How to Make Gluten Free Cupcakes

Easy gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. These are the best cupcakes to make on a weeknight! You only need one bowl and a whisk.

The Challenge: One Bowl Gluten-Free Cupcakes

I wanted to create a recipe for gluten-free cupcakes that were as easy to make as a boxed mix. My early attempts were…interesting. The first ones came out flat. The next were too sweet and the batch after that tasted like a dry muffin. Not what I was going for in a cupcake recipe.

After several tries, the cupcakes were finally what I wanted.

These gluten-free cupcakes are:

• Easy-to-make!
• Soft and tender, like my gluten-free funfetti cake
• A simple, small batch recipe.
• Dairy-free.

The recipe makes about dozen cupcakes. So it’s perfect for a weeknight birthday or one of those nights you just want cake. (If you don’t want to bake a dozen cupcakes, make a gluten-free mug cake.)

Gluten-Free Cupcakes: Key Ingredients

• Gluten-Free Baking Flour. An all-purpose gluten-free baking flour that contains xanthan gum or guar gum makes it easy to whip up these cupcakes in a snap.
• Granulated Sugar. Cupcakes are sweet but you don’t want them too sweet. My first tests included a full cup of sugar. These made for very tender cupcakes because sugar acts as a tenderizer but they were too sweet. Three-quarters of a cup is just right.
• Baking Powder. Makes the cupcakes light and tender. Check the expiration date on your baking powder. You don’t want to use expired baking powder. The cupcakes won’t rise as much.
• Salt. A half teaspoon of salt enhances the flavor. Use table salt, not kosher salt. Table salt dissolves easily in batter.
• Eggs. Provide structure. This recipe has not been tested with egg replacers.
• Milk. Use regular milk or dairy-free. The recipe works well with either! Milk adds flavor and helps the cupcakes to brown.
• Oil. Adds richness. If you prefer to use butter, melt butter and allow it to cool before adding it to the batter.
• Vanilla. Gives the cupcakes a nice “birthday cake” flavor.

How to Make Gluten-Free Cupcakes: Keys to Success.

1. Make the Batter. Whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. You can use a handheld whisk or an electric mixer for this step. It doesn’t matter! Doing this evenly distributes the baking powder and salt throughout the mixture. If you add the liquid ingredients right away, the baking powder can clump and the cupcakes won’t rise as well. Once that’s done, add the milk (regular or dairy-free), eggs, and oil. Whisk until the batter is smooth and you’re ready to bake.
2. Fill the Cupcake Cups. Line a standard cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill each cup 2/3 of the way with batter. Don’t add more batter or the cupcakes can overflow during baking.
3. Bake Until Set. These gluten-free cupcakes stay very light. Check the cupcakes with a cake tester to see if they’re done. No crumbs should stick to the tester. If you prefer to take the temperature of your baked goods, bake until the center reaches between 209 to 213 degrees F.
4. Cool Before Frosting. After baking, allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about five minutes. Then remove them from the pan and place on a wire rack. This allows steam to escape, so the cupcakes don’t get soggy or gummy.
5. Frost. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost with your favorite frosting. I love vanilla buttercream with these but chocolate or lemon is yummy too!

The Best Flour for Gluten-Free Cupcakes

I developed this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Using a different flour blend can change the texture of the cupcakes.

The Key to Even Cupcakes

Other than a cupcake pan, you don’t need any special kitchen tools to make gluten-free cupcakes. But…if you want perfectly even cupcakes, grab a muffin scoop. (It looks like an ice cream scoop.) Fill each cup 2/3 full. Using a scoop makes this easy and less messy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening (I like Spectrum® Palm Oil Shortening)
• 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (omit if making vanilla/white frosting)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• up to 1/4 – 1/2 cup dairy or non-dairy milk of choice (less if making white frosting)

Instructions

Choose a gluten free cupcake recipe from the ones I linked above or your own. Once baked and cooled, follow these instructions for frosting and decorating.

To make the frosting, cream the sugar, cocoa (if using) and shortening together with an electric mixer (whisk attachment makes it fluffier).

Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk, beating well to combine, and additional milk (if and only as necessary) to achieve a piping consistency, beating for several minutes at the end until light and fluffy.

