Easy vegan strawberry cupcakes packed with real strawberries and flavour. They are perfect for Valentine's Day or any time of the year!
These vegan strawberry cupcakes are:
- DELICIOUS
- Pretty and pink
- Easy to make and use no weird/uncommon ingredients
- Fluffy but moist kind of like banana bread!
If you fancy easy vegan cupcakes but prefer a different flavour profile, see my recipes for vegan red velvet cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes or coconut lime cupcakes.
There are 3 cups of strawberries in this recipe!
I wanted to make vegan strawberry cupcakes bursting with real strawberries. None of that vanilla muffin madness with bits of strawberries. And no strawberry essence!
Never fear, the ingredients needed to make these vegan strawberry cupcakes are common and include:
- Flour + sugar
- Baking powder
- Beetroot powder (or vegan-friendly pink/red food colouring)
- Strawberries (fresh or frozen will work)
- Dairy free milk + oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar (or white vinegar or lemon juice)
Just like banana bread, the more fruit you add, the better your cake tastes... however, it also means your cake will be heavier! To counteract this, I added 4 whole teaspoons of baking powder and a little apple cider vinegar to minimise any gumminess.
How to make these vegan strawberry cupcakes
It's super easy! Mix dry ingredients. Blend wet ingredients. Mix together then bake.
I experimented with reducing the strawberry puree on the stovetop, a method which has been used by other bloggers. Creating a strawberry reduction helps minimise the water content in strawberries therefore intensifying its flavour. That becomes handy for recipes which need as little moisture as possible (such as my vegan strawberry cheesecake).
However, I realised that if you remove the water from the strawberries, you'll need to add it back to the batter through dairy free milk. So the strawberry reduction would become redundant and be unnecessary extra work.
Since the strawberries have a high water content, I made sure there wasn't too much liquid in the cupcake batter (the batter is quite thick) This ensured the final cupcakes were not overly moist!
Making these cupcakes PINK
To make these vegan strawberry cupcakes pretty, I used 3 whole teaspoons of beetroot powder. If you don't use it, your cupcakes will be an off-pink colour after baking.
When you add beetroot powder to the cupcake batter, it will turn veryyyy pink. The colour fades (and browns a little) in the oven so 3 teaspoons was just right!
All the pictures in this post feature cupcakes that are coloured with beetroot powder rather than food dye. I wanted to show you their true colour and there's minimal photo editing!
See my other vegan strawberry recipes:
- Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake
- Vegan Strawberry and Cream Tart
- Strawberry, pink pitaya and chocolate tart
- Vegan Jam Tartlets
You may also like:
Vegan strawberry cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients*
- 2 ½ cups (310g) plain or all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150g) cane sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp beetroot powder, or a few drops of vegan-friendly red food dye
- Pinch of any good-quality salt
Wet ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) ripe strawberries, fresh or frozen (then defrosted)** and stems chopped off
- ½ cup (125g) dairy free milk, such as almond, soy or coconut
- ¼ cup (65g) light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To decorate (optional)
- ¾ cup (180g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- ¾ cup (170g) vegan butter
- 3 cups (300g) powdered sugar / icing sugar, or to taste***
- Beetroot powder and/or freeze-dried strawberry powder, to colour and taste (optional)
- Fresh strawberries
- Freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a cupcake tray with liners.
To make the cupcakes:
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large 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.
- Blend all the wet ingredients (including the strawberries) in a blender until smooth. Add the strawberry mixture to the dry ingredients and fold until combined. The batter should be thick and bubbly (refer to pictures above).
- Divide the batter between your cupcake liners.
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer can be inserted 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 cool them on a wire 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 the texture will change.
To make the frosting:
- Add the cream cheese and butter to a bowl or stand mixer. Cream until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until just combined. If you overmix the frosting, it will become loose and may not hold up. Add more icing sugar for a firmer frosting.
- If desired, add beetroot powder or freeze-dried strawberry powder to the frosting. Adjust to taste or colour.
