If you have food allergies, it can be tough to find great recipes to send to school for parties. Make some of these Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes for your next birthday party or school event
As some of you already know might know, I post a ton of vegan recipes and baked goodies, but I’m not a vegan. In our house we have multiple food allergies that mean we can’t always bake with eggs and dairy, along with peanut and tree nut allergies. Every person in our home has slightly different allergies and intolerances, so baking and eating out gets tricky!
This is also quite challenging when my kids go to birthday parties when there is cake and ice cream galore. It’s always hard to know what’s safe to eat and what’s not, so we usually end up packing them something sweet they can eat at parties.
When my daughter and son had their birthday parties in elementary school, I needed to make something that fit their allergies but something that would also keep 20+ kids happy. That’s how these Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes came to be.
I tried a vegan cupcake recipe online, but the batter was too thin and they overflowed and sank in the middle – not so great looking! I was able to disguise this with frosting, but I decided to make my own recipe that worked better and was easier to make.
Just a heads up, this recipe is not gluten free or sugar free! My kids can have gluten and wheat so I decided to make cupcakes that everyone (including the other children) would enjoy.
Want a gluten free cupcake recipe? Try our Gluten Free Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, they are top 8 allergen free!
How to make vegan vanilla cupcakes
This recipe makes 3 dozen cupcakes, but you can adjust the recipe to meet your needs if you need less. Since I was making cupcakes for a crowd at the time, this was perfect, but not everyone needs a bumper crop of cupcakes haha. Our recipe card has a nifty servings slider button, and I’ve also written the recipe for one dozen cupcakes underneath the recipe card as well.
For these dairy free cupcakes, I use a 2-Tablespoon sized protein powder scoop to scoop the protein powder into the cupcake papers and it delivered the perfect amount of batter so these didn’t overflow. If you want to get fancy, you can use a batter dispenser for less mess!
The cupcakes baked right to the edge of the paper and it made 3 dozen cupcakes – pretty handy! These do not peak at the top like regular cupcakes since they don’t have eggs, and they are slightly more dense in the middle, but still so moist and delicious.
These bake up great with regular cupcake papers, I haven’t tried these vegan cupcakes with silicone muffin/cupcake liners yet, but imagine they’d be just like our other cupcakes: our cupcakes bake fine in silicone muffin liners, but you don’t want to leave them in the silicone liners too long or they’ll sweat and get soggy on the bottom.
If you find that these are sinking in the middle too much, make sure you don’t overfill your muffin pan. And add about 1 Tablespoon more flour to the batter to help with sinking.
This post is originally from June 2013, and we recently updated the photos and text. Here are some of the original photos:
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes (Dairy Free and Nut Free)
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups regular all-purpose flour whisked and scooped into measuring cups
- 1 ½ cups unbleached cane sugar
- 2 Tablespoons baking powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt depending on your preference
- 2 cups rice milk
- ⅓ cup oil (I use light tasting olive oil)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Line muffin pan with muffin papers
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the rice milk, oil, and vanilla
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Using a small measuring cup (protein powder scoops work really well), scoop the cupcake batter into the prepared muffin pan until each muffin cup is 2/3rd’s full. Make sure not to over-fill the pan otherwise the cupcake batter will overflow as it bakes.
- Bake the cupcakes in the pre-heated oven for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you are using a stoneware pan, they may take a little bit longer to bake.
- For chocolate cupcakes, reduce the flour by 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Nutrition
Recipe for one dozen Vegan Vanilla cupcakes:
We have a batch-size adjustment option on the recipe card, but to make it easier, here are the measurements for 1 dozen cupcakes:
- 1 cup + 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 Tablespoons oil (canola or olive)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions and bake times are the same
Making the vegan vanilla buttercream
Below is the recipe for the buttercream frosting. I love using the non-dairy butter flavored palm shortening from Spectrum, but if you can’t find the butter flavored kind, you can use the regular palm shortening and add a little imitation butter flavor. That’s totally optional and only if you want a dairy free buttery taste to the buttercream!
