Now, now, I know what you’re thinking – last week you posted a recipe for creamy chicken and rice soup, amIright? Fair enough. I’ve been making these vegan red velvet cupcakes for years! I discovered them during my vegan “exploratory” period (didn’t end well, obviously) and was so blown away that they became my go-to recipe ever since. I’ve probably made this recipe, oh, thirty times in my life, I kid you not.
In fact, I made these suckers for O when he came over for dinner the first time. I had a dozen casually strewn about on a cupcake stand–casually–like I whipped up a batch according to my tempestuous craving du jour. A few months later, he proposed. Coincidence?
What do you think?
These vegan red velvet cupcakes are so, so moist, with just the perfect amount of cocoa, a strong depth of flavor, and simply the perfect texture. Naturally, if you are not vegan, you can top them with regular, ole omnivorean cream cheese frosting like I did, but it’s simple to substitute out vegan-friendly cream cheese, like Tofutti, and butter, like Earth Balance.
Have you ever heard of “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World”? Even if you’re a meat and butter-eater, you might have heard of the total glory of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s incredible recipes. No shame, there’s no adaptation here; I use her recipe verbatim.
A few months back I posted my ultimate favorite recipe for red velvet cake, so why the change of heart, you ask? No change! I love that super dense, super moist, slightly more involved recipe for layer cake, and I will never stray–never, I say! But for a quick batch of cupcakes, this super simple, super easy, no-mixer-involved recipe is my permanent go-to.
Make these. You’ll thank me. So… you’re welcome. Yep. In advance.
Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetarian red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon chocolate extract (I never have this! If you don't either, Isa recommends upping the vanilla extract to 2 1/2 teaspoons and almond extract to 1/2 teaspoon)
- One batch of my <a href="http://thestylistquo.com/red-velvet/">cream cheese frosting</a> , vegan substitutions used if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Whisk together soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle, about 5 - 10 minutes.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl and mix.
- Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract, and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear.
- Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds full (these cupcakes will rise fairly high). Place in preheated oven and bake 18 to 20 minutes, but be sure not to overbake. Use a toothpick inserted in the center to tell--the toothpick will be red, but there should not be any batter or gooey crumbs sticking. When done, let cool for a few minutes then transfer cupcakes to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Frost with cream cheese frosting. These look especially awesome with a piped swirl! Try a Wilton 2A round tip to achieve a perfect swirl.
Recipe Notes
I've used regular milk in place of the soy milk with beautiful results, but it won't curdle the same. I leave it aside for ten minutes anyway.
Sasha Ludwig says
July 28, 2018 at 12:34 pmHi there! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I’m in the middle of making these right now and I noticed the batter is really runny. Is this normal?
Cheryl Malik says
July 28, 2018 at 12:56 pmIt won’t be as thick as like a cake batter but shouldn’t be SUPER runny
Ultimate Slim Pills says
April 10, 2018 at 5:56 pmExcellent website. Lots of useful info here. I’m sending it to a few pals ans
also sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks for
your effort!
Gabrielle says
February 13, 2018 at 7:13 pmCan I use coconut oil instead of canola and also can I omit the cream cheese what can I substitute for that.?
Cheryl Malik says
February 14, 2018 at 4:48 pmYou could try a different vegan frosting if you do not want to make the cream cheese frosting. You can try my paleo/vegan cream cheese frosting here:
https://40aprons.com/paleo-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/
You can use coconut oil instead of canola oil, too.
Florence Dixon says
August 18, 2015 at 2:54 pmHi, I was just wondering if almond milk works instead of soy milk because I have tried and the almond milk doesn’t seem to curdle, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong…
Cheryl Malik says
August 18, 2015 at 5:15 pmThese will work with the almond milk but it tends to not curdle quite as much. I figure it’s just a texture/fat thing? But either way, it will work!
Eshwari Vasuthewan says
May 12, 2015 at 2:24 amI am looking for a red velvet cupcake for a friend of mine. She is gluten intolerant and is on a sugar free diet.
Miriam says
February 19, 2015 at 1:05 pmThank you for this great recipe. I actually made this gluten free as well as I have a friend who is allergic to both gluten and dairy products. The cupcakes turned out amazing and my friend got to enjoy her first ever red velvet cupcake
Cheryl Malik says
August 18, 2015 at 5:17 pmAwesome! What did you use in place of the AP flour?
Vaishnavi Krishnan says
December 31, 2014 at 10:08 amThank you so much for sharing this recipe! 🙂 I tried these today and they turned out amazing! However, to give it a healthier twist, I changed up the recipe a little. I used one table spoon of food coloring and a handful of fresh shredded organic beetroot! Turned out amazing! I now have the perfect red velvet cupcake recipe.
