Name: Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour; 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar; 1/2 cup potato starch; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 1/2 cups almond milk; 1/2 cup avocado oil; 1 tablespoon vanilla; 1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar; 2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese; 1 tablespoon Vegan Butter; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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These absolute best and delicious vegan, gluten-free vanilla cupcakes are the perfect texture, moist and fluffy with delicious vanilla flavor.

My family and friends have been enjoying them and raving how they can’t believe they are actually gluten-free and vegan!

The soft, sweet, fluffy, moist, and vanilla flavor cupcakes are made with gluten-free flour, potato starch, almond milk, and the other essential ingredients to make perfect holiday cupcakes!

The recipe is super easy, and my family always love to have these delicious cake with buttercream frosting. You can enjoy baking them today!

Years ago, I started a vegan cake business and I loved it so much, the only problem I had was working with so much sweetener and vegan butter all the time. I scrapped the business after a while.

Over the years as I build my content out on here, I tried my best not to include desserts and bread recipes.

However this year, I was so blessed when Chef Jean joined our team. I decided it was time again to start experimenting in creating gluten-free vegan cakes and bread recipes.

So far we have made many amazing recipes including, Vegan Hummingbird Cake, Air Fryer Fruit Cake, Gluten-Free Vegan Cake.

Ingredients For Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour – most storebought brands are pretty good for this recipe. my favorite brands are Krusteaz, Pillsbury, and Bob’s Red Mill
Sugar – I used organic cane sugar, the light-colored one so that the cupcakes will turn out a creamed color.
Potato starch – adds structure, balances the texture. Don’t confuse potato flour for potato starch, they are two different ingredients. Potato starch is the actual starch that is extracted from the potatoes. It is then dried, a white powdery ingredient that has a high starch content and neutral taste. Potato flour is made from grounded dehydrated potatoes, it has a strong potato taste.
Baking powder – I used aluminum-free baking powder.
Salt – Himalayan pink salt
Almond milk – substitute with other non-dairy milk, oat, soy, rice.
Avocado oil -you can substitute with other neutral-tasting oils.
Vanilla – adds a nice flavor.

How To Make Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes?

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with muffin liners, spray or brush with oil. Set aside.
Add gluten-free flour, sugar, potato starch, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using a whisk or a handheld mixer, mix to fully combine the ingredients.
Add almond milk, avocado oil, vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth.
Fill muffin cups up and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely, then add frosting.

What Does Potato Starch Do to Cakes?

Potato starch is a white powdery substance that comes from potatoes. You need to transform your cake or cookies into a solid, cooked product to make baked goods. Overall, it’s used to thicken, texturize, and increase baked goods’ crispiness and thickness. It is also used n making soup, fillings, dishes, and so on. Substitute with arrowroot starch.

Sometimes potato starch is chosen by chefs over corn starch and other starches because of their following properties:

Got an excellent film-forming ability.
Neutral flavor.
High binding ability
High consistency in pasting and reduces viscosity when heated.
Low gelatinization temperature.
Helps to make tender and moist cake

How to Make Almond Milk at Home?

I love to have convenience store-bought almond milk, but sometimes you can enjoy it yourself. In that way, you can control the milk’s sweetness, flavors, and thickness. You don’t need to think about the time and mess as it requires only two ingredients, 10 minutes, and a blender.

Making homemade almond milk is simple, starting with soaking the almonds overnight in cool water.

Drain the water and start blending the almond with fresh water, salt, and additional add-ons like (sweetness, vanilla, berries, cocoa powder, berries, and other flavor variations) or you can skip this if you want to enjoy plain milk.

Blend the mixture for 2 minutes, then pour the milk through a nut milk bag into a mixing bowl and squeeze every bit of liquid. This DIY milk will last at least 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

How to Store Cupcakes?

Let the cupcakes cool entirely: Warm cupcakes can release steam when you keep them in an airtight box or container. It will make the cupcakes sticky on the tops. So make sure you keep them in a wire cooling rack and let them uncovered for at least one hour.
Store the cupcakes at room temperature: I mostly prefer to store the cupcakes at room temperature on the counter. However, gluten-free cupcakes, tend to dry out faster than regular ones. So I usually store them in a container with a tight-fitting lid or in a ziplock baggy if they don’t have frosting.
Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator: Cupcakes stay perfect when they are within 48 hours of baking them. I usually freeze them for longer, make sure they are in a freezer-safe container with a tight-fitting lid.

Chef’s Tips

It’s important that you use the exact measurements, sifting the flour helps the cupcakes to be lighter by adding more air.
Don’t skimp on the vanilla, after all, it is vanilla cupcakes that you are making. I used real vanilla extract and not artificial flavoring.
It’s essential to note that the batter of the vegan cupcake will be runnier than the average dairy cupcake. So, it’s better not to worry as they will look like this. Once they are baked, they will be beautiful and delicious cupcakes.
If you prepare vegan buttercream, it’s essential to note that it will be softer than dairy buttercream.
Please always use a scale to measure the ingredients when you are preparing cupcakes and cakes.
If you want to substitute potato starch with cornstarch, you use it, but don’t use tapioca as it will not work.
Slowly pour the wet ingredients with dry ingredients while mixing the batter. Make sure the ingredients are smooth and fully mixed.
You can add confetti sprinkles to the batter, the young ones will love them.
Because they are gluten-free cupcakes, I filled the cupcake pans to the brim, knowing that they won’t rise until overflow like traditional muffins would do.
All oven temperatures aren’t the same so please check on your cupcakes after 20 minutes of baking, I even turn the pan around. Mine took 35 minutes to be golden brown and well cooked in the middle, your might take less time.
The cupcakes are ready when they feel hollow and springy to touch and more importantly when a fork or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I added a vegan cream cheese frosting but you can leave it off because the cupcakes are perfectly sweet without the frosting, however, if you are serving them for special occasions then they will be pretty and perfect.

More Gluten-Free Desserts To Prepare

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