Description
Vegan cupcakes with fluffy swirls of maple or vegan cream cheese frosting are delicious, nut free, and gluten free, but you would never know it! This allergy-friendly cake recipe is perfect for holiday gatherings.
Ingredients
*Recipe Updated 2025
Vegan Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk, room temp (curdled with vinegar)
- 1 3/4 cups oat flour (about 210 -215 g), sifted (see notes)
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour (30 g)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 2/3 cup fine sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or vegan butter (or a neutral oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frostings
- Coconut cream whipped frosting with 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 2 -3 Tablespoons powdered sugar or sugar substitute added
- Maple cashew cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan.
- In a small bowl, stir vinegar into the milk. Let sit for 5 -10 minutes to curdle.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oat flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk sugar with melted oil and vanilla until blended. Stir in the milk/vinegar mixture until smooth.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir gently until just combined. Batter should be thick and scoopable, not runny. If your batter looks watery later, see Notes — you may need to add more oat flour to reach a thick, scoopable texture.)
- Divide evenly into muffin cups, filling about ¾ full.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Check progress at 15 minutes. Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Once cool, decorate with a frosting of choice. To create fluffy swirls of frosting, use a pastry bag with a star tip. For a touch of glitter, sprinkle some raw sugar on top!
Notes
Batter Tip – Oat flour varies by brand/grind. Start with 210-215 g (about 1 ¾ cups) and add up to 230-240 g (about 2 cups) if the batter is too thin. Always sift for best results. Homemade oat flour (from blended rolled oats) is often coarser and may require the full 2 cups.
Gluten-Free Blend: You can also use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend without xanthan gum in place of the oat/tapioca mix. In that case, skip the extra starch and start with ⅔ cup milk.
Other Substitutes – Any neutral oil like avocado oil and light olive oil may be used in place of melted coconut oil or vegan butter.
Flour Substitute- A gluten-free all-purpose flour blend without xanthan gum can be used in place of oat flour. Because most blends already include starches, you can skip the extra 2 tablespoons of starch. In this case, start with ½–⅔ cup milk instead of ¾ cup — the batter should be thick and scoopable, not pourable. Texture will vary depending on the blend.
Starch choice (if using oat flour): Cornstarch gives the lightest crumb; tapioca adds chew; arrowroot makes a tender cupcake.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: desserts
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake without frosting
- Calories: 195
- Sugar: 11.3 g
- Sodium: 155.1 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 25.1 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 3.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