- 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
This post was originally published in January 2017 and updated in April 2021.
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
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? 😛
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!
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!
I tried this as a layer cake and found it didn't turn out so well. It tasted pretty good but the texture was a little dense. Next time I'd try cupcakes as per the recipe.
Aw that's a shame, but thanks so much for letting me know! The cupcakes are definitely fluffy if that helps 🙂
hi, yours is the only aussie strawberry cupcake recipe i can find which is great for making sure the measurements are 100% correct! however, i'm not vegan, would you know if i use normal whole milk will i put the same amount of milk in place of the almond milk? also, without eggs what is the substitute for whatever the eggs do in baking? is it the baking powder? i've never tried a vegan baking recipe before so i am a bit worried i might ruin it/not like it!
for the frosting can i use regular unsalted butter and no cream cheese?
all good if you are not sure as you don't cook with milk/eggs etc.
Hey! I tested the recipe with grams so to be 100% accurate, I'd recommend using them. All my cups and measuring spoons are from Aus but strangely, sometimes they are shipped from America so are inconsistent (just fyi - I know it can be confusing!). Dairy milk will work but I'm not sure about the eggs I'm afraid. Eggs are used as a binder, for fat and rise and I developed the recipe so eggs aren't needed in any way (and honestly, it'd probably make the cupcakes chewy which isn't nice). For the frosting, replacing cream cheese with butter is fine. I hope that helps!
thank you!
i also just realised it calls for cane sugar, is regular sugar or castor sugar ok to use and which would be better out of the two?
all good with the eggs, i assume the 4 tsp of baking powder is what will give the rise as i realised thats quite a bit more than most regular recipes call for?
i'm hoping to try soon they look sooo good!
Yes, by cane sugar I mean regular sugar (I think there's a difference in the USA but not here)! Caster sugar is fine too and the difference would be minimal :).
Also yes, the 4 tsp of baking powder helps with the rise! Strawberries (or any fruit) makes cakes quite heavy so I needed something extra to counteract that. I hope you enjoy baking them!
Made these today and they turned out really great! They are perfectly moist and have a great strawberry flavour! I used frozen strawberries, coconut milk, and weighed all the ingredients as advised. I made a chocolate frosting to go on top. So good!
I want to make these for my daughter's Princess Poppy pink trolls birthday party. They would be perfect! She has allergies and can only drink oat milk. Can that be used in the same amount?
These cupcakes would be perfect for your daughter's party! Oat milk is absolutely fine in the same amount 🙂
Hi these look amazing! I’d really like to make these for my sisters upcoming baby shower. What would the cook time be if I made these as mini cupcakes instead?
And would I be able to use cake flour? Thanks!!!
Aw thanks Nikki! It depends on the cupcakes and your oven but try around 7-10 minutes and use the skewer test :).
Also, cake flour would be perfect for these. Hope that helps and let me know how you go!
Could I make these with wholemeal spelt flour? Would I substitute it in gram for gram or cup for cup (and would this be the same for using whole spelt in your other recipes)? I don’t mind them being more muffin-like. 🙂
Also, thanks for including gram measurements they’re so much easier and more accurate.
I'd say it'd work with wholemeal spelt if you substitute it in grams. Normally spelt absorbs more liquid but these cupcakes are moist so they will probably balance each other out. Lete know how you go!
Made this wonderful vegan buttercream frosting - delicious and looks very nice piped. Next time I will also make the cupcakes - the recipe takes more strawberries than I had to donate!
Can this this recipe be made GF???
Soo glad you loved the buttercream! With gluten free cupcakes, I normally use 50% almond meal/flour and 50% of a gluten-free flour blend. However, I haven't tried with this recipe. If you do make them gf, let me know how you go!
Thank you for developing this recipe! I live at about 8,000ft elevation, and always have to adjust recipes to avoid really messy disasters. When I first read this recipe, I was sure it would be a tricky one to adjust because of all that moisture and tour added leavening. I just wanted to share for any other high altitude readers that this recipe does NOT work, even with typical HA adjustments. I reduced the sugar by 10% and the baking powder by half, added a couple tablespoons of flour, and still got a mess. A lovely pink-hued and strawberry-flavored mess, but a mess. It was a joy to try tho! Thank you!!
