Easy vegan strawberry cupcakes that are packed with fresh strawberries and flavor! They are soft and fluffy and come together in just 1 bowl.
These pretty pink cupcakes are perfect as a gift or dessert for birthday parties, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or any special occasion!
Why these are the best vegan strawberry cupcakes ever!
These cupcakes are:
- Bursting with 3 cups of real and fresh strawberries for the best strawberry flavor! These aren't sad vanilla cupcakes with bits of baked strawberries. And we don't need any strawberry essence.
- DELICIOUS, fluffy and moist!
- Pretty and pink
- Easy to make and use no weird/uncommon ingredients
- Naturally eggless and dairy free
If you love easy vegan cupcakes, be sure to check out my vegan red velvet cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes or coconut lime cupcakes.
Ingredients to make vegan strawberry cupcakes
You'll need only common supermarket ingredients including:
Notes about the ingredients
All-purpose plain flour is best for this recipe. I've included a gluten-free option in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Strawberries, either fresh or frozen will work for this recipe. If possible, choose a variety of strawberries that are already sweet as it's the main flavor of the cupcakes. Interestingly, the high amount of strawberries acts as a wonderful binder or egg replacer!
Beetroot powder or vegan pink/red food coloring. Strawberry cupcakes made without powder or coloring are a pale pink color. Different brands of beetroot powder will make your cupcakes a lovely pink color whereas some brands will make your cupcakes a slight orange/brown color. Alternatively, pink/red food coloring provides consistent results.
Baking powder and soda. We're using double-raising agents to make sure these cupcakes are FLUFFY and to counteract the high amount of fruit. Make sure your baking powder and soda are fresh, otherwise it may lead to dense cupcakes.
Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (not pictured) helps minimize any gumminess caused by the high amount of strawberries in these cupcakes.
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make vegan strawberry cupcakes
First, you'll need to puree your strawberries in a food processor or blender! Just make sure there are no chunks of strawberries.
To make the cupcake batter, mix all the dry ingredients until combined. Add the wet ingredients then fold until just combined. Some lumps are fine but make sure there are no lumps of flour.
I've baked these cupcakes over 10 times and only ever needed 2-3 teaspoons of beetroot powder for a lovely pink color. However, the amount of beetroot powder you'll need will depend on your brand powder and how old it is!
Beetroot powder will turn your batter turn very pink and the color fades during baking. 2-3 teaspoons was enough for my cupcakes but you may need less or more. If you add in more powder, just avoid over mixing the batter!
Divide the batter evenly between the cupcakes in your mold. One tip is to use an ice cream scoop as it evenly divides the batter and is much easier. Then your cupcakes are ready to bake!
Expert tips for making FLUFFY cupcakes
Here are a few simple tips to ensure your cupcakes are fluffy and not gummy and dense:
- Measure the ingredients using grams.
- Don't over mix the batter. I'd recommend making the cupcake batter in a bowl rather than a stand mixer. Lumps are actually a sign of good cupcakes, as long as they aren't lumps of flour. Cooks Illustrated shows the dramatic difference between pancakes made with lumpy batter vs smooth batter in this Instagram post!
- The cake batter will be bubbly from the high amount of raising agents. Don't whisk out the bubbles but quickly divide the batter in your cupcake mold!
- Don't leave the cake batter sitting around. It needs to go from the bowl to the oven as quickly as possible.
- Make sure your oven is at the right temperature using an oven thermometer. Baking these cupcakes at a lower temperature will make them more dense.
Can I make gluten free strawberry cupcakes?
For the easiest vegan gluten-free strawberry cupcakes, I'd recommend baking my vegan gluten-free strawberry cake in cupcake molds! When baked as cupcakes, they're fluffy and dome well.
However, the below recipe can be made gluten-free with a few substitutions. Unfortunately, 1:1 gluten-free flours (including Bob Red Mills) don't work well and can result in dense and doughy cupcakes.
To make these strawberry cupcakes gluten-free, I used a combination of:
- Almond flour for moisture and texture
- Potato starch to make the cupcakes light and fluffy
- Corn starch to help bind the flours together
Gluten-free flours are less absorbent than regular flour so I had to add significantly more gluten-free flour to make these cupcakes work. Despite that, the gluten-free cupcake batter is runnier than the regular batter.
The gluten-free cupcakes are also flatter than the original cupcakes. Cupcakes that domed had a thicker batter but were very dry on the second day.
Other recipe questions and answers
I'd recommend following my vegan strawberry cake recipe instead!
I haven't tried it but it should work. Your cupcakes will be a brown-pink color and probably more moist and dense!
No.
When making strawberry cake/cupcakes, some recipe bloggers create a strawberry reduction to remove the water from the strawberries. However, I've tried this and it didn't make a big difference. You'd be removing water from the strawberries but adding it back to the cupcakes through dairy-free milk. So, reducing the strawberries is redundant and unnecessary work.
However, reducing strawberries is useful for recipes which need less moisture, such as my vegan strawberry cheesecake.
