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These vanilla cupcakes made without dairy or eggs are a wonderful dessert option for Spring, Easter, Mother's Day, Birthdays, and various other holidays or celebrations. They are suitable for people of all ages! With this simple recipe, you can quickly make them and have more fun moments with your loved ones.

I think cupcakes are superior to cake. Truly.
They're easily held which makes it perfect when you're on-the-go and need to mingle with family or friends. Especially with little ones. These are easier for their tiny hands to hold!
This recipe also makes use of my perfect vegan buttercream frosting!
🥘Ingredients

If you need to use Gluten-free flour, make sure to use an all purpose kind! Things such as plain almond or coconut flour will leave you with unrisen cupcakes!
You can swap the lemon juice for vinegar if needed.
Any plant-based milk is fine. I prefer to use oat.
1 teaspoon of baking soda can be replaced by 2 teaspoons of baking powder or the other way around.
See recipe card for exact measurements.
🔪Instructions
Start off by adding lemon juice to the plant-based milk and setting aside for 5-10 minutes. This will be your buttermilk.

Step One - In a large bowl, sift flour and baking powder, once sifted,add sugar and saltand whisk until well mixed. Next, add in your liquid ingredients, oil, vanilla and buttermilk mixture.

Step Two - Stir everything together until you end up with a smooth batter.

Step Three - Grab a 12 cup muffin tin and line it with cupcake liners. This is optional, you can simply oil the muffin cups if you wish to skip using cupcake liners. Depending on the liners you use, you may still need to oil them as well.

Step Four - Bake those cupcakes, pull them out and let your cupcakes cool for at least 2 hours to overnight before frosting them.
👩🏻🍳Cook's Tip
Try not to over-mix your cupcake batter as this may cause rising and overall texture issues. And of course use cake flour for an even fluffier cupcake. And if you can find it of course.

Thanks to my amazing husband for hand modeling for me!
📖Variations
This vegan cupcake recipe leaves it open to customization!
- Add different flavoring like orange extract or almond extract. Cut back on the plant-based milk by a tablespoon per tablespoon swap of other flavoring liquids. Add up to 2 tablespoons of other flavorings.
- Food coloring would be super fun for a kids birthday party! Be sure to use gel type food coloring to avoid adding too much liquid.
🍱Storage
Refrigerator - These cupcakes can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.
Freezer - You can freeze these cupcakes without icing for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag or container.
Thaw naturally in the fridge and then add icing.
Be Sure to Check out some other Desserts!
- Vegan Sesame Seed Brittle (2 Ingredients)
- Perfect Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Avocado Bread
- Vegan Matcha Creme Brûlée
❓Frequently Asked Questions
While vegan cupcakes may not contain as much fats or saturated fast and definitely has no cholesterol, they are still considered a dessert and aren't really meant to be a health food. You can certainly make healthy vegan cupcakes, but why would you want to?
There could be a number of reasons for this. Did you make sure your oven was preheated before putting them in? Did you sift the flour when you added it? Is your baking powder out of date? What kind of flour did you use? Different things can cause disasters in baking.
If you've tried this recipe and enjoyed it, I would love it if you could rate it 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a comment! It's a great, and free way to support me!
📖 Recipe
The Best Non-Dairy Vanilla Cupcakes
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 12 cup muffin tin 6 cups work fine, too.
- 1 scoop optional
- 1 Whisk
- 1 wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour see notes for substitutions
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups plant milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- In a measuring cup or small bow, add plant-based milk and lemon juice, give it a stir, and let set for 5-10 minutes to curdle into a buttermilk substitute.1 ½ cups plant milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients, then whisk until mixed.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Next, add in the rest of the ingredients and using a spoon or spatula, mix together until you have a smooth batter. Careful not to overmix.1 cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 ½ cups plant milk
- Using a scoop, fill each muffin cup ¾ of the way. Then place the cupcakes in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Notes
- For Gluten-Free be sure to use an all purpose GF flour. Do not use simple flours like almond or coconut.
- For Oil-free simply replace the oil with any plain dairy-free yogurt, a smashed banana, applesauce, etc. Be sure to adjust sugar if needed.
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda can be replaced by 2 teaspoons of baking powder or the other way around.
- Storage - Cupcakes can be kept frosted or un-frosted in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store in the freezer without icing in a freezer safe bag or container and thaw naturally in the fridge, then add icing.
Nutrition
This recipes was first posted 3-14-20 and has been updated 6-16-23
What's up! My name is Bree, and I run this kitchen! I love sharing my recipes with you and I hope you enjoy them. You can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Tumblr. Get to know more about me and this site if you'd like. Thanks, bud!

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