How do these turn out when used to make a cake? Since the batter is a little more liquidy than normal cake batter, does it stick to the pan?
Cheryl Malik says
January 8, 2015 at 12:35 pmThat’s an awesome idea! I bet it deepened the flavor perfectly too. I’ve used this recipe to make cakes so many times.. it really doesn’t stick to the pan at all! What I do is grease the pan then “flour” it with some cocoa powder and it turns out perfectly
Christine says
December 14, 2014 at 12:11 amHi! I’m going to try this recipe soon.
Just a very quick, yet important note; some red food coloring is not vegetarian, nor vegan. E120 (Carmine or Cohinical Red) is made from the female bodies of an insect. This could be very important to those who are on a strict vegetarian/vegan diet for ethical reasons etc, and for those who bake these cupcakes to friends and family that are vegan.
Cheers,
Christine Dahl
Cheryl Malik says
December 20, 2014 at 4:13 pmYou’re very right! And I thought it was mentioned in the post; I will update 🙂 Thanks!
Scott says
October 16, 2014 at 9:39 amHey,
Just want to say thanks for the recipe. My wife is vegan and this is her favorite cupcake. I normally get her cupcakes from a vegan bakery here in Atlanta, but thought i would attempt making these cupcakes from scratch. They came out beauitful.
Thanks!
Scott F.
Atlanta, Ga
Cheryl Malik says
October 25, 2014 at 11:08 amThat is wonderful! I’m so happy she loves them. They’re easy, right? And so delicious! Thanks so much for taking the time to read, make the recipe, and comment, Scott!
Morgan says
September 25, 2014 at 11:06 pmHi There!! I was just wondering whether this recipe could be used for a layer cake instead? I really like the sound of it as a vegan cake- perhaps just tweaking a few of the ratios? Any tips would be much appreciated! Thank you!! xx Morgan
Cheryl Malik says
September 26, 2014 at 6:57 amTotally! If I were you, honestly I’d just make a little extra to be sure I has enough, but I wouldn’t otherwise change the recipe. I actually think I’ve made this as a layer cake before. And wrapped the layers in plastic wrap right out of the oven (but with enough time to cool so they didn’t uh, melt the plastic) to make them super moist. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Susannah says
September 15, 2014 at 12:11 pmHi! I don’t have any type of electric mixer, can I make the frosting with a LOT of elbow grease? I would be following the peppermint one minus the peppermint. Can I also substitute vegan margarine instead of shortening?
As for the cupcake matter itself, did I read correctly to assume that if I am only using vanilla extract (no almond or chocolate) to use 3tsp total?
One more thing, if I am making these for a Saturday event, can I make them on Thursday evening and frost them Saturday afternoon? I would likely make the frosting day-of because room-temp frosting is so much easier to manipulate, though I guess I could also make it Thursday and leave it out Friday night/Saturday morning.
Thanks in advance!
Cheryl Malik says
September 15, 2014 at 2:44 pmHi! I think that yes, you can definitely make the frosting with a lot of elbow grease. Just make sure that everything is properly creamed before adding the powdered sugar and then whisk REALLY well in between each addition. Definitely sift the powdered sugar before using. You can definitely use vegan margarine, too; I really don’t like shortening but I wanted the frosting to be a bright white. Otherwise, it’s vegan butter all the way!
And yes, LOTS of vanilla extract. Adds to that aromatic chocolate!
And yes, that should be fine. As long as you keep the cupcakes in an airtight container you should be good to go. And I agree – make the frosting in advance and leave it out for several hours or just make it that day. I’ve done that many times – no point in making the cupcakes that day and fanning them frantically because you realize you miscalculated cooling + frosting + makeup time and are running late! Or is that just me.. hrmm.. 🙂
Jen D says
July 31, 2014 at 8:23 pmthese are super amazing! I have made them a couple of times, and even was complemented by a chef at a vegan restaurant (friend took them along as a birthday cake surprise for her Vegan friend and had a spare so gave it to the chef). Just as an alternative, I have been using coconut oil instead of the canola and WOW! so yum
Cheryl Malik says
August 1, 2014 at 10:38 amI’m so so glad you like them! That’s a major compliment from the chef, too 🙂 The coconut oil sounds like it was be just awesome in these – dense but healthier, a bit aromatic. Yum! Great idea – I’ll be stealing that from you!
Trenisa says
July 21, 2014 at 9:59 amThank you so much for posting this recipe! One quick question was the soy milk unsweetened?
