These pretty pink vegan strawberry cupcakes are deliciously moist and packed with strawberry flavor! Topped with strawberry frosting.
These vegan strawberry cupcakes are so good. They are made with fresh strawberry purée and are just bursting with strawberry flavor.
They are also SO easy and quick with such a gorgeous color.
And if you love strawberries you’ll also love our vegan strawberry cake, our vegan strawberry shortcake and our vegan strawberry ice cream.
Ingredients You Need For The Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes
- Distilled white vinegar – this reacts with the baking soda causing the cupcakes to rise. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- Red gel food coloring – this just provides that lovely pink color. We only need to use a tiny bit in this recipe. Our favorite brand is Americolor. If you prefer to leave it out you can do so, but just keep in mind that the pink color of the batter usually won’t hold well when baked unless you add in the food coloring.
- Strawberry extract – this is great for intensifying the strawberry flavor. But if you can’t get hold of it you can just use vanilla extract. The strawberry purée on its own provides plenty of strawberry flavor.
- Fresh strawberries – these are puréed into strawberry purée and used in the batter.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with vegetable oil.
Ingredients You Need For The Frosting:
Ingredient Notes
- Strawberry extract – if you can’t get hold of it you can replace it with vanilla extract.
- Strawberry purée – we make a little extra strawberry purée than what is needed for the cake batter and use the leftovers in the frosting. This provides all the strawberry flavor and pretty pink color for the frosting.
How To Make Vegan Strawberry 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.
- Add fresh strawberries to the food processor and purée. Set aside.
- Add all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add the strawberry purée, strawberry extract, canola oil, white vinegar and red gel food coloring and mix into a batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.
- Check for doneness by inserting a 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 and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool before frosting.
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, strawberry extract and strawberry purée to a stand mixer. Starting at slow speed gradually increase the speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If it’s too thick, add more strawberry purée.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely pipe on the frosting and serve.
Pro Recipe Tips
Measure the flour correctly. The best way to measure the flour if you’re using cups is to use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t pack the flour into the cup and don’t scoop the flour either. If you have a food scale then weigh the flour on your food scale for the best accuracy.
Don’t over-mix the batter. If you over-mix the batter it can cause your cupcakes to not rise properly and it can also affect the texture. So mix it until it’s mixed and then stop mixing.
Bake immediately. When your cupcake batter is mixed, divide it up between your cupcake liners and then bake immediately. If you let the batter sit for too long it can also cause the cupcakes to not rise properly.
Baking time. Check your cupcakes at 20 minutes and if they’re not done, then put them back in for another 5 minutes. Ours usually bake in 20 minutes but ovens can differ.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature where they will last for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will last for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly if you want to freeze them.
More Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vegan Banana Cupcakes
- Vegan Coffee Cupcakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Strawberry Purée (232g)
- 2 tsp Strawberry Extract
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅛ tsp Red Gel Food Coloring
For the Strawberry Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 1 tsp Strawberry Extract
- 2-3 Tbsp Strawberry Purée
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Add fresh strawberries to the food processor (see notes*) and purée. Set aside.
- Add all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add the strawberry purée, strawberry extract, canola oil, white vinegar and red gel food coloring and mix into a batter. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Check for doneness by inserting a 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 and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool before frosting.
- Prepare the frosting. Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, strawberry extract and 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée to a stand mixer. Starting at slow speed gradually increase the speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If it's too thick, add more strawberry purée.
- When the cupcakes have cooled completely pipe on the frosting and serve.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. The best way to measure the flour if you’re using cups is to use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t pack the flour into the cup and don’t scoop the flour either. If you have a food scale then weigh the flour on your food scale for the best accuracy.
- Strawberry purée. To make strawberry purée add strawberries to the food processor (leaves cut off) and purée. Around 10.5oz (300g) of strawberries puréed makes enough for the cupcakes and frosting.
- Strawberry extract – this is great for intensifying the strawberry flavor. But if you can’t get hold of it you can just use vanilla extract. The strawberry purée on its own provides plenty of strawberry flavor.
- Red gel food coloring – this just provides that lovely pink color. We only need to use a tiny bit in this recipe. Our favorite brand is Americolor. If you prefer to leave it out you can do so, but just keep in mind that the pink color of the batter usually won’t hold well when baked unless you also add in the food coloring.
- Storing and Freezing. Keep your cupcakes covered at room temperature where they will last for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where they will last for up to a week. They are also freezer friendly if you want to freeze them.
- This recipe was first published in February 2018. It has been updated with new photos and a few small changes/improvements to the recipe.
Is it possible to use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and for the vegan butter?
Hi Anna Marie! You can substitute the vegetable oil with coconut oil, but not for the vegan butter in the frosting.
Hi, can I replace the strawberry puree for a mango puree?
Sure!
Can you use thawed frozen strawberries for the cupcakes?
Yes you can.
I’ve made these twice, and they are outstanding. Thank you!
Thanks so much Shannon!
This was delicious! I made them for my birthday and everyone loved them! The first batch I made was with powdered sweetener on the frosting which was a mistake but they were still good once I put them in the refrigerator and the frosting got harder! Love it❤️You couldn’t tell the difference in a regular strawberry cupcake and a vegan strawberry cupcake!
So glad you enjoyed them Q.
This recipe is delicious! I made a few minor changes. My batter was dry, so I added a little water. And instead of all strawberry extract, I used half extract and half emulsion. I topped the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and a homemade strawberry crunch (like a Good Humor strawberry shortcake bar). Thank you for sharing.
I made these for a birthday party and they were a hit. I made regular, gluten free, and sugar free. The recipe acted a bit differently for each, but all three came out great. My taste testers did think the strawberry extract was a bit overpowering, so I used half strawberry extract and half vanilla for the recipe. I also used a natural food coloring, which worked, but didn’t have the same effect as the gel food coloring.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Jen!
So glad I made these! I’ve never used strawberry extract before and it really added such nice flavor. Cupcakes came out perfectly and while I thought of using chocolate frosting on them, I went with your strawberry frosting and loved it!!
Fantastic! Thanks so much Molly!