Vegan Oat Flour Cupcakes

by Lindsay Cotter Updated: Aug 18, 2022

Dairy-Free Egg-Free Gluten-Free Nightshade-Free Vegan

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These vanilla Vegan Oat Flour Cupcakes topped with maple frosting are delicious, nut-free, and gluten-free, but you would never know it! Make these allergy-friendly treats for your next birthday, bake sale, holiday, or any day!

2 vegan cupcakes in paper liners topped with swirl of vegan cream cheese frosting

Personal Note: It makes me happy to share recipes that kids with food allergies can enjoy. No weird ingredients, so they’re simple to make, and honestly, they taste like traditional cupcakes.

If you’ve been eating gluten-free for a while, you may remember how few tasty gluten-free baking options there were. Dry gluten-free cake with very little flavor. Thank goodness we have better options now. Not only for us, but more importantly, for the new generation of kids with food allergies.

Tips for Fluffy Vegan Cupcakes

As I mentioned above, there are plenty of allergy-friendly baking options available. The thing is, it’s important to understand that they are not all perfect for baking light desserts like cake.

To create light, moist cake, you need to avoid using thickeners like guar or xanthan gum. Instead of adding fluffiness, those thickeners just weigh down the batter. As a result, you end up with heavy, dense cupcakes. All of the frosting in the world can’t fix that problem.

woman's hand removing frosted cupcake from group of them on cake stand

Ingredients and Substitutions

Below is an overview of the ingredients and recipe. Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details and nutrition information.

three glass jars with the front jar labeled oat flour

Skip fancy, overpriced grocery store-bought dairy-free options, and learn How to Make Vegan Buttermilk at home instead! With just 2 ingredients, it’s ready in minutes, super affordable, and unbelievably easy to make. Use it for the best vegan muffins, cupcakes, pancakes, condiments, and salad dressings, too!

Gluten-Free Flour – Instead of a 1:1 baking blend, we use oat flour and starch blend for this recipe. You can use any gluten-free flour blend you like, as long as it doesn’t contain added thickeners or gums and you can weigh it to ensure the proper substitute. Just note that gluten-free blends will give these more of a classic muffin-like texture compared to oat flour.

Note: Using part oat flour + part tapioca + a little cornstarch helps prevent the gummy texture that comes from 100% oat flour.

Sweetener – Any fine grain sugar of your choice will work. If using coconut sugar, the batter will be a darker and more caramel-like.
Non dairy milk – This recipe calls for a vegan buttermilk substitute. You’ll make it by combining apple cider vinegar and non-dairy milk.

Pro Tip: For the best results, use a non-dairy milk with some fat in it, like coconut milk. The fat helps to curdle the milk, creating the tangy flavor of buttermilk.

Apple cider vinegar – If you don’t have any apple cider vinegar, white vinegar (cooking vinegar) or lemon juice will be just fine.
Naturally refined coconut oil or vegan butter – You’ll be melting this, so feel free to use any neutral flavor of cooking oil that you like.
Baking essentials – Vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Vegan Frosting Options

Decisions, decisions! Obviously, you can top your cakes with anything you like. I have two favorites, so in typical Cotter fashion, I’ll give you both options and let you decide which to use.

Coconut Cream Whipped Frosting – You can use this frosting as is, or add a little extra flavor to it. I like to use ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and 2 -3 tablespoon powdered sugar. Or, you can use a dry sugar substitute.
Maple Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting – This frosting is a bit thicker, so you’ll want to use a piping bag when frosting the cupcakes.

How to Make Vegan Cupcakes

Making this recipe isn’t any different than making traditional cupcakes. But, unless scrubbing cupcake pans is therapeutic for you, be sure to use paper liners.

Make vegan buttermilk – Stir the apple cider vinegar into your dairy-free milk. It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to curdle, so go ahead and mix your dry ingredients while you wait.

Note – Be sure the milk for your vegan buttermilk is at room temperature. This keeps the melted butter or coconut oil from solidifying once mixed into the batter. If you’re using a neutral liquid oil instead, you can skip this step.

A liquid measuring cup with a tablespoon on the side.

A glass measuring cup of vegan buttermilk.

Combine dry ingredients. I like to sift the dry ingredients together; it removes any clumps of flour and helps to distribute the leaveners (baking soda and powder).
Whisk. In another bowl, whisk the sugar with melted oil and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the milk/vinegar mixture and mix until smooth.

Overhead photo of gluten free flour being poured into wet ingredients for vanilla cupcakes.

Overhead photo of a woman holding a cookie scoop of vanilla cupcake batter.

Add wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir until just combined. Don’t overmix — you want to stop as soon as the flour disappears. The batter should be thick and scoopable, almost like a soft cookie dough, not runny. If it looks too thin, add a little more oat flour; if too thick, splash in a touch more milk.
Scoop into tin. Using a cookie scoop, fill cupcake liners ¾ way full with batter.

overhead: unbaked batter in a muffin pan

Bake. Bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes. If you use gluten-free all purpose flour, check for doneness at 18 minutes.
Cool. Remove from oven and allow them to cool in the pan, set over a wire rack.
Decorate. Once cupcakes are FULLY COOLED you can decorate with frosting of your choice. Use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to create professional looking frosting swirls.

swirling vegan frosting onto top of a cupcake

Troubleshooting

Cupcakes sinking or gummy? Weigh the flour to make sure you have the right flour measurement in grams — and don’t overmix the batter. Or try baking them at a lower temperature at 325°F — this lets the centers set without over-browning the edges.
Too chewy? If using a gluten-free flour blend, confirm it’s xanthan gum–free.
Sticking to liners? Let cupcakes cool fully before peeling.

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