To make Frankenstein cupcakes, prepare frosting and add green food coloring. Pipe or spoon onto the top of each cupcake in a squared off “head” shape. Top with chocolate sprinkles for hair and nose, candy eyeballs and chocolate chunks for “ears.”

To make mummies, use a flat decorating tip or petal tip with piping bag and pipe white frosting “bandages” across mummy faces. Add candy eyeballs.

To make the spider webs and legs for the spiders, I melt Enjoy Life Foods® or Pascha® vegan chocolate and use a Lekue Decorator Pen. You could also put warmed chocolate into a small zip-top bag and snip a corner out, piping the spider webs onto wax paper. Place on a cookie sheet in the freezer to set. I used NoWhey Foods Chocononos™ vegan candies for the spider body, but regular M&Ms are also gluten-free (contains dairy).

To make this funny skeleton, I used one large marshmallow which I covered with homemade frosting and stuck to the top of the cupcake with more frosting. I cut another marshmallow into small “teeth,” used chocolate sprinkles and candy eyeballs, then gave him a top hat of a Free2B® organic, dairy-free dark chocolate peanut butter cup.

This cute little ghost is simply a pile of homemade frosting piped out of a bag and given some candy eyeballs. It might be my daughter’s favorite (more frosting!!), but it’s so easy to make!

This googlie-eyed monster is very free-form. I simply used Dandies® vegan, nonGMO, kosher marshmallows (pumpkin flavor), and attached candy eyeballs with some extra frosting. The sprinkles are just an added touch.

This unassuming spider is super easy to make with just frosting, sanding sugar and some candy eyeballs. Plop it into these cute spider leg cupcake holders and voila!

Which is your favorite? How will you ever choose? At least this way, you don’t have to!

LAST UPDATED: November 21, 2019 PUBLISHED: Nov 19, 2019 55 Comments
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This amazing Gluten-Free Cupcake Recipe makes moist and fluffy cupcakes that are perfect for any occasion. This post includes tips and tricks to ensure your vanilla cupcakes will turn out every time, as well as frosting ideas.

It’s sure to become your go-to cupcake recipe!

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes

There are so many occasions in life that call for perfect, fluffy vanilla cupcakes. From birthday parties, to special celebrations there is no need to miss out on cupcakes if you eat gluten-free!

This recipe is my go-to anytime I need a good cupcake base. The cupcakes are delicious topped with any kind of frosting and are made with ingredients that I always have on hand.

How to Make Gluten-Free Cupcakes

These how-to numbered pictures match up with the instructions below.

I’ve also included a video with step-by-step instructions.

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients, set aside.
2. Mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Add the butter and sugar to a stand mixer, mix until creamy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Add the almond milk and dry ingredients alternately. This allows the flours to absorb and creates fluffy cupcakes.
5. Stir any batter up from the bottom and sides then mix again briefly.
6. Scoop into a lined muffin pan and bake.

Tip: Be sure you almond milk, butter and eggs are all room temperature for best results. This allows the gluten-free flours to absorb properly into the batter.

What flour should I use for this gluten-free cupcake recipe?

I recommend using a high-quality, gluten-free all-purpose flour for gluten-free baking. For best results, pick a blend that contains xanthan gum or another binder. These blends are usually called measure-for-measure or 1:1 baking flour. This is my favorite gluten-free measure-for-measure baking flour.

I also add a little cornstarch to the dry ingredients for these cupcakes. A little extra starch mimics cake flour and yields a nice fluffy cupcake.

Tip: Adding a little cornstarch along with the gluten-free flour mimics cake flour in this recipe. This combination will create nice fluffy cupcakes!

How do you keep gluten-free baked goods moist?

This is a common question when it comes to gluten-free baking. As mentioned above, using the right kind of flour and the right flour-to-starch ratio will help these cupcakes bake up nice and moist.

Additionally you’ll want to make sure you mix the batter on medium (rather than high) speed. Mixing some air into the batter is good, but if the batter is beaten to hard of for too long it can incorporate too much air and the cupcakes will fall.

It also helps greatly to use a good quality cupcake liners any time you’re baking gluten-free cupcakes or muffins.

Frosting Ideas

These gluten-free cupcakes are delicious with any frosting recipe you like! My favorite combination is vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

These cupcakes are also delicious with:

• Vanilla buttercream + toasted coconut
• Peanut butter frosting + chopped peanut butter cups
• Strawberry frosting

I hope I’ve set you up for success to make perfect, gluten-free cupcakes every time. If you love this recipe as much as we do leave me a comment below. I’d also be happy to help with any questions.

