Author: It's beginning to look a lot like deliciousness, everywhere you go! (Sung in brilliantly, gorgeous, singing voice, of course).
These Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes are my new favourites. Rich, Christmas spices, a moist and chewy cake, making that perfect gingerbread texture (in my not so humble opinion). All topped with a salted caramel gingerbread frosting. Let's say that again, salted caramel gingerbread frosting. I mean really, is there anything else you need in life? A spoon maybe?
This recipe took some serious work in the kitchen. Serious = lots of batter eating. You might have seen my sunken cupcake attempt on Instagram or Facebook, but not to worry, I figured it out. The secret? Three tips!
- Preheat your oven, no last minute warm ups. Some older ovens can take a long time to heat up properly.
- Don't over mix your batter! You will kill all those lovely fluffy bubbles you need.
- No peeking! Once those cupcakes are in the oven, I absolutely forbid you to open that oven door until the 20 minute mark.
Three tips to this deliciousness. Just look at these babies, how can you resist taking an enormous, frosting covered bite out of these gorgeous Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes?
To make vegan gingerbread cupcakes:
Let's get baking! In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients. Then in another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet into dry and mix until just combined. Make sure to give that batter a taste because you won't be sorry.
Divide the batter among 12 cucpake liners.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Wait until completely cooled to frost.
Beat all the frosting ingredients together until fluffy and delicious.
Add a big 'ol dollop of frosting on top, and devour.
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes
Servings: cupcakes
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Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup light molasses (not blackstrap), (regular unsulfured molasses)
- ½ cup plant-based milk, (such as oat or soy)
- ⅓ cup light oil, (such as canola or vegetable)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Frosting:
- ½ cup vegan butter, cold
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, (or substitute with more vegan butter)
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup light molasses (not blackstrap), (regular unsulfured molasses)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon plant-based milk, (such as oat or soy)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners or lightly grease the pan.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until well combined.
- Combine the Wet Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the molasses, plant-based milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
- Make the Batter: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined—avoid overmixing to keep the cupcakes light and fluffy.
- Bake the Cupcakes: Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together the vegan butter, shortening, powdered sugar, molasses, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and plant-based milk until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Frost the Cupcakes: Once the cupcakes are completely cool, frost them generously with the salted caramel gingerbread frosting.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- The cupcakes freeze well (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months.
Carolyn says
This recipe is my new favorite! My book club friends loved the cupcakes and we are usually a group who needs a chocolate fix. 🙂 I'd love to use the recipe to make a bundt cake for another holiday get-together. Would doubling the cake recipe work?
Sam Turnbull says
Oh yay! So glad everyone loved them so much 🙂 One batch of the recipe would make a 9" layer, so doubling it could get you two 9" layers. The baking time might be closer to 40 minutes. Just keep an eye on them, you will know when they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
Kelsei says
Hello, these look delicious and I'm planning on making them for Christmas! I have a question though and it may sound silly, but why is the icing described using the word caramel? Is it because of the color, since there's no caramel in it? Thank you 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
It just tastes like salted caramel 🙂 I hope you love them!
Diana says
These look fantastic! I haven't been able to locate the vegan shortening though... is there something I could substitute with? I'm not vegan but am doing these for a work holiday party with a number of vegans/vegetarians attending.
Sam Turnbull says
Vegetable shortening isvery common and should be in your baking isle. One common brand is Crisco. If you still can't find it, you can replace the shortening with more vegan butter. The vegan butter might melt, so just make sure to keep the cake cool. Hope that helps!
Brandon Lillibridge says
Thank you for being such a reliable recipe source! I made these a couple days ago and they disappeared so fast...I told myself it would be a once in a year type recipe but I miss them already so I'm making them again tomorrow and doubling the batch. Great for holiday giveaway treats 🙂 Keep being awesome.
Sam Turnbull says
Awww best compliment! You're so welcome Brandon, I'm glad you love my recipes 🙂
Jane says
OMG, these are simply to die for!! I made half the batch to try and they were gone even before I had a chance to make the frosting! (Hubby and two little girls, 7 and 4 ate them all up, hubby was the greedy one, age 3!!). We're not vegan but we love vegan cupcakes as they're so much lighter and lovelier.
