An easy recipe for dairy free cupcakes, lightly flavoured with vanilla. These happily vegan cupcakes are sweet enough to eat just as they are or top them with lashings of icing and pretty sprinkles!
I’m sharing my basic recipe for vegan cupcakes today mainly because I wanted an excuse to bake little cakes! It is a tried and tested recipe which I adapt by adding different flavourings and toppings according to my mood.
You can see it in my vegan lemon cupcakes when I was feeling a bit lemony and it makes regular appearances on our table in its chocolatey guise.
My lot are not big fans of lots of icing which is irritating as I really enjoy prettifying my offerings! As a result my cupcakes are often served up naked. This gives me an excuse to buy pretty cupcakes cases. I love these spotty polka dot cases very much indeed!
How to Make Dairy Free Cupcakes
This recipe uses rapeseed oil for the fat content usually obtained from butter. Sunflower oil also works well as both have a gentle buttery flavour. I’d avoid generic ‘vegetable oil’ as it can taste a bit too oily.
Dairy Free Butter and Spreads for Vegan Baking
If you want to use a dairy free spread for this recipe you will need to melt it and then allow it to cool before adding it.
As manufacturers have cottoned on to the demand for dairy free spreads and butters, so the choice for those of us who want to bake dairy free cakes has expanded. I have been baking without dairy since May 2017 and can honestly say it has made no difference to my baking whatsoever.
I do seem to get a better result when I use a vegan butter with a higher fat content rather than one with a higher water to fat ratio.
My current vegan butter of choice is Vitalite but try a few to see which suits you best. It’s really down to personal preference rather than buttery performance!
The Best Plant Milks For Baking
I nearly always use soy milk in my vegan baking. Once again I think my cakes turn out better with higher fat content plant milk but I haven’t scientifically tested it. I eat them too quickly for that! These dairy free cupcakes were made with Alpro soy milk but I have made them with oat milk and almond milk with equal success.
What To Use In Place Of Eggs
There are lots of ways to replace eggs in vegan baking. You can use bananas, ground flax or chia seeds or silken tofu but I like to keep it really simple. I have always managed to get the best rise in my cakes by combining cider vinegar and soya milk to make vegan buttermilk. This, along with baking powder and self raising flour, makes lovely, fluffy little cakes.
For more information and suggestions for dairy free baking try ‘The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions‘. (This is an affiliate link, if you buy through it it won’t cost you a penny more but will earn me a small commission)
Dairy Free Cupcakes for Friends and Family
My easy vegan cupcake recipe is the only one you’ll need whether you are baking for friends, family or bake sales:
- It’s simple enough for children to make.
- Ingredient quantities can easily be increased if you want to make more.
- Make more and freeze for a later date so you are never without a fairy cake!
If you want to ice these dairy free cupcakes, have a look at my recipe for dairy free and vegan vanilla buttercream!
Feel Inspired To Bake Some More Dairy Free Cakes? Try:
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Dairy Free Cupcakes - Easy Vegan Fairy Cakes
Ingredients
- 200 ml soya milk
- 20 ml cider vinegar
- 200 g self raising flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 200 g caster sugar
- 80 ml rape seed oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- Stir the cider vinegar into the soya milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes until curdled.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl.
- Stir in the caster sugar.
- Add the vanilla and oil to the milk mixture and whisk together.
- Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and fold together gently until combined.
- Pour batter evenly into the 12 cake cases and bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until risen and golden brown.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin For Later
I need to make vegan cakes without wheat flour. Any suggestions for good substitutes on the self raising flour.?. THANKS
Hi Rachael, I don’t usually bake with gluten free flour but there are lots of gluten free flours now available in supermarkets. I can recommend The Free From Fairy if you are looking for recipes – not all her recipes are vegan but they are all GF, just pop ‘vegan in her search box to find suitable recipes! She also sells a selection of GF flours. I hope that helps! Chris x
This is literally the best recipe ever! I needed just a vegan sponge recipe and came across this. I didn’t bake it in fairy cake cases – instead I baked it in a 2 lb loaf tin, for about 45 mins at about 150 degrees. It is DELIGHTFUL and will be my go-to recipe from now on!!!!
Jill thank you! What a lovely comment! I use this mixture for most of my sponges, both small and large, I may* have a large cake making an appearance here soon (*I do!). I’m so glad you made it your own, I love when people take a recipe and run with it, it’s why I do what I do! Thank you again! Chris xxx
That sounds brilliant Chris, I’ll definitely keep my eye out for your next cake!
This isn’t helping me ration on lockdown, haha.
I made the cake again today and put chocolate chips through it and again it was perfect. I’m a rubbish baker but this is failsafe!
Thank you again! 🙂 xx
Fabulous made this recipe today.
I make these when my 3 year old granddaughter stays with me, she loves these and there so easy to make
Oh that’s lovely to hear, thank you Andrea!