PS if you’re looking for more perfect gluten-free cake recipes, try this Gluten-Free Carrot Cake or this Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake. Just like these cupcakes, nobody will guess these cakes are gluten-free!

Happy Baking!

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These never-fail bakery-style gluten free vanilla cupcakes are incredibly moist and tender. They can even easily be made dairy free, too!

Cupcakes Are Not Mini Cakes (exactly…)

Did you know that not all cake recipes make good cupcakes? It’s true! Just like not all muffin recipes can be made as quick breads (or vice versa).

When you bake cake batter in miniature portions, even if it bakes flat in a round or square cake pan, it may dome quite a bit when portioned into the wells of a cupcake tin.

I like a cupcake with a nice, flat top, so it’s easy to pile on a nice fluffy frosting. You can see for yourself that this recipe for gluten free vanilla cupcakes is the perfect frosting delivery system. 😋

My recipe for the very best gluten free vanilla cake is one of the most popular recipes on this site. It is truly perfect in every possible way—and it does happen to make very nice cupcakes. But it requires some sifting and other fussiness in the method, and the cupcakes don’t bake up as flat.

These gluten free vanilla cupcakes effortlessly rise into a flat top, anddon’t require any sifting of the dry ingredients. Just be sure not to overfill the wells of the cupcake tin (2/3 of the way full is absolutely perfect), bake at no more than 325°F, and only until the tops spring back when pressed very lightly in the center. The toothpick test is not the best test for doneness here.

Speaking of Frosting…

Although I do love a traditional buttercream frosting, my favorite vanilla frosting is this “Best” Vanilla Frosting. It’s a cooked flour frosting that can be made in stages. Instead of relying upon confectioners’ sugar for the proper consistency,

Since it doesn’t rely upon confectioners’ sugar for the proper consistency, a cooked flour frosting has significantly less sugar than buttercream. And it’s soft and velvety, but still stable at room temperature.

I haven’t ever tried making it with dairy-free butter, I’m afraid. I bet it would work with butter-flavored Spectrum nonhydrogenated shortening, though.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Dairy: These cupcakes can easily be made dairy free by using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or butter-flavored nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening in place of butter. Nondairy milk (I like unsweetened almond milk—be sure your nondairy milk is not nonfat) works well in place of cow’s milk.

Eggs: It’s a little tricky to replace the egg and egg white here than it would be if the recipe called only for whole eggs. I haven’t tried it, but you can try replacing the egg and egg white with 1 1/2 chia eggs. Be sure to use ground chia seeds, not whole seeds, though. And avoid flax eggs, particularly in a recipe as simple as this, as flax has a strong flavor.

Sugar: If you need to replace the granulated sugar, I always recommend trying Truvia baking blend sugar.

Click play ▶️ to watch this quick how-to video. For visual learners, and the generally curious!

These simple vegan vanilla cupcakes are the perfect mid-week treat: quick and easy to make, as well as ridiculously delicious. At the same time, they can easily be tweaked to be the centrepiece at any celebration. I’m sure these gluten free vegan cupcakes will become your favourite go-to cupcake recipe!

It’s my birthday today. And if you asked me how old I am… give me a minute. Or two. My age seems to be something that I never remember – probably because I don’t find it all that important. But, if you’re wondering (and you probably aren’t): I’m 24.

I don’t feel 24. I remember thinking, when I was about 14, how adult and mature 24-year-olds appear. 10 years later, I’m still a student (PhD student, but a student all the same) at Oxford – and if there’s one thing about Oxford, with it’s old buildings and spires, hordes of students and tourists (and let’s not forget the squirrels)… it’s that it keeps you in a bubble. I’ve been in Oxford for 6 years now, first as an undergraduate and now as a postgraduate – and the bubble persists.

It’s a bit different now at least, with the blogging – it forces me to poke my head out of the Oxford bubble and the Chemistry haze that I was in during undergraduate years, when even in sleep I couldn’t escape chemical reactions and molecular structures that were floating through my mind. Nowadays, I often fall asleep to the images of brownies and salted caramel, only to find myself dreaming about the science of baking powder vs baking soda.

