Perfect Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes -Stays Moist for 4 Days!!
Based on my award-winning moist vegan vanilla cupcake recipe, these light and fluffy vegan funfetti cupcakes are speckled with vegan sprinkles and stay deliciously moist and tender for up to 4 days! Topped with an easy vegan cream cheese frosting, and you can easily make these small batch as well!
Funfetti just completely embodies the birthday celebration spirit, so why not make the absolute best vegan funfetti cupcakes for your birthday (or for that of a loved one or friend!)?
These vegan funfetti cupcakes are the birthday cupcakes to make if we’re omitting the birthday cake (although I have a great vegan birthday cake recipe! And a vegan funfetti cake recipe too!).
Let me tell you about these cupcakes:
- Texture – My gold standard of cupcakes was the most *perfect* vanilla cupcake from Georgetown Cupcakes (where I worked in college!). And these cupcakes match that. They’re buttery soft, tender, and yet light with the most moist crumb.
- Ease – These cupcakes are made in just one bowl, baked in just 20 minutes. The batter is so quick to make, and you don’t even need any vegan egg substitutes! Andddd these vegan cupcakes are undetectably vegan, egg-free, non-dairy, and easily gluten free too! Plus- these cupcakes will keep moist for up to 4 days!! I’m serious!!
- Flavor – If you remember the classic funfetti flavor, that’s these cupcakes. We have just the right amount of vanilla and sprinkles, and they’re not overwhelmingly sweet so you can take bite after bite!
Looking for more cupcake inspiration? Try these vegan vanilla cupcakes and vegan chocolate cupcakes – there always amazing and perfect for any celebration. We can’t forget red velvet cupcakes too. But the extra sprinkles in these vegan vanilla cupcakes just make you think birthday!
These vegan funfetti cupcakes are quite literally the perfect cupcake recipe. Just super moist, fluffy, light, and tender. Who wouldn’t want one of these cupcakes for their birthday?!
Ingredients & Substitutions:
- Flour: I recommend using all purpose flour here. It’s just so easy! The texture is perfect, soft and fluffy. I also have recommendations down below for how to make these vegan cupcakesgluten free!
- Sugar: Not all granulated cane sugar is vegan in the U.S.- some cane sugar is unfortunately processed with bone char. To ensure that your sugar is vegan, I recommend using Florida Crystals (my favorite) or using another organic brand.
- Baking powder & baking soda: This helps our cupcakes to rise.
- Vegan buttermilk: This is a combination of dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar. I recommend using either soy milk or almond milk for the non-dairy milk. However, you can also use oat milk if you’d like!
- Vegan butter or a neutral oil: For the cupcake, you can swap in coconut oil or another neutral oil. For the vegan vanilla cream cheese frosting or buttercream (my favorite recipe!), I recommend sticking with the vegan butter. Miyoko’s is my absolute favorite vegan butter, but Earth Balance also works and is a great nut-free option. Make sure to use salted Miyoko’s butter. Otherwise, you can add in 1/8 tsp of salt to the flour mixture if your vegan butter is unsalted.
- Vanilla extract: This helps to give our vegan funfetti cupcakes their flavor!
- Sprinkles: I have a ton of options for which vegan sprinkles to use, and share the specific brand I used here down below in the FAQ section, so read on!
Tips for making vegan funfetti cupcakes:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
- Be careful not to over-mix: To create that soft and tender crumb, be sure to NOT over mix the batter. Mix just until the flour has incorporated into the wet ingredients. It’s okay if there are a few crumbs!
- Use a neutral oil if you’re seeking an allergy friendly cupcake: I like to use avocado oil for these cupcakes to make sure that they’re nut free, soy free, and coconut free as needed!
- Don’t add too many sprinkles: Unfortunately, unlike our vegan chocolate chip cookies, where you measure those chips with your heart ( 😉 ), with funfetti cupcakes you can over do it with the sprinkles. I only add 1/4 cup for the full batch (or just 2 tablespoons for a half batch) of cupcakes. Adding too many sprinkles will cause the cupcakes not to bake properly.
- When making the frosting: Be sure that you’re up to date one what room temperature vegan butter means, even for the cream cheese frosting!
Can I make these gluten free funfetti cupcakes?