See my other vegan strawberry desserts
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Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (310g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free option)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons beetroot powder, or a few drops of vegan-friendly red food dye (note 2)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of any good-quality salt, optional
Wet ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) ripe strawberries, fresh or frozen then defrosted (weighed after stems have been removed)
- ⅓ cup (85g) dairy-free milk
- ⅓ cup (85g) light-tasting vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
To decorate
- 1 quantity Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, OR
- 1 quantity Vegan Strawberry Frosting
- Fresh strawberries
- Freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries
Instructions
- Note: I'd recommend using grams for this recipe. Like all my recipes, this was tested using grams so I can't vouch for results using the cups measurement. Too much liquid will create overly moist cupcakes and too much flour will create dry cupcakes. This can be avoided using the grams measurement.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 1-2 cupcake trays with liners.
Making the vegan strawberry cupcakes:
- Add all your strawberries to a blender or food processor. Puree until there are no more chunks. Set aside.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until combined or until there are no more big lumps. If you're using the food dye, use it with the wet ingredients.
- Add the strawberry puree and rest of the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl. Fold the mixture until just combined. The batter should be thick and bubbly. Lumps in the batter are fine as long as they aren't lumps of flour. Over mixing the batter will result in dense cupcakes.
- Divide the batter between your cupcake liners.
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until you can insert a skewer or toothpick into a cupcake and it comes out clean. The baking time will depend on your cupcake tray and size of your individual cupcakes.
- Cool the cupcakes in the tray for 5 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack. These cupcakes may brown underneath which is normal. If you eat the cupcakes immediately, they may stick a little to the liners and will be very moist (this is due to the high amount of fruit in the recipe). However, when they cool, they'll peel away more easily and the texture will change.
Decorating and serving the vegan strawberry cupcakes:
- Make your frosting of choice according to instructions.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, use a piping bag with a star shaped nozzle to frost the cupcakes. Alternatively, use a knife to spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Decorate with fresh strawberries and freeze-dried strawberries/raspberries if desired.
- Serve immediately. Alternatively, store the frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Allow them to slightly warm up at room temperature before serving. If the cupcakes are unfrosted, they can keep at room temperature.
Notes
- For gluten free cupcakes, it's much easier to bake my gluten free strawberry cake as cupcakes. However, if you'd like to make the above recipe gluten free, substitute the all-purpose plain flour with 175g (1 ¾ cups) almond flour, 165g (1 ½ cups) potato starch and 35g (⅓ cup) corn starch. All the other ingredients/steps are the same. This will give you ~14-16 cupcakes which are more flat than pictured. Gluten free flours are less absorbent than all-purpose flour so we have to add significantly more flour. I've tried this recipe with 1:1 gluten free flours but the final cupcakes weren't as pleasant.
- If you use food dye, add it with the rest of the wet ingredients (rather than with the dry ingredients).
Nutrition
This post was originally published in January 2017 and updated a few times since then with step-by-step pictures and more useful information.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Soft and fluffy as you promised!!! I had hibiscus powder in my pantry so I swapped beetroot powder with it. But I added a little bit too much and my cupcakes went purple. But still really delicious and beautiful! Thank you for recipe!
I´ve made a version with Xylitol instead of sugar, spelt flour and the cream cheese frosting and they were an absolute delight! Fluffy, fruity, creamy, everything you can hope for in a cupcake! Thank you, Anthea, for this wonderful recipe! These will surely baked on a regular basis <3
I'm so glad these worked with xylitol and spelt flour for you! I'm drooling just reading your comment haha. Thanks so much for your feedback Theresa x
This recipe was easy, quick and delish! I used a regular size muffin tin with papers, cooked them a little longer for crumbiness, cut them horizontally and made mini strawberry shortcakes! AMAZING, Next time I'm going to try the strawberry buttercream frosting on mini cupcake bites! Thanks so much!
That sounds amazing Lisa! I'm still obsessed with the idea of strawberry shortcakes and love that you just had to bake them for longer. Thanks so much for your comment! x
Would whole wheat all purpose flour work?
I haven't tried it myself so can't vouch for results but I'd imagine it would work!
SO GOOD! They turned out perfectly, and everyone I shared them with loved them. I had never tried strawberry cupcakes before, and I was far from disappointed. What a fun Valentine's Day dessert!
https://www.hippiefantasy.com/blog-1/last-minute-valentines-day-the-vegan-way
Aw I'm so glad you loved these! Thanks for mentioning the cupcakes in your blog post too - they look wonderful 🙂
Hey! I wanna make a cake with this recipe. What do you recommend for temp and time? 9” round
Hey Ruby, I haven't tested these cupcakes as a cake but I'd actually recommend adding 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the recipe. There is just enough raising agent (baking powder) to help the cupcakes rise but it will need a little more help when baking it as a larger cake. For temperature, I'd recommend the same temperature at 180°C (350°F). I'm not 100% sure about the time but try inserting a skewer into the cake at around 30 minutes to test for doneness. I hope that helps!
Hello,
I read some of your other recipes with a gluten free option, is that possible for these cupcakes?