But I think this feeling is shared by many of my generation – this feeling that adulting is hard and what does it mean to be an adult anyway? We’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure. (Fingers crossed and knock on wood.)

Anyway, because it’s my birthday I thought these vegan vanilla cupcakes were the perfect thing to share with you today. (It’s mostly because there’s sprinkles and in my mind sprinkles = celebration.)

We’ve been on something of a vegan baking adventure lately. haven’t we? First, with the decadently delicious vegan chocolate cake, and then with the chocolate overload that were these vegan chocolate cupcakes.

No chocolate today, surprisingly enough. Just the gentle flavour of vanilla. But that’s okay. It can’t always be all about a mountain of chocolate and salted caramel – sometimes, subtle and delicate is the way to go.

And these vegan vanilla cupcakes are all that and more. The vegan vanilla sponge is buttery and rich – even though it contains no butter or eggs. There is none of that annoying denseness that often accompanies vegan baking; instead the cupcakes are fluffy, light and moist with a wonderful golden colour (for which I’m not quite sure where it comes from – but hey, who’s complaining).

The frosting is simplicity itself, with only 3 ingredients: coconut cream, powdered sugar and vanilla paste. They are whipped into what is basically a fluffy cloud of sweet vanilla goodness and I could, quite honestly, eat this vegan frosting with a spoon.

Some colourful sprinkles finish off the vegan vanilla cupcakes – and doesn’t that burst of colour just bring a smile to your face?

I think we can all agree that this vegan cupcake recipe is the very definition of quick and easy. With only very simple ingredients (that you can easily get in pretty much any grocery store) and requiring less that 45 minutes, you can whip up these lovelies even in the middle of the week when a cupcake craving strikes.

But at the same time, they are fun and fancy enough for any party or celebration – by just changing the sprinkles and cupcake liners you use, they can be either a wedding centrepiece, or a kids party treat.

So there you have it: simple gluten free vegan vanilla cupcakes, easily adaptable for all occasions, as well as quick and easy to make. What’s not to love?

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If you need to make gluten free chocolate cupcakes and you only want the best, easy recipe, the search is over! These perfectly moist and tender cakes are even naturally dairy free.

Whenever one of my 3 children has a birthday coming up, the most important question is always the same: What sort of birthday cake this year? You can’t very well celebrate 🎉 without cake (can you?).

The lucky ducks, they know of all manner of cakes and can never seem to choose easily. An embarrassment of riches! To help narrow things down, I begin by asking them to pick a lane: chocolate or vanilla. Within each lane, there are endless varieties, but it does help to create a fork 🍴 in the road.

Above all, though, I try to talk them into cupcakes instead of a cake. Cupcakes are so easy to make, store, transport and even eat! A perfect gluten free chocolate cake is, of course, a favorite year after year. But you can’t beat a cupcake for ease of storage—both before serving and if there are leftovers.

Of course, I have a simple and reliable recipe for gluten free vanilla cupcakes, if you’ve got a vanilla sort of birthday boy or girl. In fact, I’m usually a vanilla cake sort of girl. But these chocolate cupcakes are deep and chocolatey without ever being too rich. In other words, they’re truly perfect.

What makes this recipe so easy

Since the only ingredient that has to be brought to room temperature is the eggs, this is the sort of recipe that is so easy to make at the last minute. If you’ve forgotten to leave eggs out on the counter in advance, just float two eggs in very warm (but not hot) water for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

This recipe is made in one single bowl. The dry ingredients, plus the sugar, are whisked together, then the wet ingredients are added all at once. Finally, the smooth batter is whisked together. That’s it.

Leftovers can be cooled completely, then frozen in a single layer on a baking sheet before being piled into a freezer-safe zip-top bag and stored in the freezer. Just defrost them at room temperature before frosting and serving.

A word about frosting

A classic buttercream frosting is a wonder of simplicity, made with little more than butter (or a mix of butter and shortening) and confectioners’ sugar. It can even be made into chocolate buttercream by adding melted chocolate and/or unsweetened cocoa powder. But I rarely make buttercream frosting. 😮

I find that it’s just too sweet, no matter how I make it. The confectioners’ sugar not only provides sweetness, but it also provides structure to the frosting. So skimping on sugar just really isn’t an option.

