Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

These cupcakes actually started out as egg-free vanilla cupcakes for my oldest son.  But when my youngest son developed a dairy allergy (as well as an egg allergy), I decided to make these vegan vanilla cupcakes so both of them could enjoy them :-)


Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

I topped these vegan vanilla cupcakes with a rich chocolate frosting.  It's a classic combination and I think it's versatile enough that you can add other flavors to it to suit your own taste. My kids love Oreos (yup, they're vegan) so I like to chop them up and sprinkle on top.  For birthdays, I tend to go with colorful sprinkles.  And to be perfectly honest, these cupcakes taste absolutely delicious all by themselves :-)

Bitten cupcake


Note: 
If you would like to switch them back to egg-free vanilla cupcakes, simply replace the 1 cup of Spectrum organic shortening with 1 cup butter (softened to room temperature) and the 1 1/2 cups rice milk with 1 1/2 cups cow's milk (whole fat, low fat or nonfat).  For the chocolate frosting, simply replace the 3-4 tablespoons of rice milk with 3-4 tablespoons of cow's milk (whole fat, low fat or nonfat).

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Allergy note: contains wheat ingredients


3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Spectrum organic vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. corn syrup or agave nectar
2 Tbs. vinegar
4 Tbs. orange juice
1 1/2 cups rice milk
zest of one lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar till light and fluffy.  Slowly add in vanilla extract and corn syrup.  In a small mixing bowl, combine orange juice, vinegar and rice milk. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the sugar mixture until well incorporated. Pour into prepared muffin pans (about 2/3 full).

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out dry.  Let cool completely before decorating.
  
Chocolate Frosting
Makes about 2 1/2 cups frosting

1/2 cup Spectrum organic vegetable shortening (found in healthfood stores)
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
 3-4 Tbsp. rice milk

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix together vegetable shortening, powdered sugar and cocoa powder   till combined. Add vanilla extract and rice milk. Beat till light and fluffy.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

These look so cute and delicious! I can't believe they're also vegan! Love your blog :)
Bianca @ Sweet Dreaming

Lemon said...

Lovely cupcakes, they look delicious and beautiful.

alana said...

i've never seen orange juice used in cupcakes before but i'm excited to try it out now. these look really cute!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your love of baking. I have made several of your recipes and all have been great. My daughter has always had food allergies so I seek out new ideas on baking that will please her and those without allergies. This weekend I made these for her to share with her sorority sisters. Several made the comment that they were the best cupcakes they had ever had. I agree. We will continue to watch for more wonderful recipes to share with family and friends.

Kavi said...

Love it! Love the perfection! I would be honored if you could participate in my Healthy Lunch Challenge if you have the time... :D
-
Kavi | Edible Entertainment
Ongoing event: Healthy Lunch Challenge

Maggie said...

just made the frosting for another vegan cupcake recipe - BEST chocolate frosting I've ever had, vegan or non-vegan! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

would coconut oil work instead of the spectrum shortening in both the cake and frosting recipes?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all your great vegan recipes! Do you happen to have a vegan/gluten free cake recipe? Please post if so! :D

amy lynn said...

These look so yummy! Has anyone tried using a vegan margarine instead of the Spectrum shortening? I usually have "marge" on hand :) Thanks!:)

Anonymous said...

I am in a location where I cannot get corn syrup or golden syrup. Is there a substitute?

Esther Roswell said...

Made these lastnight with my daughter who is allergic to All the major allergen plus more! She and I both agree these were the fluffiest cupcake we have made so far. We used gluten free flour to accomodate her allergies. We also didn't have OJ so we used some Lemonaid we had in the fridge. Awesome recipe!! THANK YOU!!! So glad we found your blog.

chachi said...

These cupcakes are A-MA-ZING!! I thought the chocolate ones were the bomb, but I'm even crazier about these!

We figured out my 14 year old son has an egg intolerance about 2 months ago, and I've been hooked on your blog ever since....the only problem is, I've gained about 5 pounds since discovering your genius recipes!

It's worth it to see the changes in my son - when he mistakenly eat eggs now, we see the noticeable change in mood (increased anxiety, nervousness), compulsiveness, agitation and tongue/mouth sores.
This egg allergy diagnosis may be the piece of the puzzle we've been looking for to understand his behavioral and emotional issues.

Thanks for making our egg-free world so delicious!:)

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe as a cake and just wanted to share details. I halved the recipe and used a 9" square pan. It took about 40 minutes in baking time.

Kristy said...

Can you substitute butter for shortening? I cant wait to make these for my son, thank you so much for sharing

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