Raise your hand if you need these vegan funfetti cupcakes in your life. I certainly do...decadent vanilla batter sprinkled with well, sprinkles, and topped with sweet vegan vanilla buttercream frosting...what more could you ask for?
How to make vegan funfetti cupcakes
To make these funfetti cupcakes, you're going to start with a basic vegan vanilla cupcake batter. The most important thing is that all of your ingredients are at room temperature, otherwise your butter and oil won't combine. I repeat, all ingredients must be at room temperature.
To save your arms, I recommend using a stand-mixer as there is quite a bit of mixing for this recipe. It's doable with a hand mixer, but not recommended.
I also recommend preparing your "buttermilk" ahead of time. The reasoning is twofold:
- You'll want your plant milk at room temperature and...
- The lemon needs time to work with the plant milk to create that thick buttermilk texture.
To perfectly measure your cupcakes, I like to use an ice-cream scoop like this one. Perfect portion, every time.
When baking, try to keep the oven closed to keep all of the heat in. To test, stick a toothpick (or knife in my case) into the middle of the cupcake, and if it comes out clean, you're good to go. I tend to err on the side of baking a little longer than you might think - there's plenty of liquid in these cupcakes, and they never came out too dry.
Still with me? Good. Read on for frosting tips...
This vegan vanilla frosting is SUPER simple. You'll need a package of softened vegan butter (such as Miyoko's), a package of powdered sugar, and some good vanilla extract. If the icing is a little too sweet for you, try adding a ¼ teaspoon of salt.
To make my vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, you'll want to first make sure your cupcakes are COMPLETELY cool. Like, out of the pan, let them sit for 2-3 hours, cool. If they're giving off any heat, they'll melt the icing, which is no fun, trust me.
When your cupcakes are ready to frost, you'll mix the ingredients until well combined (no lumps). If you just want a simple cupcake, take a knife, and go to town spreading the icing onto your cupcakes. If you're getting fancy, transfer to a piping bag.
Pro tip: when transferring to a piping bag, use a cup to stabilize your bag. It'll give you something to scrape your spatula off of, and keep the heat from your hands from warming the frosting.
If the icing is too soft to pipe, place in the freezer for 5 minutes, then try again.
If you can keep yourself from eating all of the frosting out of the bowl, congrats! You have much more self control than I do.
But Angela...
My batter looks too thin...help! Ok, first, relax. It's going to taste amazing either way. Second, keep calm, and get it into the oven. It will rise a bit there. Make sure you cook them long enough.
Ugh, my cake didn't turn out! Now what? If they didn't rise enough for your liking, you can make truffle cake balls. In a mixing bowl, take your cake, and a half cup or two of icing and mix until it comes together. Using your hands, form into balls, and put into the fridge to chill for an hour. The melt some chocolate (I like using the microwave - 15 second increments, stirring between), and then dip your cake balls into the chocolate. Refrigerate, and enjoy your truffle cake balls.
My icing is melting, what do I do? First, make sure you butter is just soft enough - if it's too soft, it can get a little bit loose. For this particular icing, adding more powdered sugar is a tad too sweet. Once it's fully mixed, put it into your piping bag, and put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. That should cool it down enough for you to frost your cupcakes. Make sure you store your frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator!
What vegan butter do your recommend? Personally, I love Miyoko's. It tastes like real butter, and acts like it too for the most part. Earth Balance also works, but I find it has a bit of an aftertaste. I've seen Miyoko's at Whole Foods, the Fresh Market, Publix, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's, Target, and even a nice grocery store in the Bahamas (shout out to Solomon's). If your local grocery store doesn't stock it, ask them! Most grocery stores will.
Without further ado, I present my Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Vegan baking beginner? I suggest starting with my vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- ½ Stick Vegan Butter Room temp
- ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ¾ Cup Aquafaba Juice from a can of white beans - if you don't have enough, fill in the rest with seltzer water
- 1 ⅓ Cups Coconut Milk Room temp
- 3-4 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Dry Ingredients
- 3 Cups Cake Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ⅓ Cup Rainbow sprinkles for batter Optional
Frosting
- 1 Cup Vegan Butter or 1 package Miyoko's
- 1 Lb Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt If too sweet
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Combine lemon juice and coconut milk - set aside for 10 minutes while you put together batter. This is your vegan "buttermilk."
- Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix softened butter and oil together for 3 minutes or until well combined and homogenous.
- Add granulated sugar slowly, allowing it to incorporate, then mix for another 3 minutes.
- Tablespoon by tablespoon, add aquafaba/seltzer water mix, then vanilla extract. Beat for another 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients.
- In 4 batches, alternate adding the "buttermilk" (coconut milk and lemon) with dry ingredients, starting with buttermilk, and ending with dry ingredients.
- If desired, stir in sprinkles. BEWARE the colors might bleed a bit.
- Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners, and scoop batter into the liners. My scoop is ~¼ cup, maybe a little more.
- Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes, testing with a toothpick or knife (when it comes out clean, your cupcakes are probably ready).
- Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours before frosting.
- For the frosting:
- Add softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment. Start on low, and build up speed as powdered sugar mixes in.
- Transfer into a piping bag if desired, or ice using a knife or offset spatula. If icing is too thin, put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
- Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
Ellie says
Though a little tricky to get right, these cupcakes are wonderful. Make sure to use icing immediately and store in the refrigerator - vegan butter does melt more easily.
Angela Milnes says
Fair enough - follow the instructions closely! And yes the icing is a little tricky. To keep it simple, spread onto cupcakes with a knife.