo cookie propped on top at a jaunty angle (or just straight up) gives these gorgeous cupcakes a bit of flair.
They’re pretty, they’re tasty, they’re chocolatey, they’re for Oreo lovers everywhere!
Check our our Vegan Oreo Cake too if you love Oreos.
Ingredients For The Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Flax egg – it’s super easy to make a flax egg, you just need ground flaxseed and hot water. If you struggle to get the flaxseeds already ground, then you can do it yourself by adding whole flax seeds to your blender and pulse blending them. We have a tutorial on making a flax egg here: how to make a flax egg. If you need an alternative option to a flax egg then 3 Tablespoons of applesauce works great as a swap.
- Baking soda and white vinegar – this recipe uses a combination of baking soda and vinegar which provides a wonderful rise for these cupcakes. So both of these ingredients are crucial. We used white distilled vinegar but apple cider vinegar also works.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with a different non-dairy milk.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with vegetable oil.
Ingredients For The Frosting:
Frosting Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Soy milk – can be replaced with a different non-dairy milk in the frosting.
- Vegan butter – should ideally be a firm stick-style option for the best textured frosting. If you can only get soft tub-style vegan butters then use one that is as firm as possible and be flexible with the amount of non-dairy milk you add, you may be able to use less.
How To Make Vegan Oreo Cupcakes
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Cupcakes:
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of hot water and letting it sit for a minute or so to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, soy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix it into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners and place an Oreo cookie into each liner.
- Divide the cupcake batter between the cupcake liners, adding the batter directly on top of the Oreo cookies.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool before frosting.
Frosting:
- Add vegan butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat it until softened and creamy.
- Add powdered sugar, soy milk and vanilla extract and beat in until fluffy and smooth.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on the frosting and then decorate them with crushed Oreo cookies and Oreo cookie halves (optional).
Baker’s Tips
Measure the flour correctly. Either weigh it out on a food scale (best method) or use the spoon and level method. Spoon it into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t pack it into the cup and don’t scoop it.
Don’t over-mix your batter: This is very important in vegan baking, because over-mixing your batter can affect the texture and/or rise of your cupcakes. So just mix it until mixed and then stop mixing.
Bake right away: Another important factor in vegan baking is to bake your cupcakes right away, don’t let the batter sit around for too long as this can also affect the rise of your cupcakes.
Frosting Alternatives: The frosting for these cupcakes is just a simple vanilla buttercream frosting. If you’d prefer a chocolate frosting then our vegan chocolate buttercream frosting would also work great.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cupcakes covered in the fridge for 3-4 days for the best taste and texture results, and let them come to room temperature on the counter before serving. The Oreo cookies may begin to lose their crunchiness after 3-4 days. Usually cupcakes would last longer but it’s the Oreos themselves that cause a slightly shorter shelf life in this case.
These cupcakes are not ideal for the freezer, again because of the Oreos themselves. In the freezing and thawing process, the Oreos will lose their crunch. It may not be a deal breaker but just so you know.
More Vegan Cupcake Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Coffee Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Oreo Cupcakes
Ingredients
Oreo Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (188g)
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (43g) Unsweetened
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Flax Egg (1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 Tablespoons hot water)
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 12 Oreo Cookies
Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
Decorating:
- 8 Oreo Cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of hot water and letting it sit for a minute or so to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, soy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix it into a batter. Don't overmix.
- Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners and place an Oreo cookie into each liner.
- Divide the cupcake batter between the cupcake liners, adding the batter directly on top of the Oreo cookies.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool before frosting.
Frosting:
- Add vegan butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat it until softened and creamy.
- Add powdered sugar, soy milk and vanilla extract and beat in until fluffy and smooth.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on the frosting.
- Crush 2 Oreo cookies and use the crumbs to sprinkle over the top of the cupcakes. Break the remaining 6 Oreo cookies in half and place each half on top of a cupcake (optional.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. Either weigh it out on a food scale (best method) or use the spoon and level method. Spoon it into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t pack it into the cup and don’t scoop it.
- Flax egg – an alternative option to a flax egg is 3 Tablespoons of applesauce.
- Vegan butter – should ideally be a firm stick-style option for the best textured frosting. If you can only get soft tub-style vegan butters then use one that is as firm as possible and be flexible with the amount of non-dairy milk you add, you may be able to use less.
- Storing: Keep your cupcakes covered in the fridge for 3-4 days for the best taste and texture results, and let them come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
- Freezing: These cupcakes are not ideal for the freezer because of the Oreos themselves. In the freezing and thawing process, the Oreos lose their crunch.
