Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

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 a perfect dessert for birthday parties, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or any special occasion!

Ingredients to make vegan strawberry cupcakes

Notes about the ingredients

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. Pink or red food coloring provides the most consistent results for these cupcakes. If using beetroot powder, I recommend using a reliable brand as some will make your cupcakes a bright pink color whereas others will fade when baked and turn into an orange/brown color.

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 lemon juice (not pictured). When an acid is combined with dairy-free milk, it creates vegan buttermilk which gives the cupcakes a more tender crumb.

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, puree your strawberries in a food processor or blender. If you have a stick blender, add them to a mixing bowl and blend. Just make sure there are no chunks of strawberries.

TIP: If you have a very large blender, you may blend the strawberries with all the wet ingredients. This will make it easier to puree the strawberries!

The cupcake batter comes together in one bowl. Simply, mix all the dry ingredients in your bowl. Add the wet ingredients and fold until just combined. Some lumps are fine but make sure there are no lumps of flour.

If you're using food coloring, I recommend adding it with your wet ingredients.

If you're using beetroot powder, here are some tips:

• Start with around 2-3 teaspoons of beetroot powder and add it to your dry ingredients. Towards the end of mixing, feel free to add more if you'd like a stronger color. Just be careful that you don't overmix your batter.
• The amount of beetroot powder that you'll need will depend on its brand and age.
• Beetroot powder fades during baking, so feel free to add a little more if you'd like!

Dividing your cupcake batter

I recommend using an ice cream scoop to divide the batter in your cupcake pan/mold. It's easier and much neater!

TOP tips for making FLUFFY cupcakes

Here are a few simple tips to ensure your cupcakes are fluffy and not dense:

• Measure the ingredients using grams.
• Don't over mix the batter. I recommend making the cupcake batter in a bowl rather than using electric hand beaters or a stand mixer. Lumps in your batter are actually a sign of good cupcakes, as long as they aren't lumps of flour. Cooks Illustrated shows the huge 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 and 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.

How can I decorate these cupcakes?

These cupcakes are wonderful with strawberry buttercream frosting or strawberry cream cheese frosting. However, you can also top these cupcakes with:

• Whipped dairy-free cream
• Chocolate ganache
• Vanilla buttercream
• Dusting of powdered sugar

Can I make gluten-free strawberry cupcakes?

For the easiest vegan gluten-free strawberry cupcakes, I recommend baking my vegan gluten-free strawberry cake in a cupcake pan! When baked as cupcakes, they're fluffy and dome well.

The below recipe is a little trickier to make gluten-free. Some 1:1 gluten-free flours (including Bob Red Mills) 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

The gluten-free cupcake batter is runnier than the regular batter, even though there is significantly more gluten-free flour. 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.

Common questions and answers

See my other vegan strawberry desserts

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This post was originally published in January 2017 and updated a few times since then with step-by-step pictures and more useful information.

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