You can absolutely make these vegan funfetti cupcakes using gluten free flour! I have tested these funfetti cupcakes using King Arthur’s Measure for Measure gluten-free flour blend. This one contains xanthan gum, which is important, and it’s also the same weight as 1 cup of all purpose flour; this means that you can use either the gram measurements or the US cup measurements.
Another option is using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. However, 1 cup of this blend weighs more than 1 cup of all purpose flour. This means that you’ll need to use the US cup measurements, and then multiply that by 140 g (the weight of 1 cup of Bob’s GF flour) to yield how many grams you’d need: 245 g.
Pro tip: Add in 1 tbsp cornstarch to the flour to take away any grittiness from your gluten-free flour blend!
Which sprinkles are vegan?
As you might know, not all sprinkles are vegan. Some sprinkles do contain animal products, which means they are not vegan. However, there are some sprinkles that are 100% vegan, which is what I always use!
For these cupcakes, I specifically used Sweetapolita’s vegan rainbow crunchy sprinkles. I also love their birthday party sprinkles, which I used for my vegan funfetti cake! These sprinkles are great because the color doesn’t fade when you bake them, which often happens with other vegan sprinkles, like Whole Foods’ brand.
Other vegan sprinkles include:
- Watkins
- Go Supernatural!
- Whole Foods 365 (I do NOT recommend this for baking- only for decoration)
- Let’s Do Organic Sprinkelz Organic Confetti
- Color Kitchen Rainbow Sprinkles
Is the Pillsbury funfetti cake mix vegan?
No, unfortunately, the Pillsbury funfetti cake mix is not vegan, as it contains dairy. So even if you sub out the eggs, the mix still contains dairy, which is an animal product, and therefore is not vegan. However, this vegan funfetti cupcake recipe is just so easy to make, it’s as easy as box mix!
Can I make these cupcakes ahead of time?
Yes, you can absolutely make these funfetti cupcakes ahead of time! Because these keep moist for up to 4 days (use a neutral cooking oil if you’re going to make them ahead of time!), you can easily make these cupcakes the day before. Store them covered at room temperature overnight after they’ve completely cooled. The following day, make the vegan buttercream or vegan cream cheese frosting, and top with sprinkles!
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
PrintPerfect Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes- Keeps Moist for 4 Days!!
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 19
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Based on my award-winning moist vegan vanilla cupcake recipe, these light and fluffy vegan funfetti cupcakes are speckled with vegan sprinkles and stay deliciously moist and tender for up to 4 days! Topped with an easy vegan cream cheese frosting, and you can easily make these small batch as well!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 mL) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (130 g) vegan butter or avocado oil, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla bean paste
- 1 3/4 cup (230 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup vegan sprinkles*
- 1 batch vegan vanilla buttercream or vegan cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Make the vegan buttermilk following the post instructions linked, and set aside. Measure out all ingredients. See notes section for small batch measurements.
- Make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegan butter, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, along with the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Then pour in the vegan buttermilk and whisk until the dry ingredients are JUST incorporated to ensure that you don’t over mix the batter. Remove the whisk.
- Fold in the sprinkles: Add in the sprinkles, and use a rubber or silicone spatula to gently fold in the vegan sprinkles just until evenly distributed.
- Bake: Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way up to ensure that your vegan funfetti cupcakes don’t overflow. Bake the cupcakes for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven.
- Cool: Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Make the buttercream: Follow the instructions for the frosting of your choice.
- Frost the cupcakes: Pipe or smear the vegan buttercream on top of the funfetti cupcakes. Top with vegan sprinkles, and serve!
Notes
Gluten free: I recommend using King Arthur Measure for Measure flour, and add in 1 tbsp cornstarch.
Vegan Sprinkles: See blog post for recommendations.
Small Batch measurements: Yields 6 cupcakes: 1/2 cup (120 mL) vegan buttermilk , room temperature
1/3 cup tbsp (65 g) vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp (115 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt, 2 tbsp vegansprinkles
Storage: Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Make ahead: Please see blog post FAQ’s section for make-ahead options.
Hi Britt. You commented in the ingredients that there would be a note about the sugar. I can’t find any notes. I presume coconut sugar will produce a darker crumb?
Hi Jenny! Yes, coconut sugar would give it a darker crumb- still delicious though!