Sustainable palm shortening (solid palm oil) works the best to make this kind of buttercream frosting. It doesn’t have soy in it, it’s non-hydrogenated, and I use sustainable brands like Spectrum and Nutiva.
You can use non-dairy butter flavored coconut oil instead of palm shortening, but I can’t guarantee the results. Coconut oil is not as shelf stable and frosting made with it separates easier. If you make it with coconut oil, don’t beat it too much (it will melt if you mix it a lot), and you might have to use more powdered sugar.
Update: we now make our buttercream with room temperature dairy free butter, such as Country Crock Plant Butter sticks (the tubs have soybean oil) or the Violife plant butter. We have another post with the buttercream recipe written with dairy free butter!
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter flavored palm shortening* I use Spectrum
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 dash salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons rice or coconut milk
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat the palm oil with a hand held blender until creamy
- Blend in the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and rice milk, and cream together until well blended
- Adjust the consistency of the frosting by adding more rice milk to thin it or adding more powdered sugar to make it thicker.
- For chocolate buttercream frosting, replace 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar with 1/4-1/2 cup cocoa powder, depending on how dark you want the chocolate flavor
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
I absolutely love this recipe for cupcakes! I use it all the time. I’ve actually tried using it as a cake recipe as well but for some reason it will not bake the same in a cake pan. I’m new to vegan baking. Is there a way to adjust this recipe for cakes as well?
Hi Jade! I’ve made this recipe into full cakes before, but they are more dense in the middle and tend to sink in the middle as well. I usually make the full recipe and divide it between 2 8-inch cake pans. I put cut parchment paper circles into the bottom to help the cake release cleanly. I usually bake the cakes for about 30 minutes, checking the center with a toothpick or cake tester and baking until they are completely done. They still will be much more dense in the middle than the actual cupcakes since there are no eggs, but usually they turn out pretty well for us. I hope that helps!
Hi Sarah,
Would the cupcakes turn out the same if I substituted cane sugar with castor sugar? I would like to avoid buying cane sugar since I don’t use it normally and I’m making this for a school event.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Ana, I think caster sugar should work fine in this recipe replaced 1:1 for the regular sugar. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Yummy cupcake, my kid’s favorite one.
These are so good. I made both the vanilla and choc versions today (with a pinch cinammon in my choc and extra vanilla in the plain ones). They were very tasty with a nice texture. I also substituted half the oil with vegan butter and omitted the salt just out of curiosity and it worked. Thanks for a great vegan recipe!
Thank Tania! I love the idea of adding a little cinnamon to the chocolate ones, I’ll try that next time I make a batch 🙂
Could I use this recipe to make a cake? I’m looking for a vegan, nut-free, and chocolate-free recipe to make a cake for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary! Help! 🙂
Hi Laura! You can make this recipe into a full sized cake. You’d make the full recipe of batter for 3 dozen cupcakes, and put it in 2 8-inch or 9-inch pans then bake about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted comes out clean. We’ve made this into a full cake before and it’s good! They are more dense than a cake with eggs, but it’s delicious and easy to put together 🙂
Thank you so much!!
Thank you for a simple, yummy recipe. I’ve made them twice in the past couple of weeks and both times they turned out great.
Thank you! So glad to hear that you liked them 🙂
It worked! I’ve gone through so many mixes, and none of them even come close to ease of this recipe. It’s so unfussy, I forgot to add the non dairy milk and did water instead (force of habit). They rose beautifully and had a nice crumb. Thank you so very much for sharing. I did use your smaller batch recipe. 🙂
Yay, so glad you loved this recipe! This has been our go-to cupcake recipe for years 🙂
These sound so good! I’m not vegan either, but I always seem to be out of eggs when I want to bake. I love this!
Thanks so much Sarah! We’ve been making these for years now, and the school kids get excited when we make these for birthdays 🙂
I’m not sure why mine had a strong play doh flavor! Did anyone else notice this? I can not figure out why!!
