Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Disclosure:  I recently worked with Almond Breeze on a sponsored social media campaign.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Since I was traveling earlier in the month on my birthday, I had a belated celebration last week with my family! I made these vegan vanilla cupcakes with rich chocolate frosting as a little treat for all of us.  And let me tell ya, they are just scrumptious.

While I’m not personally vegan, I was thrown into the world of vegan baking back when I was nursing my son.  He was born with several food intolerances – dairy, soy, and eggs – and I was not about to lose out on eating my favorite baked goods.

I quickly learned about different substitutions you can make, like using coconut oil or vegan butter spreads in place of regular butter, or using aquafaba or flax seed in place of eggs.  And of course, there’s the easy substitution of using Almond Breeze almondmilk in place of regular milk.  Their almondmilk flavors are so versatile, and the shelf stable ones are great to stock in your pantry.

Luckily, my son outgrew all his food intolerances around a year old – but I still love to test out different recipes like this.  Between the different diets out there that eliminate dairy, people following vegan diets for ethical reasons, or those who have food allergies – I know a lot of ya’ll might find an option like these vegan vanilla cupcakes helpful to store in your recipe arsenal.

These rich little delights are super easy to make.  You likely have most of the ingredients in your pantry already, and anything you don’t have will be easy to snag at any major grocery store.

There aren’t any unusual ingredients in here compared to a normal cupcake recipe; you’ll just use vegan butter spread rather than normal butter, and almondmilk rather than regular milk.  You don’t even have to worry about using anything to replace eggs; the cupcakes rise and hold together just fine without any.

The result is a tender, flavor-filled cupcake that’s the perfect size for a little indulgence.  Most store-bought mixes with store-bought frostings will create cupcakes around 300-400 calories a piece, while oversized bakery versions will often clock in around 400-600 calories.  But these vegan vanilla cupcakes are just 210 calories each with the chocolate frosting, making them a portion-controlled sweet treat that can fit in anyone’s meal plan.

I hope you’ll give them a try soon!  Don’t forget to pin this recipe so you can refer to it later. 🙂

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Snacking in Sneakers

These vegan vanilla cupcakes are the perfect treat for a celebration – or just because! Topped with rich chocolate frosting, your taste buds are in for a treat.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings 12

Calories 210 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Vanilla cupcakes:

• 1 cup Almond Breeze vanilla almondmilk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup vegan butter spread
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Chocolate Frosting:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter spread
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• Splash of Almond Breeze vanilla almondmilk

Instructions

 

Vanilla Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine the milk and lemon juice in a large bowl and let it sit for a few minutes.
• Add the vegan butter spread, vanilla, sugar, salt, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat together with a stand mixer or hand mixer for 20-30 seconds until well combined.
• Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Frosting:

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk with a stand/hand mixer for 1-2 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy!

Notes

Notes:

• These cupcakes are lightly sweetened, and the chocolate frosting is rich.  If you prefer a very sweet cupcake, you can play around with increasing the sugar in the cupcake and/or the maple syrup in the frosting.  I prefer them just as written! 
• If you are a strict vegan, keep in mind that certain sugars are processed with bone char - look for vegan-specific sugars if that's a concern for you.

 

Nutrition facts (approximate per cupcake with frosting):

210 calories, 8.5 g fat, 2.5 g sat fat, 269 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fiber, 15 g sugar, 3 g protein, Vitamin A: 1%, Vitamin C: 1%, Calcium: 8%, Iron: 9%

Nutrition

Calories: 210kcal

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Share with me:  If you made these vegan vanilla cupcakes, did you love them?  What’s your favorite type of dessert to make?  Have you done much experimenting with vegan baking?

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Chrissy Carroll

Chrissy Carroll is a Registered Dietitian and USAT Level I Triathlon Coach. She specializes in sharing nutrition and fitness tips, as well as recipes, for runners, triathletes, and active women.Chrissy holds a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition, a Masters Degree in Public Health, and is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer.

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