I didn't change a thing to this recipe - so perfectly light, moist, taste of Christmas. I'm going to make these for our family Christmas lunch! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha! 1/2 a batch will never be enough cupcakes!! So happy you and your family devoured them 🙂
Sapna Shah says
The texture of cake is wonderful and the flavours of the spices all come through and really do taste of gingerbread.Nothing at all I would change,, thank you for sharing this delight of a recipe with us all!
Sapna Shah says
Forgot to give some stars!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww what a compliment! You're very welcome Sapna 🙂
Tazmen says
These are delightful!
Gingerbread is my favorite holiday treat so I did a test run today to see if I wanted to make them for Thanksgiving and Cristmas and you can bet they are on the list!!
They are spicy and gingery, though I did over bake them a bit so they came out a little chewy. I added some fresh grated ginger root to the batter too! The frosting was yummy, and added more powdered sugar to stiffen it a little.
These are my new favorite cupcake
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!! I love that. So happy you loved them so much Tazmen. I hope your family does as well 😀
Shayna says
I made these today and the recipe is absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, although I don't think it's the fault of the recipe, they would not easily come out of their liners and I had to peel the liners off in pieces. I've used the liners before without a problem, any idea how I can fix this for next time?
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you loved them! My favourite are parchment liners or silicon liners both never stick. Otherwise you could try lightly spraying the liners with spray oil before filling them. Hope that helps!
VeganPeep says
These are so good that I've made three batches of them in one week. They have been a birthday breakfast, they have impressed my boss, and they have been one of the things a very sick friend can eat right now (in addition to just me eating a ton of them). So, thanks for posting this, it's fantastic. 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! I love that! So very happy you love the cupcakes so much. I love wooing people with vegan treats! 🙂
Kaila@HealthyHelperBlog says
I WANT THEM ALL!! OMG these look so fluffy and delicious! Especially that icing! You seriously can do no wrong when it comes to gingerbread.
Sam says
Right!? Gingerbread for the win!!! I love these cupcakes!
Katie says
Can this recipe subbed for a cake recipe?
Sam says
Hi Katie,
Yes it should work fine. The recipe would make one 8" round cake, and might take a little longer to bake. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out clean. Enjoy!
Melissa says
I made these today and they are so good! Keeper!
Sam says
Oh yay! So happy you love them Melissa! I just posted a recipe for chocolate cake too 😉
Lauren N says
Those look so yummy! The frosting is making me drool lol I'm going to have to make these for the holidays =)
Thanks!
Sam says
Aww you're welcome!! Enjoy!
Jim says
UK metric values and 'translations' (sorry, I'm not a fan of frosting so didn't make that)...
Dry Ingredients:
220g plain flour
100g Soft Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoon Ginger
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Ground Cloves
Wet Ingredients:
180g Molasses
120g Non-Dairy Milk of Choice
60g Vegetable Oil (or other light oil)
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Very straightforward to make, feels a bit early for Christmas today though.
Sam says
Haha, yes very Christmas-y. Enjoy!
Keren says
Just wondering how long these last?
Sam says
I find cupcakes are always best in the first two days, and after that they tend to get a bit dried out.
Anonymous says
I ate all of them.
Sam says
Haha! That's the right number to eat!
Monica Moore says
I found this recipe via Pinterest and made them for my family for Xmas. They were DELICIOUS!
Samantha Turnbull says
Aren't they!? So glad you tried them out Monica. I love them too. I always need excuses to make cupcakes! haha
Linda Warren Seely says
What is icing sugar?
Samantha Turnbull says
Hi Linda, just another name for confectioners sugar, or powdered sugar. 🙂
Kathy says
Oh wow...these look luscious!! Thank you!! I love gingerbread...one of my faves!!!
Samantha Turnbull says
You're welcome Kathy! I love gingerbread too! Such a yummy holiday treat.
Azu says
They look delicious! I love the texture of muffins made with oil instead of butter. Pinned!
Samantha Turnbull says
Thank you Azu, and thank you for sharing 🙂