Hi
My confetti pieces dissolved both times I made them and for some reason on the second batch the sugars seemed to crystallise leaving a crunchy/chewy layer on top and a sort of toffee layer on bottom. I used white sugar as the recipe says. They were very light and sort of hollow, the middle sank but the part in the very centre was fluffy and moist. I don’t understand this at all 😬
Hi J! Sounds like it was the brand of vegan sprinkles you used- it wasn’t the 365 brand was it? I mention in the post not to use that brand for that very reason! Now for the hollowness, what oil and flours were you using? Any swaps here AND under mixing could result in a wonky bake. And did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups?
Hey
No I didn’t use the brand you mentioned. We don’t get that where I live. The only thing I swapped was the flour I used a gf flour that I use for all my baking it’s a 1:1 swap generally other than that everything was the same, I used measuring cups to measure the ingredients.
It must have been the brand that you used! I’ve never heard of that happening with sprinkles. And does the 1:1 gf flour you use contain xanthan gum? I’m pretty particular about gf flour blends (which is why I typically only recommend KA gluten free measure for measure!) because they can vary so much and sometimes are not 1:1 though they say they are! I recommend always using a scale too in baking because it takes out any other variables for why the recipe might not have worked (because over-measuring the flour can be pretty detrimental to a recipe!).
They looked beautiful, right up until the end, when all the cupcakes sank in the middle. I used all the ingredients “brands” you suggested.
And feedback on maybe why?
Hi Paula! I’m so sorry to hear this! This sounds like a baking powder issue- if they sank while in the oven still, it was baking powder. If they sank after the oven, it was under-baked! They’re such a moist cupcake, an extra minute or two if you’re unsure won’t dry them out!
Hi, I absolutely loved your cupcakes. They came out extremely light and perfect to taste. I’d love to use this same recipe to make a layered cake. Can I use same recipie for cake?
Many thanks,
Alexi
Hi Alexi! Aw that’s wonderful! Thank you so much! And I actually have an updated vegan Funfetti cake coming out tomorrow that’s based off of this recipe, but you can double this current recipe to yield a two layer 8″ cake if you prefer! 🙂
I put my comment on the buttercream in error.. (which is amazing)
But to reiterate- I believe I ate 6 of the 12 LOL. These are the BEST!!
Haha that’s awesome!! 😂So glad you loved them!! Thanks so much for the review!!
These were absolutely delicious!!! I did the avocado oil instead of vegan butter and used bobs remill 1:1 flour with tbsp of arrowroot starch, paired with the cream cheese frosting (coconut oil instead of vegan butter) and yum!!
I’m so happy to hear this!! That’s wonderful! Thanks for trying the recipe and coming back to review 🙂 Enjoy!!
These were delicious! Nobody noticed they were vegan. Will make another cupcake variety very soon. The amount of sprinkles was just right. Even the adults loved them!
That’s so awesome!! Ah just love to hear that 🙂 Thank you so much for the kind words!! Enjoy!
I liked these and they came out okay, just a little too sweet for my liking… do you have a recommendation on how to make less sugary? TIA!!
Hi Becky! You can safely reduce the sugar by 25%!
Hi,
I made these using all the ingredients you said it the post.
But the cake was coming away from the cupcake cases 🙁
Please can you help
Hi Maria! It might have been the liners you used :/ They should be able to pull away from the liners, but certainly not peel themselves! Did they seem denser? Because if so, that means there was maybe too much flour measured!
Hi Britt! Thank you for all your incredible recipes, every recipe of yours that I have made has turned out amazing! I was debating making your funfetti cupcakes vs the funfetti cake for a birthday, I was wondering if the omitting of the yogurt in the cupcakes makes any difference in the texture? I noticed the cake had yogurt but the cupcakes didn’t. Thank you so much, again!
Hi Ash! Oh I’m so happy you loved them! So for my cupcake recipes, I’ve found that since they’re so small, for some reason, yogurt makes them puff up too much too quickly without having a chance to settle so they collapse (since cupcakes also bake faster than cake). That’s why I omit yogurt in my cupcake recipes! The texture is the nearly the same, and by not using the yogurt in the cupcakes, you’ll still get that beautiful rise and delicate crumb!
These are the BEST vegan cupcakes I have ever made! I have tried many recipes for my daughter with an egg, nut, and flax seed allergy who is also dairy/gluten free and these are everyone’s favorite! I used Better Batter for my gluten free flour and unsweetened Ripple Milk for the buttermilk. They hold their shape so nicely and they have so much flavor! Thank you!!