Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

Why You’ll Love These Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

• Based on a reader favourite. This vegan chocolate cupcake recipe is based on my Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe and my Chocolate Cake recipe which have a total of 124 5-star reviews, so I KNOW you’re going to love these cupcakes too.
• Easy to make. Cupcakes are a lot less intimidating than a cake to make than layer cakes and great if you’re making them alone, with kids, or with friends and family.
• Everyone will love them. This isn’t a recipe that’s only for vegans. These vegan chocolate cupcakes are delicious enough that they’ll be a hit with everyone!

Notes on Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

For the Cupcakes:

• Apple cider vinegar – Adding this to vegan milk will curdle it to create vegan buttermilk. This aids in flavour, texture and helps the chocolate cupcakes to rise. You can also use regular white vinegar.
• Vegan milk – You can use soy milk or any vegan milk here. I recommend a thicker milk for richer results such as soy, oat or cashew milk.
• Brown sugar – You can also use cane sugar, white sugar or coconut sugar (although this may alter the texture slightly).
• All-purpose flour – This will give the cupcakes the right consistency. You can also use gluten-free flour, but it might change the texture.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder – I recommend using a high-quality one unsweetened cocoa powder. Don’t use Dutch processed since it will not react the same way to the baking soda and will affect the rise of the cupcakes.
• Baking powder and baking soda – This and baking soda help the cupcakes rise! Make sure to test that your baking powder is good. Learn how to test these ingredients here!
• Sea salt
• Oil – You can use any oil here.
• Vanilla extract
• Warm milk + instant coffee – This combo really boosts the chocolate flavour in these vegan chocolate cupcakes. The warm milk dissolves the coffee and helps the ingredients blend together at the end. You can also use espresso powder if you’d like, or decaf coffee if you don’t want the caffeine.
• Powdered sugar
• Vegan butter

• Preheat oven and line muffin tins. Preheat oven to 350°F/230°C. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners or foil bake cups.
• Prep buttermilk. In a jar, add the vinegar and vegan milk together to curdle and form a buttermilk. Set aside.  
• Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Whisk all the ingredients together.
• Mix in oil and buttermilk. Add in the oil, the buttermilk, and the vanilla extract.
• Add instant coffee and warm milk. Heat up the additional milk and coffee mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds (or on stove top until warm not boiling). You want it warm enough to dissolve but not boiling. Stir the instant coffee into it with a whisk or fork to dissolve for about 30 seconds.

• Mix it all together. Add the coffee mixture to the bowl on top of everything. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer for no more than 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once in between to ensure that everything is incorporated.
• Add batter to muffin tin. Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners (about ¾ full with batter). You can use an ice cream scoop to help! Tap the cupcake pan on the counter three times to remove any excess air bubbles before baking.
• Bake the cupcakes. Place the pan in the middle rack of your oven and in the center of that rack. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and allow your vegan chocolate cupcakes to cool completely.

• Make the frosting. Add the unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar, vegan butter, vanilla extract, sea salt and half of the vegan milk to your electric stand mixer or a hand mixer. Start mixing it together at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until it’s very thick and smooth. Add the 1/2 cup of the extra powdered sugar at a time until it reaches your desired thickness and consistency. If needed, add in the other half of the milk about 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Frost and add sprinkles. After cooled, frost with chocolate frosting and add sprinkles (optional!) Enjoy!

Tips for Success

• Don’t skip the vinegar. This is our key ingredient to helping these cupcakes rise alongside the baking soda! It reacts to it and also helps with the fluffiness. Don’t worry—you don’t taste it at all.
• Ensure ingredients are room temperature. This ensures that everything blends together properly. It also makes emulsion (such as for the buttermilk) easier, making the cupcakes fluffy, tender and soft.
• Weigh cocoa powder. I highly suggest using a kitchen scale for this! It gives you the most accurate results. Even if you don’t weigh the other ingredients, I recommend weighing your cocoa powder. It can get packed very easily and you can end up adding too much or too little, which will throw off the rest of the vegan chocolate cupcake recipe.
• Don’t over-mix the batter. Over-mixing the batter can make the cupcakes too dense because of the gluten that activates in the flour. Just mix enough to combine all of the ingredients together.
• Let the cupcakes cool before frosting. Always let your chocolate cupcakes cool completely before adding frosting. This way the frosting won’t slide off or melt.
• Sift your powdered sugar. Be sure to sift your powdered sugar before making your frosting! This makes such a tremendous difference to the consistency of the frosting.
• Adjust the thickness of the frosting. You don’t want the frosting to be runny, but you also want it to spread easily across the top of the cake. If your frosting turns out to be too thick, try adding a splash of milk to it. Add your milk a little bit at a time.

How to Store Cupcakes

• Room temperature/refrigerator: You can leave these vegan chocolate cupcakes on the counter for about 1-2 days. After that, I would store in the fridge in an airtight container. If storing with frosting already on and you live in a hot area, you can refrigerate the cupcakes right away.
• Freezing Your Cupcakes: You can freeze your cupcakes frosted or unfrosted. Allow them to cool completely and then put them in a freezer-safe airtight container. This is great if you’re making them in advance. If you know you plan to freeze these, I would freeze them unfrosted, and freeze the frosting separately. To thaw, allow to come to room temperature on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour, or overnight in your fridge.

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

• Vanilla Cake (Vegan)
• Vegan Brownies
• Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Vegan Chocolate Cake
• Apple Crisp