Dairy Free Cupcakes

Name: Dairy Free Cupcakes
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 large eggs; ¾ cup cane sugar; ¾ cup dairy free milk (from a carton); ½ cup avocado oil, or other neutral oil; 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 ¼ cups gluten free all purpose flour; 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt; 1 recipe for Dairy Free Frosting

Soft and fluffy dairy free cupcakes that are melt-in-your-mouth good! These cupcakes are rich in vanilla flavor and topped with smooth and creamy frosting. A crowd pleasing easy-to-make recipe that’s gluten free, too!

A dozen dairy free cupcakes on a cake stand with sprinkles.

I have been making gluten free and dairy free cakes, cupcakes, and baked goods for the better part of a decade. In fact, making soft and decadent healthy treats that people love to eat is quite possibly one of my favorite things I get to do! So, when I say these dairy free cupcakes are my favorite to make for holidays and birthdays, you know they must be good!

Much like my dairy free chocolate cake, these cupcakes are deliciously soft and moist. They’re great for people who need to avoid gluten and dairy, and those who don’t! Thanks to vanilla bean paste, they have a rich vanilla flavor, and the entire recipe mixes up in one bowl. Short on time? You can bake up these cupcakes in under 40 minutes start to finish!

Finish with my dairy free frosting or dairy free chocolate frosting, and add sprinkles if you wish!

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Ingredient Notes

Ingredients in the recipe including baking soda, dairy free milk, avocado oil, baking powder, eggs, cane sugar, and vanilla bean paste.

Eggs – Use large eggs for this recipe.
Cane sugar – Go for an organic cane sugar for the best flavor.
Dairy free milk – I like to use coconut milk from a carton in this recipe. Almond and cashew milk also both work great.
Vanilla bean paste – This gives the cupcakes a rich vanilla flavor, and adds beautiful little vanilla bean specks! It’s available at most grocery stores in the spice or baking aisle.
Gluten free all purpose flour – I always use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, but I tested other gluten free flour blends in this recipe and they all worked great!

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions

Cane sugar: You can also use coconut sugar for this recipe, however the cupcakes will turn a slightly golden color.
Dairy free milk: Use any plant based milk from a carton, including almond, cashew, or oat milk.
Avocado oil: Use any neutral oil. I’ve tested coconut oil with success, but any neutral vegetable oil will work.
Vanilla bean paste: Swap this for 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
Gluten free all purpose flour: When testing this recipe, we tried many different gluten free baking flour blends and all of them worked great. Not gluten free? Just use an all purpose baking flour.

How to Make Dairy Free Cupcakes

How to mix the cupcake batter, then pour the batter into a muffin tin and bake the cupcakes.

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Set aside.
Mix: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cane sugar, dairy free milk, avocado oil, and vanilla extract.
Combine: Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt to the mixing bowl. Fold everything together until combined.
Transfer: Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin tin, filling each one about ⅔ full.
Bake: Bake for 21-23 minutes at 350°F, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before frosting.

Decorating

These cupcakes work with a variety of frostings and toppings! I typically use a pastry bag and cupcake tips for creating different piping techniques. After frosting, top with dye free rainbow sprinkles, a whole strawberry, or a raspberry! Here are my favorite dairy free frostings to try:

Gluten Free Cupcakes

Because these are gluten free dairy free cupcakes, it’s important to follow a few simple tips so they turn out soft, fluffy, and moist!

First, make sure to measure correctly. When measuring out gluten free flour, fluff the flour with a fork, the scoop it out of a container. Then, sweep the top of the measuring cup with the backside of a knife to level it out. Do not scoop your measuring cup directly into the flour bag. This will pack the flour down, and make your cupcakes too dry.

Second, let your batter rest. Gluten free flours sometimes need time to absorb ingredients. I like to let my batter rest for 20-30 minutes in the mixing bowl while I clean up and prep my cupcake pan. This will help the cupcakes turn out light and airy instead of heavy or gritty.

Recipe FAQs

Do cupcakes contain dairy?

Most standard cupcakes use milk as a liquid ingredient. To make dairy free cupcakes, you can use a dairy free milk like coconut milk. This helps the cupcakes have a soft and moist texture while still remaining dairy free.

Why did my cupcakes explode?

Cupcakes explode out of the liners when you overfill the cupcake wells. Make sure to only fill each one 2/3 full, or you’ll end up with some cupcakes with muffin tops, and others too small and over-baked.

What is the best dairy free milk for baking?

Coconut milk is the best dairy free milk to use when baking cakes, cupcakes, and breads. It’s slightly more viscous and has a higher fat content, which adds moisture and gives dairy free baked goods a soft texture.

Does dairy free mean vegan?

While vegan recipes don’t contain dairy, recipes that are dairy free aren’t necessarily vegan. Dairy free means a product does not contain any ingredients derived from mammal milk. However, dairy free recipes can still contain animal products, including meat, eggs, or honey.

A large bite taken out of a cupcake with frosting and sprinkles on top.

Baking Tips

Use your favorite dairy free milk. Whatever you have in the fridge will work! If you use coconut milk, use milk from a carton as canned coconut milk will be too thick.
These are gluten free dairy free cupcakes because they use an all purpose gluten free flour. We tested many different gluten free flour blends in our recipe testing and all worked great!
Vanilla bean paste gives the cupcakes a rich vanilla flavor. It also gives the cupcakes gorgeous little vanilla bean specks! You can swap this for vanilla extract if you want to keep it simple.
Tap the cupcake tin on the counter before placing it in the oven. This will get rid of any bubbles in the batter.
Don’t overfill. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. If you add too much batter, they will overflow when baking and create a muffin top. This recipe provides just enough batter to fill 12 cupcake liners with the correct amount.
Wait to decorate. Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating with frosting. If you jump the gun, your frosting will melt off of the cupcakes.

Storage

STORE: Store cupcakes in an airtight container. Unfrosted cupcakes will stay fresh for two days at room temperature, or up to a week in the refrigerator. Once frosted, I recommend storing cupcakes in the refrigerator.

FREEZE: These cupcakes do great in the freezer! Store them unfrosted in the freezer in an airtight freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. If already frosted, I recommend chilling them in the refrigerator, then wrapping each cupcake in parchment paper or food storage wrap before freezing so they don’t stick together.

MAKE AHEAD: To make dairy free cupcakes ahead of time, make the cupcakes 24-48 hours in advance. Then, make the frosting the same day you’ll be serving the cupcakes and frost them before serving.

More Dairy Free Recipes

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