Buttercream does look beautiful in photos, so I will make it for that purpose. But when I’m making frosting for taste, rather than for looks, I prefer a whipped chocolate ganache (recipe below) for chocolate and my cooked flour vanilla frosting for vanilla. Both have much less sugar than buttercream, and lovely flavor.

These cupcakes rise to a relatively flat top, as they should when they are meant as a vehicle for frosting. They’re not muffins, after all. They’re cupcakes, and they should behave accordingly!

If it’s particularly important to you that the cupcakes don’t rise above the liners, just be sure to fill each well a scant 2/3 of the way full. I simply divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin wells since I don’t want to have any leftover batter.

Ingredients and Substitutions

This is a very, very simple recipe. I recommend making it as written if at all possible. But if you have additional dietary preferences and requirements, here are my educated guesses about making substitutions.

Dairy-free: The cupcake portion of this recipe is naturally dairy free, as it calls for a neutral oil instead of butter. If you choose to use 1/2 cup of milk in place of the 1/2 cup of water in the recipe, just use a nondairy milk (provided it is not nonfat and is unsweetened).

To make the whipped ganache frosting dairy free, just use dairy-free chopped chocolate and full fat canned coconut milk in place of heavy whipping cream. The ganache will be slightly less smooth and easy to pipe, but it will still work!

Egg-free: These cupcakes call for 2 eggs in 12 cupcakes, which is at the upper limit of my recommendations for using a “chia egg” as an egg replacement. A “chia egg” is simply 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, and allowed to gel. I haven’t tried the recipe with this replacement, though, so you’ll have to experiment!

Last Update September 30, 2019 By flippindelicious Leave a Comment

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Classic Dairy Free Gluten Free Yellow Cupcakes are tender with a velvety crumb with this gluten free yellow cupcake recipe making a perfect dozen! Just add a swirl of your favorite frosting!

Nothing beats a classic gluten free yellow cupcake, if done well.

It needs to be moist and tender with a delicate crumb. The tricky thing with gluten free cupcakes is that a moist and tender cupcake will easily turn into a pile of crumbs.

But who wants that?

Definitely not me!

I spent hours working on my gluten free yellow cake recipe to make it just perfect. I’ve baked my gluten free yellow cake batter into cupcakes before with delicious results.

Hands down, my gluten free yellow cake is one of my very favorite gluten free cake recipes!

For my birthday a few months ago, my friend Chrystal from Gluten Free Palate sent me the cutest cupcake decorating set with unicorn and rainbow cupcake toppers. As soon as we opened Chrystal’s package, my kids were begging me to make cupcakes with them.

We had the owners of my hubby’s company (he is a computer programmer) over for dinner, and it seemed like the perfect time to use the unicorn decorating kit and to make some gluten free yellow cupcakes. Two birds, one stone.

If you ever come to dinner at my house you just may be forced to eat a very sprinkled bright pink cupcake. You never know.

Luckily, they were fans of unicorns and rainbows, which won them some points in my book.

Us grown-ups started sipping some watermelon margaritas while we fired up the grill and the kids went to town with the sprinkles in the kitchen. I frosted the cupcakes, and they decorated them all while we visited!

I’m sure you can imagine the mess the made. I think they used an entire bottle of sanding sugar. It took days to vacuum up the pink non pareils!

I made a few changes to my gluten free yellow cake recipe so this gluten free yellow cupcake recipe makes a perfect dozen cupcakes! I didn’t want to make cupcakes for a huge crowd, just enough for our family and a few friends.

How to make gluten free moist yellow cupcakes from scratch?

What makes a yellow cake a yellow cake is the addition of extra egg yolks.

The egg yolks add a richness and tenderness to the cake without making it oily. I feel that the extra egg yolks make a huge difference in the final texture and perfect crumb.

The egg yolks gently bind the flour, sugar, and fat together without making it eggy, like a lot of whole eggs would.

Another secret to a tender gluten free yellow cupcake is to use buttermilk.

I made these gluten free yellow cupcakes dairy free, so I used some dairy free milk and added a little white vinegar to it to achieve the same effect.

It is really important to use either buttermilk or the dairy free buttermilk hack above or your cake won’t rise right. This is because the buttermilk (or vinegar) reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to help your cake rise.

What is the best method to mix a cake?

Did you know what order you mix the ingredients in makes a big difference? I made one technique change and was really happy with the result.