Hi Katie, I haven't tried my usual almond flour/gluten free flour combination for these cupcakes so can't vouch for results. However, some readers have made this recipe using Bob Red Mills 1:1 flour with success!
Hi. It was almost great. The flavor is so great. The sweetness is just enough - a little bit sour probably due to type of strawberry we used. However, I am so sad that it was so dense more like bread to me than cupcake. It's like a bread with liner. 🙁 I followed all the ingredients using g as unit as I don't trust measuring cups. I am new to vegan baking so I don't know how to troubleshoot this. How do cupcake become dense anyway? I googled and some says if there is buttermilk there should be baking soda? But some says it is fine. Or did I overmix it? Did too much gluten form? My batter is thick but I can't seem to compare it to your picture, I think mine was too thick - could this be the reason why it was so dense? I used frozen strawberry but I defrost it and weigh it, then use handblender since we do not have any other blender. Please help ㅠㅠ thank you in advance
Thanks for your feedback Gel! It's great that you followed the grams but yes they aren't meant to be bready. It's hard to know what happened with yours because I wasn't there :(. If your batter was thick but not comparable to the picture above, it sounds like it's an ingredient issue! Can you describe what your batter was like? It definitely could be from overmixing or simply using ingredients that aren't room temperature. Were there gluey streaks in your final cupcakes? Let me know if there's anything I can do to help! Or if you have any pictures, you're welcome to email me :).
How many boxes of strawberries should I use e.g. if I’m buying regular Driscoll’s strawberries ?
I'm not sure where you're based as Driscoll's strawberry punnets are a different weight internationally. Here, the punnets are 125g each so this recipe will need 3 punnets minus 1-2 strawberries.
I really love the flavor of these cupcakes! Mine ended up very gummy and dense though. Any thoughts on what maybe could have happened? Also, did you measure the strawberries whole, or cut? I don't have a means to weigh the igredients out. I really want to try making them again and get it right!
Glad you enjoyed the flavour of these cupcakes! I'm sorry they ended up gummy - that usually that happens from too much fruit :(. I weighed my strawberries whole (with the green part cut off). If you're measuring the strawberries by cups, there should be a lot of space in each cup. If you absolutely can't weigh the ingredients, try adding a little less strawberry puree (just enough to create a very thick batter) or adding more flour to create a thick batter. I hope that helps!
Wow!!! I am a new plant based foodie, I was skeptic but these did not disappoint! Definitely keeping this recipe, it satisfied my craving. Thank you!
Aw that's so lovely to hear! I'm so glad you enjoyed these cupcakes and thanks for the feedback :). Let me know if there's anything I can help with for your plant based journey!
I tried the recipe with raspberry and pitaya powder, it worked wonderfully. Very moist and fluffy. It's a 1000 stars recipe
That sounds so so amazing and I absolutely love the picture you sent me on Instagram! Thanks so so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
I made this recipe and used gluten free flour and vegan cream cheese. It turned out to be one of my best creation thanks to Anthea. My friends went crazy over it when they tried it. It's hands down one of the best recipes ever. It's healthy, gluten-free, vegan and hella delicious. What more would anyone need? 😛
Aw that's so sweet! I'm so glad these worked with your GF flour and your friends loved them too! Thanks so much for the lovely comment Graciela!
These cupcakes are so moist! The ratio of wet ingredients to dry ingredients has perfectly taken into account the strawberries. So packed with real strawberry flavour which beats artificial strawberry flavours!
Aw I'm so glad you enjoyed these cupcakes! Totally agree - real strawberries are so much better! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
This is so easy & the flavour is amazing!
I turned this into a cake instead of muffins & just adjusted the baking time to be 30 mins. It was perfect, light, fluffy.
I made it for a birthday and everyone loved it. Couldn’t tell it was vegan! Great recipe as always RN ❤️
Forgot to say that I made this GF. Just used all the same measurements. Was absolutely perfect 👍🏽
Oh that's amazing that it worked GF *and* in a cake for you! I'm sooo happy that you and everyone enjoyed this cake! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a kind comment, I really appreciate it! x
Ah, so, say someone had very poorly read your instructions and already reduced over a kilos worth of strawberries to make these and a non vegan cake for a birthday party this weekend because they're a sleep deprived idiot - you wouldn't happen to hazard a guess at how I should adjust the wet mix would you? Like if it's 360g strawberries and say I put in 150g reduction would I make up for it by adding an extra 100ml soy, 50ml more oil and another tbsp vinegar perhaps??
Sliiiighy desperate, please help a tired mum!!!
Oh no! But I feel you on the sleep deprivation! The fix is fortunately more simple :). If you started with 360g of strawberries and put in 150g of reduction, simply add another 210g of milk! Reducing the strawberries just removes some of the water content so we just need to add it back. I've did this during a cake test and it worked well. I hope that helps!
I’m wondering if there is a gluten free option available for this recipe? Or if you have any recommendations on the best flour to make it gluten free. Thanks!
I haven't tried it with a gf flour, sorry! However, to make things gluten free, I often use Bob Red Mills 1:1 flour (in the blue bag) or use 50% almond flour and 50% any gf all-purpose flour. Hope that helps!