One Bowl MOIST Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes – Small Batch Recipe!
These soft and deliciously tender vegan red velvet cupcakes taste like they came from a bakery and are incredibly quick and easy to make with just one bowl and a few simple pantry staple ingredients- no need for an egg replacement either! With just the right hint of cocoa and topped with a silky dairy free cream cheese frosting, you won’t believe these cupcakes are vegan!
Why you’ll love these easy vegan red velvet cupcakes:
If you love a good vegan red velvet cake recipe, then you’re going to be absolutely obsessed with these amazing red velvet cupcakes.
They’re fluffy, tender, MOIST, and with the perfect hint of cocoa that complements that beautiful tang from the cream cheese frosting so well. Truly, these cupcakes are so good, you won’t even be able to tell that they’re vegan, eggless, and dairy free.
And like my vegan lemon cupcakes, we’re making them small batch, though you can easily double the recipe for a full batch!
In college, I used to work at Georgetown Cupcakes, and we had the absolute best red velvet cupcake in all of DC. It was the most sold out cupcake flavor of all. So I truly do know what makes a good red velvet cupcake, and this vegan red velvet cupcake really is the best!
Here’s why you’ll love these cupcakes:
- Minimal equipment: The cupcake batter itself is so easy to make. You don’t even need a hand mixer- just a whisk will do!
- Quick & easy: From start to finish of making these red velvet cupcakes, the process is about 30 minutes. And that’s including only a 5 minute prep time!
- Unbelievably vegan: The texture of these vegan cupcakes is unbelievable: truly so fluffy, moist, soft, and light yet rich with flavor.
- Flavor is out of this world! You get all of the classic red velvet cake flavors that we know and love: light hint of cocoa followed by sweet and a lift from the tang of the buttermilk. It’s truly a masterpiece of flavors!
- The silkiest dairy free cream cheese frosting: The cream cheese frosting is good enough to eat on its own.
The secret ingredient to the best red velvet cake
Have you ever wondered what makes an amazing red velvet recipe? The secret ingredient is actually in the homemade vegan buttermilk.
It’s just 2 ingredients. Dairy free milk, and a vinegar or lemon juice.
Using vegan buttermilk instead of regular dairy free milk makes all the difference. Buttermilk gives you that light and fluffy, velvety texture that’s associated with red velvet cake.
Simply combine dairy free milk with a little apple cider vinegar (all measurements are found in the recipe card below), and let the mixture sit for a few minutes at room temperature to curdle.
I have recently discovered that Forager Project‘s probiotic dairy free drinkable yogurt (the unsweetened version) acts very similarly to buttermilk, so if you see that in stores, you may use that as well!
How to make vegan red velvet cupcake recipe with step by step photos
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.
First, we’ll start by mixing the batter. We’ll combine the sugar, oil, red food coloring, leavening agents, cocoa, vanilla and sea salt together.
Then add in the flour and the vegan buttermilk, and whisk JUST until combined.
If you need more than 6 cupcakes, simply double the recipe.
Now we bake for just 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean!
I like to let my cupcakes cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. This helps ensure that the liner comes off cleanly!
Then simply make the vegan cream cheese frosting, and enjoy!
Why don’t we need eggs in this cupcakes recipe?
And not even an egg replacement- though the vegan egg substitutes are really wonderful these days!
Most of my vegan cupcake recipes don’t require an egg- not my vegan vanilla cupcakes, nor chocolate cupcakes, funfetti cupcakes, or even my small batch lemon poppy seed cupcakes.
This is because we’re using slightly more flour than you would with traditional cupcake recipes with leavening agents to create the perfect rise. You truly won’t believe that these cupcakes are missing anything- not even the eggs!
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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!
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One Bowl MOIST Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes – Small Batch Recipe!
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These amazing and easy vegan red velvet cupcakes taste just like the real deal! This is the easiest vegan cupcake recipe and yield the most perfect red velvet cupcakes, vegan or not!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) vegan buttermilk , room temperature
- 1/4 cup (65 g) neutral cooking oil
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vegan red food coloring*
- 1 tbsp dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 batch Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 6-cup cupcake tin with liners. If you want to make a regular batch of these cupcakes, simply double the measurements. Measure out all ingredients before beginning. In a small bowl, combine the dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix together and set aside to curdle.