There are three traditional methods or techniques for mixing cake batter.

• “Muffin Method”- dry and wet ingredients are mixed separately, and then combined.
• “Creaming Method”- fat and sugar are creamed together first. Then the eggs are added followed by the flour and milk.
• “Two-Step Method/ modified biscuit method”- flour and sugar and mixed together, then the fat is added and mixed until there is an even sandy texture. The milk, eggs, and oil are then added.

There isn’t one method that is inherently the best method to mix a cake. It depending on your priorities and desired result.

Which mixing method is best for gluten free yellow cupcakes?

My go-to is the muffin method just because it is so easy!

I try to avoid using the creaming method for gluten free cakes and gluten free cupcake recipes because I feel like it makes more of a dry cake, though it works really well for gluten free pound cake. Whenever you need a cake with great structure, like if you are stacking several tiers, the creaming method will help you achieve that.

When baking these cupcakes, I tried the two-step method and I loved the results! This is also called the high-ratio method, however usually the high-ratio also refers to a high ration of sugar to flour, at least as much sugar as flour if not more!

You can also think of it as being similar to the “biscuit method” where fat is cut into the flour and other dry ingredients. The only difference is we are using a liquid fat.

The fat coats all of the flour granules, helping to ensure it is evenly distributed. In traditional baking, this also prevents the development of gluten which makes a more tender finished product. However, we don’t have to worry about gluten development since this recipe is gluten free.

The two-step method gave the cupcakes a very tender and velvety texture, and gave them an even rise.

Just look at those perfectly domed gluten free cupcakes!

The two-step method does mean you’ll probably want to pull out a hand-held or stand electric mixer. Since you are using oil and not softened butter you could use a whisk, just know that it will take a bit more elbow grease. When you are using the muffin method you can get away with a whisk and bowl more easily.

It does take a little more effort to use the two-step method, so if you are baking in a rush, you can revert to the muffin method and will still have great results.

If you are looking for a lower-carb cupcake, my friend Lindsay has a great Keto Cupcakes recipe for you.

If you want the same cupcake wrappers and toppers that Chrystal gave me, I found them on Amazon.

These simple gluten free vanilla cupcakes are super moist thanks to the addition of sour cream. They’re light, airy, and ready for any frosting you want to add!

Hey guys, today is a great day! Why? Because we’ve got cupcakes! These aren’t just any cupcakes though, they’re super moist gluten free vanilla cupcakes. And there isn’t a dry crumb in site!

What The Fork Food Blog recently turned 3 and I thought cupcakes would be the perfect way to celebrate. We’ve come a long way since our first post, Homemade Honey Butter. You guys, those photos are awful . But the honey butter, SO GOOD. Also good? These gluten free vanilla cupcakes .

Lately, I’ve been doing some experimenting with sour cream in baked goods. I used to use it more before we found out Kelsey was lactose intolerant but I’ve kind of missed using it in baked goods. It really adds something special. And by special, I mean it makes baked goods SO super moist.

Usually recipes call for about 1/2 – 1 cup of sour cream in a recipe. I hate having a small amount left in the container because we don’t eat sour cream as a condiment on things like baked potatoes or nachos. So, I decided to throw the whole 16 oz. container of sour cream into the batter and see how it would go.

YOU GUYS. It was AMAZING. As you can see, this recipe doesn’t call for any extra liquid other than the eggs or the oil. The sour cream replaces the milk and then some! You really need to try these, you will be in love as much as I am! I even almost contemplated naming these sour cream cupcakes instead of vanilla cupcakes.

But big question, what if you really can’t have dairy? No worries. You can replace the sour cream with non-dairy yogurt mixed with some white vinegar. You could even use dairy free sour cream if you can find it. Top them with your favorite frosting – I used my vegan chocolate frosting but you could easily replace the vegan butter and shortening with plain old butter and use heavy cream or milk instead of the coconut milk.

These would also be wonderful with cream cheese frosting . Or if you have room in the fridge before your party to house 2 dozen cupcakes, white chocolate ganache whipped cream would taste like heaven. Enjoy!

Just like classic cupcakes, these chocolate cupcakes are made with a flour, sugar, cocoa powder, fat, eggs, and flavorings. The difference is that these ingredients have been given a bit of a makeover to fit my style.