Did you happen to use baking soda instead of baking powder? That might explain it
Hello!
I’ve been making this recipe for my daughter’s preschool class as several students have allergies.
Would it be possible to make it in a square pan or round pans? Have you done that before? Trying to make either a cross or bunny for their Easter party.
Thanks!
Hi Krista! I’ve made this recipe in circle pans before for a layer cake, it has been a while since I’ve done that, so I can’t remember how long I baked it for in the circle pans. I would try baking them in a bigger pan at 25 minutes then check to see if it’s done (inserting a toothpick in the middle should come clean). If not, then you can bake it 3-5 minutes more at a time till it’s done. Let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
Do we have to use soy milk?
Hi Jannat, this recipe calls for rice milk, but you can use any milk that you like in this recipe. Dairy milk, almond milk, or coconut milk in the carton will work just as well (water even works if you are out of milk).
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter flavored palm oil?
Hi Amelia! Palm oil is the best choice for frosting like this since it holds up better at room temperature than coconut oil and doesn’t melt when you beat it with a mixer. But you can try using coconut oil, the results won’t be quite the same, and you might have to use more powdered sugar to hold it together.
Is it possible to add gluten free flour to these?
Hi Luke! I haven’t tried using gluten-free flour in this recipe yet so I can’t guarantee the results, but I bet a gluten-free all purpose flour blend would work okay in this recipe if it had a binder in it (like xanthan gum).
I tried this recipe out just last night and Im so obsessed!!!! Gonna be making it often now♥️
I’m so glad you loved this!! Thanks for taking the time to comment, I love hearing from readers 🙂
Great recipe, Sarah! I would love to try it, but do you think I can make it in a Bundt pan instead of cupcakes? I’m looking for a rice milk cake recipe to make in a Bundt pan (I just got a new one and want to try it 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Silviya! You could try this in a bundt pan. I’ve made this recipe into a full sized cake before with good results. Make sure to bake it a bit longer, and the inside will be more dense than a regular cake since there are no eggs for lift. Make sure to grease and flour your bundt pan generously first to make sure the cake comes out 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
Thank you very much for your tips! Will tell you how it turns out when I make it 🙂 I’m using a 22 cm bundt pan, should I keep the same proportions?
I usually end up reducing the recipe a bit for cake, but you can make the full batch, fill your bundt pan about 3/4 full, then pour any extra batter into muffin cups. That usually works great rather than accidentally overfilling the pan.
Why does it say it contains nuts? I am looking for an egg, dairy, and nut free recipe for a friends son…
Never mind I see it says nut free. Sorry
Cupcakes! These are so cute for a birthday or just anytime. I’ve never made cupcakes without eggs. Are they denser than a “typical” cupcake, do you think?
Hi Michelle! They are just slightly more dense then regular “with eggs” cupcakes, but they are still delicious! 🙂
Also these cupcakes don’t tend to get tall or peak at the top, they are a bit more flat on top
WOW…that is A LOT of cupcakes….bet the kids were thrilled. They sound delicious and look amazing. My grandson asked for vanilla cupcakes for his birthday too.
Yep, it was a ton of cupcakes! We had quite a few left over too. Not a bad thing I guess 😉
Great looking cupcakes Sarah. It can be so hard to find a good egg and dairy free cupcake recipe. Thanks!
Thank you Arlene!
These look so yummmm… cant’ wait to try. Thanks for the recipe Sarah
Thank you Veena! 🙂
What would be the measurments for 12 servings? Pls reply asap
For the cupcakes only
Hi Fahmida! Here are the measurements for 1 dozen (12) cupcakes:
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 Tablespoons oil (canola or olive)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions and bake times are the same 🙂
What would the measurements for 12 chocolate ones be?
Hi Lindsy! Here are the measurements for 1 dozen chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup + 1 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 Tablespoons oil (canola or olive)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions and bake times are the same
If the batter seems too runny, you can add another 1 Tablespoon flour to thicken the batter a bit
Will these stay good if I make them 2 days before a party?
and keep them in the fridge covered
I did not post this recipe (caramel apple)…guess I clicked on the wrong button.
