Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

cupcake on white plate with piece taken out and on fork next to it

These moist and rich vegan chocolate cupcakes are topped with a creamy, sweet chocolate buttercream frosting for a deliciously decadent dessert. They truly are a chocolate lover's dream! These egg-free and dairy-free cupcakes are gluten-free too.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Vegan

Keyword chocolate, cupcakes, dairy-free, egg free, frosting, gluten free, vegan

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 1 35

Servings

Calories 474kcal

Author Sherri Hall

Equipment

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tablespoon boiling water
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp. flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp. water and left to sit for 15 minutes)
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk or other plant based milk
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend already contains)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting

1 cup vegan butter, at room temperature
3-3 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

For the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a standard size 12-count muffin/cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Sift the cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and add the boiling water. Mix well until smooth and shiny.
Add the flax eggs, milk, oil, sugar, vinegar and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer until combined.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.
Sift the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
Transfer the mixture to your cupcake liners. Each should be between ⅔-3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Leave the cupcakes in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric hand mixer until just smooth, but do not overbeat.
Sift in 3 cups of the powdered sugar and all of the cocoa powder a little at a time, mixing with the electric mixer after each addition until combined and scraping down the sides as needed. Add up to ½ cup more powdered sugar if needed to achieve desired consistency, mixing after adding.
Once all the sugar and cocoa powder has been added, beat with the electric hand mixer on high speed for about a minute until the frosting is extra smooth.
When the cupcakes have completely cooled, pipe swirls of frosting on top of each.

Notes

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Accuracy is not guaranteed. Information shown should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Nutrition