Cheryl Malik says
July 21, 2014 at 10:01 amYes, I typically use unsweetened!
Becky says
June 3, 2014 at 7:25 pmHello, do you have a vegan or dairy free cream cheese frosting recipe? I see your traditional one, but I’m not sure what to substitute for the cream cheese. I’ll be using almond milk instead of soy. Thanks!
Cheryl Malik says
July 21, 2014 at 10:05 amI have no idea how I never saw this until just now! I sincerely apologize. You can find my recipe on Tofutti’s site and just replace the peppermint extract with vanilla here. Or use the traditional recipe and simply substitute vegan butter and vegan cream cheese in the exact same amounts 😉
goodtogrow says
May 15, 2014 at 9:56 pmHi doll! I was hoping you could answer a question for me. I’m going to try your recipe in the next day or two, to give as a gift to a vegan friend of mine who just lost a pet. I want to do something nice for her, and came across your recipe for vegan cupcakes. My question is, is the recipe the same whether I pour the batter in a cupcake pan vs a cake pan? Does it make any difference if I use this recipe for cupcakes but then decide to make a cake instead? I guess that’s more than one question, or one question two different ways, sorry! I’m leaning toward making her the cupcakes so I can individually wrap them so they’re easier for her to freeze (because I want to do something nice, not overwhelm her), but someone told me the cake would taste better. If I could get your opinion, that would be great. Thank you!
Cheryl Hurley says
May 16, 2014 at 12:20 amHow sweet and thoughtful of you! Honestly the batter will be fine regardless of form; I’ve made it both ways. If you do go with a cake, make sure the batter is at room temp (assuming I read your question right and you’re considering making the batter for cupcakes but maybe making a cake later?), and use 8″ round pans. Also, when you pull the pans out of the oven, give them a minute or two on a wire rack then wrap them in plastic wrap. To do that, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the cake then place a wire rack on top of THAT, then flip and wrap it up. It will help retain the moisture which is fabulous in a red velvet cake. My only real requirement is that you test the cake often–give it til the recipe time and then check regularly, about every minute or so, so you don’t under- or over-bake. But it’ll taste delicious either way 🙂 you could always freeze half the cake! How awesome would it be knowing you had half a red velvet cake in your freezer at all times? Ha! Thanks for stopping by and your comment. Let me know how it goes! And my condolences to your friend. Losing a pet is just absolutely terrible
goodtogrow says
May 16, 2014 at 4:08 amThank you so much for getting back to me. That’s very kind of you. I’ve never made red velvet anything, vegan or not vegan, so it should be a good experiment. I think whether you have half a cake in the freezer, or a dozen cupcakes – either way, that’s a win.
Yeah, losing a pet sucks, especially when the pet had been totally healthy and just dropped dead out of the blue. There’s nothing I can do to stop that from sucking, but I’m hoping cupcakes will provide a temporary distraction. Thanks again for your help!
goodtogrow says
May 17, 2014 at 4:02 amOhmigosh, those are totally delicious! I tried the cupcake recipe tonight, and partway through, I remembered that I should’ve asked you about adjustments for altitude (we’re at 5000 feet) but I guess it didn’t matter because they turned out moist and tasty just like you said they would. The frosting was perfect, too. I used those vegan substitutes and they worked wonderfully.
These will make a very good gift. Thank you again!
Cheryl Hurley says
May 17, 2014 at 4:33 amI’m SO glad you liked! Yes, they’re crazy moist, I love that. I’m glad you didn’t ask about altitude because honestly I have no Idea! I’ve never really baked in high altitudes but it sounds like whatever you did worked! 🙂
nadine says
February 27, 2014 at 3:03 pmHey! I just tried these cupcakes (tried them before with ¼ of the batch and they turned out really nicely) – today the sruface is cracked and not smooth, and most importantly not flat! Do you know what could have went wrong? What could I do??
Cheryl Hurley says
February 28, 2014 at 2:04 amHmm.. that’s very odd. I can honestly say I’ve made these probably 25+ times and they always come out perfectly, IF maybe even a little moist! So cracked and not smooth is as far from that as it could possibly be. Are you using metric measurements? Converting to celsius? Make any substitutions? Did you include the stated amount of oil?
nadine says
March 13, 2014 at 11:12 amYes, I did! They are moist and really yummy, just the surface annoys me cause I don’t want to cut the top off to put the topping on smoothly… (I used almond milk, but the mixture curdled anyways…) I don’t understaaaand this!
