These are the ultimate fluffy, moist and delectable Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting you’ll ever sink your teeth into! They are only 8 ingredients, oil-free and so light and tender, nobody would ever know they don’t have any eggs, butter or are dairy-free. They are topped with the most perfect Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and they will wow all your guests at birthday parties and events!
VEGAN VANILLA CUPCAKES
I’m so thrilled to finally be sharing these Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes recipe with you! As I shared on social media, I took my original vanilla cupcakes recipe that contained oil and made them oil-free! That recipe is 6 years old and I’ve been wanting to make an oil-free version for many years and what can I say, these are even lighter and fluffier! My family loved them even more. Don’t worry, nobody will ever know there is no butter or oil in these! My husband even called them “bakery-worthy”! Prefer chocolate, check out my Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes or Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes, if you need gluten-free.
While the buttercream is not oil-free, the cupcakes are, and I’ve offered my oil-free buttercream frosting as well, if you prefer. You can learn all about my oil-free tips and tricks at How to Cook and Bake Without Oil.
So, what is the secret? Coconut milk! Full-fat, that is. It gave them rich moisture, incredible fluff, delectable flavor and leaves zero coconut taste at all. This is because the sweetness and vanilla completely takes over.
This is obviously a more traditional vanilla cupcake recipe, as it has white flour and white sugar. I rarely write those types of recipes anymore. However, each time I post gluten-free desserts, people always ask about using “regular flour and regular sugar”, but still want to avoid oil, so I finally got you all covered as well. If you are gluten-free, then I have these best ever Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cupcakes on the planet. I say that with 100% confidence because they are my all-time favorite cupcake. Ever. All the reviews agree too, so if you need gluten-free, make those. I also have this Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cake as well if you do not want to use coconut milk!
This recipe is super simple, easy to make and straight-forward.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN VANILLA CUPCAKES
First, you will need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt):
- regular white all-purpose flour
- granulated white sugar
- baking powder
- baking soda
- full-fat coconut milk
- vanilla extract
- maple syrup
- apple cider vinegar
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 12 parchment paper muffin liners.
Step 2: To a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and use a large whisk to whisk very well.
Step 3: To a separate bowl, add all of the full-fat coconut milk from the can (all the cream and water) and whisk well so that it is smooth. The fat tends to separate from the water, so this is important before adding to the cake batter.
Step 4: To a medium bowl, add the 1 cup of coconut milk, syrup, vanilla and vinegar. Stir until smooth. Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients as you whisk the mixture gently until the batter is smooth and no longer lumpy. Be careful not to over-mix. Also, be careful not to eat too much of the batter! You can taste a bit to see just how dangerously yummy it is and that there is no coconut taste.
Step 5: Divide the batter using a 1/4 measuring cup or ice cream scoop into the 12 liners. The batter will only fill about 1/2 way up, so don’t be tempted to use less liners. The cupcakes will rise a lot.
Step 6: Bake for 15 minutes or until the toothpick is clean. See how gorgeous they rise! Beautiful and golden. Cool completely before decorating. Decorate as desired.
VEGAN VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
You are welcome to use store-bought vanilla frosting or make one of my recipes. I have 3 vanilla buttercream frosting recipes and one of them is oil-free, so if you prefer that, I got you covered.
The best one is this frosting I created for my Wedding Cake and Wedding Cupcakes that I used here for these vanilla cupcakes. They have a combo of shortening and vegan butter for the best texture and white color.
- Best Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (which I used for the cupcakes in this post)
- All Vegan Butter Frosting (no shortening)
- Funfetti Cake Buttercream Frosting (no oil or vegan butter, uses cashew and coconut butter)
OTHER VEGAN VANILLA RECIPES
- Best Vegan Vanilla Pancakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cake Waffles
- Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake Ice Cream
- Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake
*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy here.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes EVER!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (192g) regular all-purpose white flour
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (108g) granulated white sugar (I used pure cane sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup (240g) FULL-FAT coconut milk, room temp! (SEE DIRECTIONS & NOTE)
- 2 tablespoons (40g) pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon (15g) vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
NOTE
- I always recommend a scale for
accuracy when baking, following my gram weights listed. You never need
cups, just the scale and bowl. - I use this scale.
VEGAN BUTTERCREAM FROSTING OPTIONS
NOTE
- As you can see, this doesn't have a lot of sugar, where most recipes call for 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar. I find that wayyy too much. These are just sweet enough to allow for frosting on top, but the cupcakes themselves have a wonderful vanilla, mild sweetness.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 12 parchment paper muffin liners. These help prevent sticking.
- To a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and use a large whisk to whisk very well.
- Important: To a separate bowl, scrape all of the full-fat coconut milk out of the can (all the cream and water) and whisk well so that it is a completely smooth. The fat tends to separate from the water and is often very lumpy. Therefore, it's crucial that it is mixed BEFORE adding to the cake batter, so you get the correct fat amount and the cupcakes turn out correctly. If you use too much water and not enough of the fat, you will end up with dense cupcakes.