Ooh, thanks so much for your reasonable feedback! Yes you're right, this recipe definitely has a lot of moisture etc but good to know that it didn't work for you at a higher altitude! I'll keep that in mind for my other recipes :).
Hands down one of the best Vegan cupcakes ever. You would never know if was vegan. The strawberry taste was incredible (I used fresh strawberries). Moist and delicious. I took them to work to share in the staffroom and they were a huge hit!!
That's music to my ears Mel! Soo glad you and your colleagues enjoyed them. Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
I made these with my son on Valentines day. The whole family loved them. Such a good recipe!
Yay, that's amazing! Thanks Lea!
I was wondering if you have ever experimented with this recipe being wheat free? I've got a toddler with some allergies and this seems such a lovely recipe to take to her daycare for when there are birthdays so she can be included! Also, do you know if they freeze well?
For gluten free goods, normally I use 1/2 almond meal (flour) and 1/2 gf flour blend (by weight) in the same quantity as the regular flour but I haven't tested this recipe yet! Also yes, they freeze well without the frosting :).
Ciao vorrei in italiano la ricetta dei cupcake vegani alla fragola e possibile? Grazie mille .
Hi, I don't speak Italian so had to use Google translator to understand your message. I don't provide recipes in other languages but you can use Google Translator to translate the whole recipe. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! This recipe makes the most fluffiest and beautiful cupcakes!!! I found them very easy to make, and they were a huge hit. Everyone who tasted them were raving about how good they were. Didn’t have the beetroot powder but the strawberries and regular food colouring did the trick. Highly recommend!
Aw thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback Clare! I'm sooo glad you and everyone enjoyed them! xo
I made the cupcakes with no frosting. They are delicious--but there was a lot of batter! I think I could have made 14-16 cupcakes with this batter if I'd had a second muffin tin. Instead I made 12 rather mushroom-shaped cupcakes. I do really appreciate you giving gram measurements as I find that much easier than volume measurements.
Glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! Sounds like your cupcake tin was smaller than mine but that it make strawberry muffins instead! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Mine came out extremely gummy. They also rose in the oven then after taking them out they deflated and looked all sad. Any idea what I did wrong? I measure by weight and dint make any adjustments other than used coconut sugar (but I do this for all my baking) and used frozen strawberries instead of fresh. Definitely want to try again but wondering if you might have any idea what I did wrong? Thanks!
Oh no! Coconut sugar has more moisture than regular sugar and since this is already a very moist recipe, it could've thrown out the ratios. I'm honestly not sure what happened with yours. By any chance, are you baking at a higher altitude or used gluten free flour?
Super easy to make! And my wife enjoyed it! Thank you so much for this recipe!
So glad to hear! And my pleasure 🙂
These are delicious! Very moist & the perfect for Valentines Day! I’d give them a rating of 10/10 if that were an option.
Aw that's the best news! And glad you enjoyed them as Valentine treat :). Thanks so much for your feedback!
Super excited to try this! Would it be easy to convert it to a simple cake recipe?
Yay! And yes, I'd say so! I think it'd work best with layers so the middle cooks easily (to help with the amount of strawberries in this recipe). Let me know how you go 🙂
Thank you for the info. Is there a way to make/use cashew cream instead? I can't do coconut.
Thanks!
Hey Tomi! For the frosting, you might be able to use store-bought vegan cream cheese? If not, you could make cashew cream by blending soaked cashews with plant-based milk. Add the milk gradually so you are left with a thick cream :).
These cupcakes. . . they are absolutely heavenly. And if the elderly lady endorses them. . .well. . .I'm definitely in.
Hi Lynn! Thanks so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoy the cupcakes as much as we loved them. I'm pretty sure I ate 3 before I even iced them. I hope you had a fabulous festive break xo