Cheryl says
March 13, 2014 at 6:08 pmI still can’t wrap my head around why this would be happening. Are you using convection? That might have something to do with it. If you’re swirling the frosting, though, it shouldn’t make a big difference. But if you’re slathering, it might be a bit different!
nadine says
March 14, 2014 at 6:55 amnope… i really have no idea what’s going on, as it didn’t happen the first time i tried them as mini cupcakes… well, never mind – the taste is delicious and both of the times i made them the guests loved them very very much 🙂 (i made a frosting with butter and mascarpone yesterday – wasn’t too bad either 😉 thans for the recipe anyways!
Cheryl Hurley says
March 14, 2014 at 4:43 pmGlad you think they’re yummy 🙂
islandjoy says
January 25, 2014 at 11:31 pmHi. These look brill! Do you reckonI can use dates or date sugar instead of granulated. I can’t make it with regular sugar because I want to be free to eat all of them without feeling guilty!
admin says
January 26, 2014 at 12:23 amI would say yes on the date sugar. You might be able to replace some of the sugar with soaked blended dates and then ALSO remove some oil since the dates will be much denser! I would definitely recommend sucanat for a less processed sugar, since I’ve made these with it, but for something even more unprocessed try the date sugar! Let me know if you try it! 🙂
islandjoy says
January 26, 2014 at 1:18 amOh thanks. I will certainly let you know how it turns out. . .
Ivelisse says
January 16, 2014 at 2:48 amWould it be ok to substitute brown sugar and almond milk instead of what is listed?
admin says
January 16, 2014 at 2:32 pmAlmond milk would definitely work beautifully. As far as the brown sugar, I’ve never tried that, though I’ve used turbinado and sucanat very well. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! You’ll end up with a deeper flavor, which is never bad by me 🙁 Let me know how it goes!
Aisha says
December 13, 2013 at 9:44 amis it necessary to add the almond extract? cant i just go with the vanilla only?
thestylistquo says
December 13, 2013 at 3:19 pmYes, absolutely. That would be just as delicious
Mallory @ Because I Like Choco says
November 11, 2013 at 8:45 pmVegan or otherwise, these look awesome! Very cute 🙂
thestylistquo says
November 11, 2013 at 10:30 pmThanks! You can’t tell they’re vegan at all, which I love!
ateaspoonofhappiness says
October 31, 2013 at 4:10 amIt seems so weird to me that there aren’t any eggs in these cute cupcakes! I read a vegan book by accident once (I thought it was a diet book), and it mentally scarred me. I couldn’t look at meat for a long time without feeling guilty. I love that you are embracing vegan recipe even though you don’t practice the diet. If the recipe is good then it’s good!
thestylistquo says
October 31, 2013 at 2:05 pmYes.. I can’t watch any food-related movies because, when they show the awful animal conditions, I get so upset and guilt-stricken and give up meat and dairy for months! That just doesn’t work as well now that I’m cooking for a less, uh, socially-sensitive man 🙂 But yes, these cupcakes are so far beyond any other “regular” red velvet I’d ever tried that I kept it as my go-to! They don’t require any weird ingredients, though, and the chemical combination of ingredients must just be perfect. I’ve long puzzled over it.. This was actually the base recipe for all my cupcakes when I was running an ad-hoc cupcake bakery!
Emma says
March 2, 2018 at 11:57 amHi do you think macadamia nut milk would work in place of soy milk?
Also since you said it’s your base recipe – do you have a version for a vegan vanilla cake? I have never found a great one – I guess because the flavor relies so heavily on eggs and butter??
Cheryl Malik says
March 3, 2018 at 4:54 pmYou could try macadamia nut milk! I don’t have a recipe for the vegan vanilla cake anymore – I haven’t been vegan for a while 🙂 BUT Isa’s amazing cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has my favorite yellow cake recipe!
Emma says
March 5, 2018 at 1:00 pmI ended up just running out for some soy milk so I could follow the recipe exactly- these were THE BEST cupcakes I have ever made! Thank you so much for the suggestion on yellow cake – I will look that up!
Cheryl Malik says
March 5, 2018 at 4:37 pmThat is so wonderful to hear!!!
Anonymous says
October 30, 2013 at 3:44 pmMan, those look like the best cupcakes in the world! You could give Muddy’s a run for their money! Vegan is healthy too right? So I can eat as many as I want!!!!
thestylistquo says
October 30, 2013 at 5:22 pmThey’re definitely the best cupcakes I’ve ever had – and I’ve eaten at a lot bakeries! Vegan is healthy, yes, of course, so there’s one left in the kitchen.. I’ll race ya. Oh wait, you’re still at work? Seems like an unfair advantage, since I’m in the office.. too bad..