- To a medium bowl, add the 1 cup (240g) of coconut milk, syrup, vanilla and vinegar. Stir until smooth. Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients as you whisk the mixture gently until the batter is smooth and no longer lumpy. You want it smooth but be careful about over-mixing or it can make the cupcakes chewy. The batter will be on the thicker side, not stiff, but definitely not runny, more like scoopable. So, don't be tempted to add more milk, as these cupcakes turn out beautifully moist and adding extra liquid will make them too wet/dense.
- Divide the batter using a 1/4 measuring cup or ice cream scoop into the 12 liners. The batter will only fill about 1/2 way up, so don't be tempted to use less liners and overfill them. The cupcakes will rise A LOT, so divide into 12! Pick up the pan and jiggle it a bit side to side to allow the cupcake batter to naturally flatten out on the tops.
- Bake for 15 minutes OR UNTIL the toothpick is clean. A few DRY crumbs are ok. They should rise fluffy, golden and perfect. 15 minutes was perfection for both of my trials. Cool completely before frosting or the frosting will melt. (a good hour or so) Decorate as desired. I used the buttercream from my Wedding Cupcakes but refer to post for other options, if desired. Cover the remaining cupcakes in a cake dome and store at room temperature.
Notes
- COCONUT MILK: This recipe requires the full-fat coconut milk in order to work properly with the fluffy moist texture. It CANNOT be subbed. Other milks will yield a drier and very chewy texture. I highly recommend the Thai Kitchen brand. DO NOT use the Polar brand, it is all stabilizers and additives and will ruin the texture. It is so creamy and always yields great results. And do not worry, there is absolutely ZERO coconut taste in it! The rich sweetness and vanilla flavor is front and center and my family went crazy over them.
- Recipe adapted from my Best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes to make these oil-free.
- Nutrition does not include frosting.
Hi,do these freeze well? I am hoping to make them a week prior to the event.
I haven’t tried freezing them a week in advance, so I’m not positive. Maybe do a mini trial run first just to be sure!
Hi,
I am hosting a vegan tea party and would like to do as much prep as possible prior to the event. Do these freeze well?
I made these today for a wedding shower. I HAVE to use these but, i highly recommend using CLEAR vanilla or vanilla powder because they are tan throughout the cake. It would have been so nice if they were white or ivory, but my vanilla is the dark pure extract.
The flavor and texture is WONDERFUL.
So awesome to hear!!
I have a feeling adding a tiny bit of blue would cancel out the tan. I have to try it
Turned out a mess. Please specify in ingredients the amount of coconut milk that actually needs to be used instead of just listing the whole can and later mentioning to only use one cup.
Thanks again Brandi for another winning recipe! I haven’t tasted them baked yet, just the batter, but they sure are tasty and I’m not a huge fan of vanilla because I’m a chocolate lover. I can’t wait to get reactions from family tomorrow!
Can I adapt this recipe for a cake instead of cupcakes ?
Hi Claire, I have tried this recipe as a cake and was not a fan of the texture, a bit too gummy. Sometimes cupcakes don’t convert well to cakes because more structure is needed and it’s much larger. But I have this other recipe that is a delicious vanilla sheetcake! https://thevegan8.com/easy-vegan-vanilla-cake-7-ingredients
These are quite literally the best vegan vanilla cupcakes ever! Maybe the best vegan cupcake I’ve ever had, as far as taste and texture go! Who would have thought canned coconut milk was the secret… So glad I found this recipe; I make it all the time for my family and friends.
Woohoo, love this review, thank you Remy!
This recipe is amazing! Everyone commented on how moist and fluffy they were.
10/10
That is so amazing to hear, thank you Claire!
I’ve used this before as cupcakes and loved them so I wanted to try it as a cake for my daughters birthday. It was just as amazing after a couple more minutes baking! Super easy to make and so delicious!! Even our non vegan family members went back for seconds (or thirds)
That is so awesome, thank you for sharing Jamie!
Hello Bandi! Love this recipe. I have a question, though. Can you use stevia instead of sugar? Been looking for a recipe that does not call for sugar and butter/oil. 🙂 also, can I use honey instead of maple syrup? thank you!!
Thank you Janieve! Unfortunately, using sugar is scientific to how the texture turns out, so omitting it all would definitely affect the result. You could try a sugar-free blend maybe in the same amount, but just using stevia and omitting the sugar I don’t think would turn out well.
Oh I see. I will be doing this tmrw for Christmas eve and I am excited! But, full fat coconut milk is not available here in the province. 🙁 is it ok if I use diluter coconut cream instead?