How to make Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

As I prefer to bake without sugar or grain, these cupcakes are made with coconut flour and the Lakanto Sugar alternative. Instead of using processed vegetable oil or animal-derived fat, I use coconut oil for all the richness without any of the inflammatory effects of unhealthy fats. The batter also has 6 eggs, which can be replaced with flax egg for those who are vegan or allergic to eggs.

Last, but certainly not least, these Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes are packed with cocoa powder — meaning they are super decadent, perfect of all you chocolate fiends. Chocolate is not only one of my favorite flavors, but it also happens to be pretty good for you as it’s full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals!

How to Make Refined Sugar Free Cupcakes

Instead of using refined sugar, these cupcakes are made with a sugar alternative called Lakanto Sugar. Lakanto is a brand of monkfruit-based sweetener that I really love. This sugar alternative is naturally derived, has no after taste, is zero glycemic, and can be used 1:1 for sugar in baking. Monkfruit comes mostly from remote mountains in Southern China, which sounds about has hidden-treasure-y as you can get. In reality, they’re small melons!

As far as I’m concerned, using this in place of sugar is a no-brainer, as we all know sugar in excess is not really conducive to a healthy lifestyle. Sugar can take you for a ride, causing a blood sugar spike that ultimately leads to a crash. Because of this, I really like to experiment with alternative sugars so I can have my cake and eat it too without any of the stress it puts on my body throughout the day.

That said, there are other sources of unrefined sugar I love too, like coconut sugar, date sugar, or even Swerve — which will all also work in this recipe.

How to make Vegan Refined Sugar-Free Chocolate Frosting

We all know it: the frosting is always the best part of any cupcake.

Yes, Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes need to be moist, rich, and delicious, which they are… but it’s only once frosted that a cupcake is complete. There’s something about the contrast of soft chocolaty cupcake and rich, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate frosting that really makes my heart sing.

If you’re like me, though, you require super rich chocolate frosting — but you don’t want any of the refined sugars or unhealthy fats. This chocolate frosting happens to be vegan, just 2 ingredients, and sans sugar or butter. So what the heck is it? It just coconut cream and melted chocolate and that’s it!

To make it, I simply melt Lily’s vegan sugar-free chocolate (or whatever your favorite brand of vegan, sugar-free chocolate is) then mix it with a tin of coconut cream. After this mixture comes together it can be poured as a glaze or turned into a light fluffy frosting. By chilling then whipping this mixture, I create a buttercream-like texture without any butter or sugar. The result is truly a magical chocolate frosting!

If you’re looking for a lower fat options

These cupcakes are made with full-fat coconut milk and full-fat coconut cream, which are a great source of healthy fat! If you are looking for a way to lower the fat content then you can use reduced fat coconut milk instead. I personally prefer the richness provided by full-fat coconut milk.

Chocolate Cupcakes That You Can Eat With No Regret

And I mean it hahah…

…these are truly guilt-free and finger-licking good chocolate cupcakes that are safe to eat if you are gluten or dairy intolerant or if you are just a chocolate lover as I am.

As always, choosing ingredients and balancing them is the key to the fusion of flavours you want to experience with every single bite. For these cupcakes, I used two types of sweetener – maple syrup and coconut sugar and they mingle very nicely to give a caramel taste. Chocolate cupcakes need to be chocolaty, so I used good-quality cacao powder and a bit of cinnamon for a lovely fragrance.

As for the wet ingredients, I used olive and coconut oil. I found that the combination of these two oils gives a very nice flavour to the cupcakes and I loved it. Since I wanted this recipe to be really velvety and decadent, I used coconut milk. I prefer making coconut milk on my own when I have coconuts lying around in my pantry. If you are opting for an easy option of buying canned coconut milk, check out my blog post on how to choose good-quality coconut milk and make your own one .

And finally, I chose to add some free-range eggs to the recipe, which makes it a problem for all those vegan souls out there. These cupcakes are dairy-free, gluten-free and nut-free but we can make them egg-free and vegan-friendly as well, and that’s the beauty of this recipe. @allvegansouls You can use flax as an egg replacement and still enjoy these totally epic cupcakes.

Wait, Are You Saying These Divine Chocolate Cupcakes Don’t Need Any Flour?