- Make the batter: In a medium bowl, use a whisk to mix together the oil, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vanilla, and red food coloring. Mix until completely combined. Then add in the cocoa powder, leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder), and sea salt, and whisk again. Finally, add in the flour and vegan buttermilk, and whisk the flour into the batter just until combined.
- Bake the cupcakes: Divide the batter evenly into each cupcake liner, filling each cupcake about 2/3 of the way full. Place the cupcake tin into the oven to bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven.
- Cool the cupcakes: Allow the cupcakes to cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before making the vegan cream cheese frosting.
- Make the cream cheese frosting: Add vegan butter and vegan cream cheese to a large bowl and beat together with a hand mixer. Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing the beat the mixture until it’s a thick buttercream. Add in vanilla and continue to beat until desired texture.
- Frost the cupcakes: Spoon the vegan cream cheese frosting into a piping bag and frost each cupcake. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Vegan red food coloring: Beet powder will turn these cupcakes brown instead of red due to the heat and acid reaction. I would recommend using Ann Clark’s vegan red food coloring or Chef Master’s vegan red food coloring. Always check the label of the food coloring to make sure it’s still vegan, as sometimes brands change their formula.
Vegan cream cheese frosting: If you can’t find a good vegan cream cheese near you, you can sub in 1/2 cup of dairy free yogurt (such as forager project) in place of 1 cup of vegan cream cheese.
Storage: Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
After being diagnosed with several food allergies almost a year ago, I was really worried about being able to find recipes that are vegan and gluten free that I would enjoy. I just made these cupcakes for the first time today, I could cry! They taste so incredibly delicious, I can’t even tell they’re vegan and gluten free. This blog is a heaven sent for me and I will be making many more recipes to come.
these cupcakes truly might be the best! the taste is amazing except I have a hard time getting them to be red. I put a significant amount of beet powder in them and the dough was red before baking but after baking they came out brown 🙁 is there any way to truly make them red?
Oh I’m so happy you love the flavor!!! That can sometimes happen with beet powder- it doesn’t truly make them red, and depending on the brand, I’ve noticed it can make the cupcakes more brown vs other brands. Suncore foods has a red beet powder that’s really good! Alternatively you can use Go Supernatural’s red food coloring- it’s liquid and all natural, and I really like it!
Hello I’m keen to try this using gluten-free flour and you indicate in the recipe that that is an option but then you have an asterisk following it. I checked under Notes but there’s no mention of gluten free there. Are there particular brands, flours, or mixes you recommend? Or ones you think should be avoided? Thanks!
I’m so sorry for the confusion! Yes, I recommend King Arthur measure for measure flour- I find it’s the best!
Hello! Does this recipe make 6 cupcakes or 12? The blog post says 6, but the recipe card says 12. Thanks!
Oh so sorry for the confusion! Yes it makes only 6, but you can double the recipe for 12 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you for the clarification! These were a hit!!
Omg! These were so good! Definitely making again, next I want to try the lemon poppyseed.
This is so wonderful! So happy you loved it! Enjoy! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the lemon poppy seed 🙂
Made these for my son’s birthday, who is a big red velvet fan. These were a huge hit! He said they were the best cupcakes ever. Thanks for helping me appease this picky eater!
I think these have too much cocoa powder. My cupcakes came out brown, not red. But they taste really good!
I’m so glad you loved the taste! But definitely make sure to measure that cocoa powder!
Absolutely loved this recipe. It didn’t have that dense texture like some vegan pastries can have. I used 2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 4 for the frosting.
This is so wonderful!!! So glad you loved them! Thank you so much for the review 🙂 Enjoy!
I want to do these beautiful ones to this Saturday, but wonder if I can do them in advance and freeze them? Would help a lot☺️
Oh yes you can!! Just wrap them tightly to ensure they don’t dry out in the freezer 🙂
That is really great☺️Then I will do so, thanks for Your fast reply🐝🌞🩷
Oh absolutely!! I can’t wait to hear what you think, upload a photo when you’re finished!! Would love to see 🙂 Happy baking!!