Sorry if I’m seeing this too late! I’m really not sure that would work! The texture can really be affected but you can try
A non- vegan here, tried this recipe as a great inclusive option to add to our kindy bake sale and it’s AMAZING, somehow so moist and fluffy, adding your vegan butter cream icing as well and it was perfect, I’m a hardcore sweet tooth and was hesitant and the low amount of sugar but could not fault the sweetness. Will be using this regularly and can’t recommend highly enough, not just good for a vegan cupcake but this cupcake is playing in the big leagues. Thanks for sharing
I tried to make these in a mini bundt pans and as they started to bake they looked amazing! About halfway through baking the immediately fell and flattened into virtual sinkholes of batter. Do you know why this was the case? The batter tasted great, btw, after I finished mixing it.
Hi! Could be several things. Did you change an ingredient? Weigh the ingredients? Overmixing batter can also cause that. What brand of coconut milk did you use?
Holy WOW!!! She is absolutely right…these are THE BEST cupcakes ever!! I’ve never been a fan of cupcakes because of the sort of dry muffin like consistency UNTIL NOW!!! Do yourself and your friends and family a favor and make these super easy amazing cupcakes!! We followed the recipe exactly as directed (by measuring in grams) and all ingredients and it came out perfect. We added some edible gold confetti flakes and shaved white milk chocolate on top and it looked super elegant. Thank you!!
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this amazing review!!
Made these for a vegan co-worker’s birthday, and they were such a hit. Even the non-vegans loved them! The coconut milk gave them a subtle coconut flavour which I loved too.
So wonderful to hear that Angie!!
These are delicious!
So glad you loved them Dara!
oh. thanks! we’ll try it out!
ive made these as cupcakes before and loved them but i was wondering if its possible to make it into a cake??
So glad you loved these! I don’t recommend this recipe as a cake. But I have a vanilla cake recipe on the blog that is excellent! https://thevegan8.com/easy-vegan-vanilla-cake-7-ingredients/
Willow requested vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting for her birthday, and I knew exactly where to look! These were a huge hit! So easy to make, and how wonderful to not have to deal with the dense, finicky texture of gluten-free anymore. I made these the night before to make sure they were fully cooled and ready to frost the next day, and I was so impressed with how well the cake held up – still super fresh, fluffy, and delicious! I did use a different frosting recipe, but plan to make these again with one of your buttercream frostings for a future birthday. Looking forward to enjoying the leftovers 🙂 Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe, my friend! xo
Yay, so so happy y’all loved these Mandy!! Thank you so much for making them!
I changed the flour for Spelt flour (same weight as in the recipe) and used molasses instead of maple syrup. I also added some vegan chocolate chips. This recipe is amazing, it always turns out beautifully and yummy, as long as I keep the weights mentioned in the recipe.
What a fun twist! So glad you love them! That is a lot of molasses, I bet it had a strong robust flavor!
We made these 2 days ago for family and they were a huge hit! The batter is, yes, definitely delicious!! I did not make any substitutions and the time and temperature were accurate for us as well. We made them the night before and I kept them in a cool room of the house until we served them the next day. Wonderful recipe!! Thank you so much!
So very happy to hear this Samantha, thank you so much!
I want to make these but I hesitate with recipes that contain full fat coconut milk because I dint like the taste of full fat coconut milk and it tends to be strong. Can you taste the powerful coconut milk flavor it has, in the cupcakes?
Hi! I personally do not taste the coconut milk, it’s so so mild because the vanilla takes over. But if you absolutely hate coconut, you might detect a taste of it. I just can’t say for certain. Let me know if you try them!
Hi can this recipe be changed into a protein cupcake if so how many grams of protein powder should i put in
Thanks
Hi Lou, I would not add protein powder to these. The recipe is written with the right ratio of ingredients of dry to wet and changing the ingredient list will completely alter the result. I really can’t give advice on using protein powder in baking since I’ve never used it. I’d try to find a cupcake/muffin recipe that already calls for protein powder on google and that way you will have better results.
Just fabulous ! thank you for this one!
So glad to hear it!
Can I give this more than 5 stars??? We are in Lake Tahoe doing a short visit with family (4 kids) during the pandemic. All of us have July August birthdays, 4 of us are vegan. I wanted to make cupcakes and had bookmarked these from when I first saw them posted. They were perfect (I made them with the buttercream you used) in every way. The vegans raved, the non vegans raved, the dog that stole the cupcake raved…an absolute success. Thank you so much for taking such time and care with your recipes. I never have to pre-make a recipe of yours before I make it for company. I know if it’s from you, it’ll be tested and tweaked until it’s perfect.
Yay!! Really happy to hear this Elyse and I can’t say thank you enough for you kind words, they truly truly mean so much to hear! I always love reading your reviews!
I baked mine into a square cake pan because I was out of cupcake liners. I baked it for 35 mins at 350° F and it turned out perfect!!!
Woohoo, lovely to hear that Matilda!