Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 10 Comments
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TheseGluten-Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes aremoist and fluffy,naturally coloured andslathered in a deliciously tangy"cream cheese" frosting! They're refined sugar free, come together in one bowl and make an adorabledessert for birthdays,Christmas,Valentine's Day,Mother's Day,baby showersandbridal showers!
These were inspired by my Gluten-Free Vegan Red Velvet Cake recipe, and they have all the same characteristics: a mixture of salty-sweet, sour and chocolatey flavours, finished off with a sweet and tangy"cream cheese" frosting.
How do you make vegan "buttermilk"?
Traditional red velvet cupcakes are made usingbuttermilk, but it's really easy to make a vegan "buttermilk". Here's how to make it:
1. Mix almond milk with vinegar in ameasuring jug.
2. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Tip: This trick works with any kind of non-dairy milk, as the vinegar curdles the milk so that it resembles buttermilk.
How do you make naturally coloured Red Velvet Cupcakes?
To create a red colour without food colouring, I usedbeetroot powder.
You can buy beetroot powder inlocal health stores, as well as online.
Can you make Red Velvet Cake without red colouring?
If you can't get hold of red food colouring or beetroot powder, it's not a problem if you leave it out - you'll just end up with a slightly differently coloured cake, but the taste will be the same and still delicious!
How to make the cupcakes
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for thefull recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in aglass mixing bowl.
- Transfer the mixture into cupcake cases in amuffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes.
How to make the vegan "cream cheese" frosting
- Placecoconut cream,lemon juice,maple syrupandvanillain a bowl and use anelectric whiskto whip up until fluffy.
- You can apply the frosting with a palette knife for frosting, a spatula, or a piping bag depending on how fancy you want to be.
Tips for making the frosting
- For super fluffy frosting, make the frosting fresh and top the cupcakes with it just before serving - the frosting does set well, however, and frosted cupcakes will keep their shape and texturefor up to a few days in the fridge.
- Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely before applying the frosting, otherwise it will melt!
- The recipe below yields a medium-sized amount of frosting per cupcake. However, if you do want to apply a generous amount of frosting (like in my photos), I’d recommend doubling the amount of frosting.
To decorate, I like to scatter over some freeze-dried raspberries for a little colour, but you can use whatever you want!
How long do these keep for?
These cupcakes arebest enjoyed fresh, but they do keep covered in thefridgefor up to afew days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace thevinegarwithlemon juice.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds.
- You can use plain flourinstead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- You canomit the beetroot powder - it's used for adding red colouring but the recipe still works without it.
More gluten-free vegan cupcakes
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Coconut Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make it
Gluten-Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
TheseGluten-Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes are moist and fluffy, naturally coloured, and slathered in a tangy "cream cheese" frosting!
4.23 from 9 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free red velvet cupcakes, vegan gluten-free cupcakes, vegan red velvet cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 267kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 3 teaspoons beetroot powder (adds red colour but not completely necessary for the recipe to work)
For the frosting:
- 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk **
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Measure out the milk and, leaving it in the measuring container, add the tablespoon of vinegar and stir - leave to sit for around 10 minutes, while you make the rest of the cupcakes.
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
Once melted, add the teaspoon of vinegar to the same bowl along with the maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and beetroot powder.
Add the milk and vinegar mixture and mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
Transfer mixture between 12 cupcake cases in a cupcake tin.
Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Once out the oven, transfer cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying the frosting.
For the frosting:
You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!
Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies).
Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl.
Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy.
To frost and decorate the cupcakes:
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife or spatula to apply an even amount of frosting to each of the cupcakes.
Decorate with freeze-dried raspberries if desired.
Best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
*You can alternatively usealmond flour.
**You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt.
- For super fluffy frosting, make the frosting fresh and top the cupcakes with it just before serving - the frosting does set well, however, and frosted cupcakes will keep their shape and texturefor up to a few days in the fridge.
- Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely before applying the frosting, otherwise it will melt!
- The recipe below yields a medium-sized amount of frosting per cupcake. However, if you do want to apply a generous amount of frosting (like in my photos), I’d recommend doubling the amount of frosting.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 267Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 11g55%
Sodium 52mg2%
Potassium 138mg4%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 11g12%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin C 1.3mg2%
Calcium 85mg9%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
More Baking & Dessert Recipes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Madeleines
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Muffins
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
Reader Interactions
Comments
grace
Hi there.I just found your website and i'm super excited to start making some of your recipes 🙂 I was just wondering,what gluten free flour do you use? Thank you
Reply
Rhian Williams
Yay so happy to hear that, thank you! I use Dove's Farm plain gluten-free flour. You can also sub the gluten-free flour for rice flour or buckwheat flour.
Anonymous
Just made these and they're the best refined sugar free cupcakes I've made - so fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness!Reply
Rhian Williams
Thank you!
Katy
Hello,
Do you think coconut flour would work instead of almond meal? My friend has a nut allergy
Thank you very much, I love all your recipes!Reply
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! Yes it would, but only use a fifth of the amount as it absorbs a lot more moisture than almond meal!
Sarah
Is there ANY zmway to make frosting without lemon do you know? I love your website!
Reply
Rhian Williams
Yes you can leave out the lemon, though the taste will change slightly obviously!
Enya
Can almond meal be subbed with almond flour?
Reply
Rhian Williams
Yes!