I bet you are wondering how all of these ingredients will hold together without any flour. The star of this recipe is believe it or not – quinoa! If you never used quinoa in desserts, now is the time! Besides keeping the batter together, quinoa also adds certain fluffiness and moisture to the cake and just a subtle hint of that nutty, quinoa flavour.

The danger with quinoa is that it needs to be perfectly cooked, otherwise, it will turn mushy.

I have a trick for cooking quinoa perfectly every time and I’m eager to share it with you – check out my blog on quinoa . In case you don’t want to use quinoa or you are allergic to it, you can replace it with buckwheat.

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free & Nut-Free Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked Quinoa
• 1 ⅓ cup Coconut Sugar
• 1 ½ cup Cacao Powder
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• ¼ tsp Salt

• 3 Eggs
• ½ cup Coconut Oil
• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• 1 cup Coconut Milk
• ½ cup Maple Syrup

Method

• Preheat your oven to 170C / 340F.
• Prepare a cupcake tin and 12 cupcake paper cups and set aside .
• Add all the ingredients to a food processor and process for about 10 seconds.

• Pour ⅓ cup of the batter into each paper cup and bake for about 25 minutes.
• When done, allow the cupcakes to cool down on a wire rack.
• Pipe my dairy-free, refined sugar-free frosting on top of the cupcakes and serve .

Makes: 12 cupcakes

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Freezer-friendly: No

C, GF, DF, RSF, NF, VEG

The end product is absolutely amazing! Check out the video on my YouTube channel to see how gorgeous the cupcakes look like. They are packed with that chocolate flavour we all love, and you can even feel a subtle crunchiness of quinoa that resembles chocolate chips. Lol.

I usually top these cupcakes with thick and rich guilt-free chocolate icing . And I know what some of you may be thinking – “OMG Cynthia, these cupcakes look amazing but I’m trying to cut down on sugar.”

What you are trying to cut down on is that industrially processed white sugar that does harm to our organs. Maple syrup, coconut sugar, and honey are natural sweeteners with limited human interference and when you serve this to yourself, your organs know exactly what to do with it.

Plus, you know that crash that you experience after eating sweets? That happens when we eat crappy desserts full of processed ingredients. That never happens with wholefood sweets. So, enjoy the ingredients coming from nature, enjoy guilt-free wholefood meals and let me know how these absolutely divine chocolate cupcakes turned out for you.

With love, from my kitchen to yours,

Chef Cynthia Louise xx

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About the Author

Chef Cynthia Louise is an Internationally acclaimed MasterChef, speaker, author, restaurant consultant, teacher and television presenter in wholefood, dairy-free cooking. She also has the worlds first online cooking classes focused on dairy-free plant-based whole foods with recipes that people are raving about and changing people’s health, one delicious bite at a time. Chef Cynthia loves nothing more than educating people about the simplicity and vitality of a plant-based, whole foods lifestyle. Each dish is like art on a plate and her flavour combinations nourish the soul and get everyone talking.

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How To Make Gluten Free Cupcakes

Cool Toys Pic of the day – Is That Gluten Free?

Is That Gluten Free is an app, available for both iPhone and Android. I’m new to the gluten free lifestyle, and found early on that I had a tendency to buy things I thought were safe, and then go through this detective hunt to try to track down what was causing my reactions. This is still going on, and I’ve become increasingly leary of buying anything processed in the slightest. I can’t tell you how often I’ll be shopping and will whip out the phone to check some obscure ingredient to assess how much risk I think it will be for me.

The app allows you to scan for safe foods by:
– category (craving cupcakes? Which are safe?)
– company (who should you trust?)
– ingredients.
Within ingredients you are able to search the huge database, browse alphabetically, and sort the list into subsections of everything safe or everything not safe. I particularly love the explanation of their methodology, the explanatory notes, and the ability to add your own notes. This has been an excellent buy. It doesn’t stop me from making mistakes, but I am certain I make far fewer of them than I would otherwise!!

followed a magnolia recipe but replaced plain and self raising flour with rye and soy flour and self-raising gluten free flour.

replaced egg with soft tofu and shoved some chocolate on the inside… delicious!

(though not entirely vegan due to 100s and 1000s. damn them and their colourful temptation-ness)

NOW! question: how does one get that ridiculously whippy look of buttercream icing so it makes a nice ‘ploop’ on the cake rather than just a sweet ‘slop’ like this? i couldn’t figure it out!