- This recipe was first published in March 2017. It has been updated with new photos and extra tips but the recipe itself is the same.
Sumptuous
Thanks for updating the oil measurement, these were delicious!!
Made these and everyone loved them! So easy to make and so delicious and fun! Thank you!
Awesome, thanks Valerie!
Can i use a 1:1 Gluten free flour like Bob’s Redmill?
Yes that should work fine! 🙂
Amazing, delicious and they looked fabulous. Thank you, now I must try the other oreo recipes.
Awesome! Thanks Hazel!
Hello, I’d love to make these for my son’s birthday this weekend. My question, can I make the cupcakes 1 day before and frost the day of? If yes, do I refrigerate or leave at room temp for the day? Thanks a lot.
Hi Rosa, I would probably keep them covered in the fridge and then frost them the next day but either way would be fine since it’s a short period of time. 🙂
I’m sorry it took me so long to come back and report that these cupcakes were delicious!! Everyone loved them, vegans and omnivores alike. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Thanks so much for the awesome review Rosa! xoxo
These are absolutely delicious!
I replaced the flax egg with half a banana (mashed) and it worked out really well.
I didn’t have any icing/frosting piping bags, so I spread the frosting on with a teaspoon instead – not as fancy, but it tasted good anyways! I halved all the ingredients for the frosting except for the soy milk, since I use less frosting than you tend to do in your recipes.
I also ran out of oreos so I improvised and replaced the oreo sprinkles with a small bit of cocoa powder sprinkled over the frosting.
Me and my parents love this recipe! ?
Hi Amy! So happy you like the recipe and thanks so much for sharing your adjustments. Yes, if you’re not going to be piping on frosting you can use much less. Thanks so much for the awesome review. 🙂
Hi,
I made the oreo cupcakes using your recipe and they turned out just wonderful! Since the first time I made them, which was a week back, I have made three batches already! This has to be the best eggless muffin recipe I have come across till date. I call it eggless çause I used regular milk instead of soymilk. Thank you.
Wonderful to hear they came out so well! Thanks so much for posting and the awesome review. 🙂
Hi there, I am looking for a dairy free but not necessarily vegan recipe for my son’s birthday party this weekend. Can I use an actual egg rather than a flax egg? Thanks and can’t wait to try these he loves Oreos!!!
Hi Jenn, yes sure a regular egg should replace the flax egg just fine. All the best! 🙂
Tried this out yesterday and the cupcakes turned out incredibly well 🙂 i don’t usually find much luck whenever trying new recipes, but i think this might be the most perfect batch of cupcakes i’ve ever made – vegan or not! the tops were soft even as the cake was fully baked through, and the sweetness of the cake is just right for it to be eaten on its own. the buttercream would’ve been too sweet, so i used a 1:1 ratio of vegan butter and powered sugar instead (about 1 cup each).
just wanna say thank you so much for this recipe. i’m certainly using it again in the future, to prove to my friends and family that vegan bakes can taste just as good as non-vegan ones :o)
So glad to hear they were a success, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
These are amazing!! I didn’t change a thing. I need to remember for next time to not put oreo on top until just before serving. I decorated the night before and the oreos went soggy. But still yummy.
So glad to hear they were amazing Karen! And good tip about the oreos on top! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
How well do you think this recipe would hold up if tripled?
I think it would be fine so long as you are very careful with measurements. 🙂
I want to make this as a cake. Would I just double the recipe for 2 8″ ?
If you make the recipe exactly as is it would make a perfect 2 layer 7 inch cake. But if you only have 8 inch cake tins then you would need to do 1.5, which is a little more tricky, so your calculations would have to be spot on! 🙂
oops i have 2 9″ tins =/
Okay! Maybe doubling the recipe is the right move then! 🙂
Made these last night for a friend’s birthday do and they were utter perfection! Probably the first recipe that has turned out exactly as shown – well, except I put in whole oreos instead of halves, as I didn’t bother reading to the end of the recipe…! Goooorgeous recipe, thank you for sharing!
Wonderful! Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Can you taste the olive oil at all? I’m considering switching it for canola which is generally more subtle in baking but no one seems to have had an issue with the cake tasting like olive oil.
I don’t think you can taste the olive oil at all and I usually use it in my baking, but it is interchangeable with canola oil so if you prefer that it would be totally fine. 🙂
To make the cake vanilla instead of chocolate, do you simply remove the cocoa?