These should be fine if you made them a day or 2 before a party, I wouldn’t make them too far ahead unless you were freezing them (these do freeze well), but 1 or 2 days should be fine. I would frost them right before you are ready to serve them 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it for my egg/dairy allergy son! Have you tried to freeze the baked cupcakes? It would be great to be able to make them in advance and then just grab one from the freezer when he has a party to attend so that he has a dessert to eat with all the other kids.
Hi Stacy! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 These do freeze well, you can make a batch and freeze them for later. They should thaw out at room temperature or you can put it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so to thaw 1 or 2 of them
I was wondering if I could use butter flavored crisco in this recipe instead of the oil? If it would still give it a good tasting flavor. I also was wondering in the cake if I could use Coconut Milk instead of the rice milk?
HI Brittani, you can use coconut milk to replace the rice milk, just use the same amount. As for Crisco, I don’t know how that would turn out since I used a liquid oil in this recipe and Crisco is a solid at room temp and it doesn’t melt readily. This will change the texture of the cupcake batter. You can try it, but I can’t guarantee the results.
I don’t use Crisco in my baking because it has hydrogenated soybean oil in it, but Spectrum makes a natural palm shortening that comes in butter flavor that makes a nice substitute for Crisco. I use the Spectrum palm oil in frosting. If you want butter flavor in the cupcakes while still using a liquid oil, you can also use imitation butter flavor/extract, melted Earth Balance Soy-Free Margarine, or melted butter flavored coconut oil from NOW Foods instead of using butter-flavored Crisco. Those all have good flavor and are healthy, too, and should keep the texture the same
What kind of oil is used in the cupcake recipe? Can you use coconut oil here or is it better to use a vegetable oil?
I use light tasting olive oil in this recipe, but you can use coconut oil in this recipe if it is melted then mixed in as a liquid, or if you can find liquid coconut oil. It may change the texture slightly but not much
These have become my “to go”recipe every time we give or are invited to a party, my son had dairy allergy and he feels so happy every time I make them. Now every time I open this page and see your family picture I feel like you are just another friend of us. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Thanks so much for your kind words, it really means a lot to me! <3 If you can think of any other recipes you would love to see re-made to be allergy-friendly, let me know. I love getting new ideas 🙂
Made these tonight for my daughter who has a severe dairy and nut allergy. Turned out really well! Thanks for the recipe. I found the cupcakes stuck to the cupcake liner paper a bit does that mean I need more oil? Also I used vanilla soy milk instead of rice and left out the vanilla essence.
Thanks again 🙂
Hi Nya, I’m so glad this recipe worked out for you! I have found that the papers will stick a bit for a while, but after the cupcakes are completely cooled they usually come off well. If they don’t come out good, you could try adding more oil, but it would change the texture of the cupcakes. I would maybe try spraying the bottoms of the papers lightly with a little bit of oil or non-stick spray and see if that helps 🙂
I am so happy to have found this recipe! I will be making these on Saturday for my son’s 2nd birthday! He was recently diagnosed with a dairy/egg/soy allergy and I was afraid birthday cupcakes would not be an option! thank you!!
So glad you found us Christine! Let me know how you like these 🙂
I see you advise to frost the day they would be eaten. Can this recipe be used to make a cake? And, why frost the day of? I would need to frost and decorate the cake the night before for a long drive the following day . It is for the birthday party of a 7 year old whose sister is allergic to nuts and dairy. Please advise. Thank you.
Hi Jill! You can certainly make this recipe into a cake (I did this for my son’s latest birthday). I made 2/3 the recipe and it made 2 9-inch round cakes for a layered cake. Just bake it a bit longer and check your cakes to make sure they are cooking in the middle by using a toothpick or cake tester.
