These Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes are soft, fluffy & so chocolate-y! They take only 10 minutes of prep, uses simple pantry ingredients and are so easy to make! They rise beautifully. One bite & they will become your go-to cupcake recipe for any occasion, from Valentine's Day to birthdays and beyond!
1 ½tablespoonsapple cider vinegar or regular vinegar
½ cupsoy milk or other vegan milk (120mL) (room temperature)
1cupbrown sugar or cane sugar (200g)
1 ½cupsall-purpose flour (180g)
½ cupunsweetened cocoa powder (40g)
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
½ teaspoonsea salt
⅓cupoil (66g)
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½ cupwarm milk+ 1 teaspoon instant coffee mixed in until dissolved. Stir these together right before you need it so it's still warm
For the Frosting:
1cupunsweetened cocoa powder
½cupunsalted vegan butter(softened) or salted, but don't use the sea salt below
1teaspoonvanilla extract
pinchofsea salt
2½-3cupspowdered sugar
⅓cupvegan milk(+ 1 tablespoon extra if needed)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line muffin cups with cupcake liners or foil bake cups.
In a jar, add the vinegar and vegan milk together to curdle to form a buttermilk. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Using a whisk, whisk all the ingredients together, removing and clumps that may form.
Add in the oil, the buttermilk mix from earlier and the vanilla extract.
Heat up that 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.
Add it 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.
Divide the battery 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 (lift and tap down slightly) to remove any excess air bubbles before baking.
Place the pan in the middle rack of your oven and in the center of that rack. Bake for 18 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
After cooled, frost with chocolate frosting and with sprinkles (optional!) Enjoy!
For the Frosting:
Add the cocoa powder, vegan butter, 2 ½ cups of the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, sea salt and half the vegan milk to the bowl of an 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 ½ 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.
Video
Notes
Calories are for cupcakes without frosting.NOTES
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, so aids in the end cupcakes being fluffy, tender and soft.
The secondary ½ cup warm milk is crucial. It helps to dissolve the coffee which enhances the chocolate flavour. It also aids in helping the cupcakes to be soft. You want this to be warm, but not piping hot!
Check Your Ingredients for Freshness: Always ensure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh! This will make or break your recipe, and its very easy to check with this tip.
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 highly recommend always 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 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.
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.
To Avoid Thick 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.