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Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

28 · Jan 10, 2021 · 11 Comments

Sweet Treats

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Chocolate vegan and paleo cupcakes, one with a bite taken out of it with the recipe title.

This is the BEST easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe! They are healthy, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and paleo while being moist, fluffy and oh so chocolatey!

Originally published on February 11, 2020. Last updated on January 10, 2021.

Three vegan chocolate cupcakes in a row topped with chocolate frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

Who doesn’t love a good vegan chocolate recipe?! This light and decadent vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe makes a small batch of 12 cupcakes or 8 larger sized cupcakes. They are fluffy, moist, cakey, super chocolaty, perfectly sweet and no one will guess they are vegan, gluten free and paleo! This little gluten free cake recipe is perfect topped with my Vegan Chocolate Frosting (pictured on the cupcakes below). The frosting is rich like ganache and completes the cupcakes for any festivity!

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Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcake Recipe ingredients in a metal mixing bowl before mixing.
Vegan chocolate cupcake batter in a metal mixing bowl.
Chocolate cupcake batter being portioned into the muffin pan with a cookie scoop.
Vegan Chocolate Cupcake batter in a muffin pan with liners being smoothed with a spoon.

How To Make Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes are simple to make with only a few steps.

First preheat the oven, then line a standard sized 12 cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. Mix together all of the ingredients and divide the batter evenly among the muffin liners. Bake, cool and then frost! So easy.

My Vegan Chocolate Frosting makes a lovely frosting for these cupcakes. Serve and enjoy!

Helpful Tools for making Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes:

  • muffin pan
  • parchment paper muffin liners
  • cookie scoop for the batter
  • metal cooling rack
  • frosting spatula
  • cupcake storage carrier

Chocolate Cupcakes in liners on a cooling rack.

Tips For The Best Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

These easy vegan chocolate cupcakes are quick and decedent, here are a few tips that help make them truly the BEST recipe!

  • Choosing the right almond flour – This recipe requires a blanched super fine almond flour which is not the same as almond meal.
  • Flat Cupcake Tops – Flatten the cupcake batter using the back of a spoon before baking for cupcakes with perfectly flat tops. Some cupcakes dome while cooking but these do not, however the batter lays when they go into the oven is how they will come out of the oven.
  • Storing Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes – After the cupcakes have completely cooled, store them in an airtight container on a counter for up to a week.
  • Frosting Options – You can choose to use any frosting you like! My favorite store bought frosting is this Organic Chocolate Frosting and this my favorite homemade Vegan Chocolate Frosting (as pictured on the cupcakes).
  • Frosting Spatula – You may use a piping bag if you wish but I found it easiest to frost these cupcakes using a frosting spatula and personally like the look of it.

Three Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe Questions

What kind of non-dairy milk can I use in this recipe? – You can use anything you’d like, unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk would work nicely.

Why is there vinegar in this dessert recipe? – The vinegar is an essential part of this recipe. It reacts with the baking soda to give rise to the cupcakes similar to what an egg would provide. I promise you can’t taste the vinegar!

Is there an egg replacer in this recipe? – Nope, because this recipe was created without an egg there is no egg replacement needed.

Three chocolate cupcakes with a bite out of one showing the inside.

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

  • Sunbutter Cups
  • Chocolate Peppermint Cups
  • Cassava Flour Sugar Cookies
  • Mini Key Lime Pies
  • Vegan Cheesecake

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Chocolate vegan and paleo cupcakes, one with a bite taken out of it with the recipe title.

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Vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe - three cupcakes in a row topped with chocolate frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Nicole
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 23 minutes
  • Total Time: 28 minutes
  • Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
  • Category: Sweet Treats
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These are the BEST easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes! They are healthy, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and paleo while being moist, fluffy and oh so chocolatey!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened plain non-dairy milk
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups blanched super fine almond flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard sized 12 cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
  2. In a small saucepan warm the maple syrup and coconut oil until the oil has melted then pour into your mixing bowl. (You can use a mixing bowl and whisk or stand mixer.)
  3. To the mixing bowl add the non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Stir until evenly mixed.
  4. To the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  5. Evenly divide the batter into the 12 cupcake liners, if using a cookie scoop then it’s about one heaping scoop full into each liner. Flatten the cupcake batter using the back of a spoon before baking for cupcakes with perfectly flat tops.
  6. Bake for 21-23 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  7. Remove the baking pan from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
  8. Once completely cool you may frost the cupcakes if desired. My Vegan Chocolate Frosting makes a lovely topping for these.
  9. Eat and enjoy!

Notes

* These cupcakes store well in an airtight container for up to a week. I think they are even better on the second day so they are perfect for making ahead.

Keywords: vegan chocolate cupcakes, vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe, easy vegan chocolate cupcakes, gluten free cake recipe,

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28

Sweet Treats posted by Nicole on January 10, 2021
11 Comments

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Comments

  1. Jay says

    February 19, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    Hi, can we use tapioca starch instead of arrowroot powder? If yes please let me know the quantity to be substituted

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      February 19, 2020 at 11:39 pm

      Hi Jay! I haven’t tried substituting tapioca starch for arrowroot so I’m not sure how it would respond in this recipe. If you were to try it out I’d love to hear how it goes! If I were to try the substitution I’d substitute tapioca starch equally for arrowroot powder. I hope this help!

      Reply
  2. Nichole says

    March 4, 2020 at 8:22 am

    These are delicious and so decadent! We have a coconut allergy so we substituted avocado oil for the coconut oil and they came out great!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      March 4, 2020 at 11:01 am

      Hi Nichole! Thank you for sharing, I’m glad avocado oil worked! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!

      Reply
  3. Rosanna says

    January 10, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    I don’t have almond flour. Can I just use all purpose flour?

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      January 10, 2021 at 7:46 pm

      Rosanna, I recommend sticking to the recipe as it is written since I have not tested it with all purpose flour and AP flour is not a straight across substitution for almond flour.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  4. Brenda-Lee Gagne says

    January 15, 2021 at 12:31 pm

    These are SUPER GOOD! Such rich deep chocolate flavor….. Absolutely LOVE THESE! Even my stubborn husband (againt change) loves them! He says it everytime he enjoys one. The frosting is very surprisingly delicious too … considering there is only 2 ingredients. Closest recipe to traditional frosting I have found. BTW… my husband didn’t even detect the difference. 😁
    Definately a keeper… into my favorites book it has gone. 😀
    (To keep them moist, I take them out of the oven when the toothpick still has a few crumbs on it)
    THANK YOU Nicole!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      January 15, 2021 at 9:51 pm

      Hi Brenda-Lee! You are so welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words, I’m so very glad to hear they are husband approved! And thank you for the tip on how you keep them moist!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  5. Danielle says

    February 3, 2021 at 2:15 am

    How long would you recommend baking these for in a mini muffin tin? I would like to make them for a baby shower

    Reply
  6. Lynne Turcotte says

    July 19, 2021 at 11:57 am

    These look so good. Do you know why my cupcakes or muffins get very damp on the top after I cool them completely? I put them onto a plastic container but the next time I open the lid the tops are really wet.
    Could it be because I put them into the fridge?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      July 21, 2021 at 11:20 pm

      Hi Lynne, are you saying the damp tops occur with this recipe specifically or any cupcake and muffin recipe you make?

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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