I recommended frosting the cakes the day of because of the particular buttercream frosting I used with this recipe (the recipe that is written below the cake recipe). That particular frosting recipe tends to get soft and could make the cupcakes/cake a bit soggy after a while. You can avoid this by using a different frosting recipe or by replacing the Earth Balance in the frosting with more palm oil. I used Earth Balance for that nice butter flavor (without the butter of course), but to keep this frosting from getting too soft you can use all palm oil. The recommendation was made because of the frosting, not necessarily the cake, so you should be fine if you make sure your frosting doesn’t get runny as it warms up. This is why palm oil is better than coconut oil for this frosting if it’s warm outside. Let me know how it goes!
adding Crisco to the icing with the spectrum soy free palm oil will help give body to the icing, so it holds up better for decorating and weather.
a good alternative to no eggs, if you want anything a bit more moist without adding more oil (I am looking at trying this recipe with weekend) is adding in bananas or unsweetened apple sauce, as they are a binder/egg replacement, and do not change the texture much.
Thanks for the tips! I avoid Crisco, however, since it is hydrogenated and uses soybean oil, which my son and I have an intolerance to. You can give this a try with bananas or applesauce, I haven’t used those in this recipe so I can’t say whether they will turn out the same, but let me know if you do try it! There is enough gluten in this recipe that there typically is no need for an added binder, the oil and rice milk add enough moisture and the right texture and these hold together quite well. But if these were made gluten-free a binder would be necessary.
These look so yummy! I’m planning to make these for my brother and his friends, because my brother is allergic to dairy. I tried to find other cupcake recipes using rice milk, but I couldn’t find any! Thank you so much for posting this 🙂
You’re very welcome Sara! 🙂
Instead of milk, could u use just water?? Please reply ASAP, I’m making cupcakes tomorrow morning, have no milk and these sound amazing
Hi Megan! You can certainly use water in this recipe, and the conversion from milk to water should be the same. Enjoy! 🙂
Love this recipe! Thank you so much. Finally an egg free recipe that actually rises properly and tastes fantastic xxxxxx My son is sooooo happy.
Awesome!! I’m so glad you love the recipe 🙂
I plan on making these for Christmas. My son has severe allergies to dairy and egg(we carry Epi pens).
Going to give these a test run this weekend!
Awesome! I’m glad you found the recipe 🙂 Let me know how you like them!
Do you think it would be okay to bake them the night before for a morning party?
Thanks.
Yep, these would be fine baked the night before. Just be sure that the cupcakes cool completely before storing in a container otherwise they will sweat a bit. I would recommend frosting these right before you need them, depending on the frosting you are using, for the best results.
How do you think they would taste if you substituted vanilla almond milk? Let me know if anyone has tried it
Hi Michelle! You should be able to use any milk of your choice in this recipe (dairy, soy, almond, coconut, etc.). I chose to use rice milk since my kids have nut allergies, but you should be able to use almond milk just fine in this recipe 🙂
thanks for the tip, I am going to try today!!
Great! Let me know how they turn out for you
Are you not aware that palm oil cultivation can be harmful to the environment–jungles and rainforests are often burned and destroyed, and orangutan and other wildlife habitats harmed? Just sayin’.
Hi Betty, thank you for sharing your concern. The brand of palm oil I use is Spectrum, which sources it’s palm oil from environmentally responsible and small family farms (http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=269). Palm trees for oil can still be responsibly grown and farmed (http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_brazil_palm_oil_plantations_could_help_preserve_amazon/2415/). I would check current brands to see which are sustainably sourced.
At The Fit Cookie, we focus on our family’s health first and foremost. We try to encourage people to use healthy ingredients that they feel right about using. If you prefer not to use palm oil, you can try using coconut oil in this recipe instead (although I can’t guarantee the results) 🙂
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
My kids would love these!! (okay, I would love these, who am I kidding!)
They are delicious! I am a sucker for cupcakes 🙂
Oh, yummy. I don’t usually make cupcakes, but I am going to pin this in case I feel inspired to bake. They look delicious.
Thanks bunches! Fortunately I don’t bake these too often or I couldn’t keep my mits off them! 😉