Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes (2024)

Simply the best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes! Tender, fluffy and perfect for birthdays and other celebrations. Easy to make in 1 bowl. If you love these, you will also love my Vegan Vanilla Cake.

This is my favorite recipe for vegan cupcakes. They are the fluffiest cupcakes, not to mention soft, buttery and sweet with the perfect vanilla flavor. You definitely don’t need eggs, butter or milk to make delicious cupcakes, I promise!

Top with swirly Vegan Buttercream, Vegan Chocolate Frosting, Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting or Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

What I love about this recipe

• The cupcakes are made in 1 bowl, with a minimal list of simple ingredients.
• You don’t need a hand mixer (except for the frosting!)
• Cake flour makes the cupcakes incredibly fluffy, soft and moist. I made a batch with all purpose flour and the cupcakes were fine but drier and not nearly as fluffy and light.
• They are so easy to make; you will be eating cupcakes in no time!

How to make vegan cupcakes in 1 bowl

1. In a measuring cup, combine soy milk (or another non-dairy milk) and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle (this is vegan buttermilk).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Pour in milk/vinegar mixture, melted vegan butter and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk until smooth and well combined.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake for 18-20 minutes. You will get 24 cupcakes out of this recipe, so either bake one pan at a time, or both at the same time if you have two pans.

Let them cool a few minutes in the pan before carefully transferring to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting.

Frosting for vegan cupcakes

To truly make these cupcakes in 1 bowl, simply wipe or rinse out the cupcake batter bowl and use it for the frosting. OR if you are feeling really lazy, you could pick up a container of Duncan Hines Vanilla Frosting, which happens to be vegan. I recommend making your own, it tastes way better! But I’m not here to judge. ?

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting with Vegan Buttercream or other frosting you desire. I use this simple piping kit for decorating cupcakes, but you could simply spread the frosting on with a butter knife.

Check out my little tutorial for how to pipe cupcakes nice and tall in my Vegan Frosting Recipe. I also love to decorate them with sprinkles. Sweetapolita has the prettiest vegan sprinkles, and I always keep some on hand!

Gluten free vegan cupcakes

To make these cupcakes gluten free, you can substitute a quality gluten free flour mix, such as King Arthur’s Measure for Measure. They won’t be quite as light or moist as using cake flour, but it works pretty well!

Want more vegan cupcakes?

• The Best Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
• Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
• 1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
• Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
• Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Pecan Frosting

*This recipe was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated with a slightly improved recipe (less salt, vegan butter instead of oil) March 2022. I’m always working on improving my recipes, thank you!