Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes (GF, Dairy-Free, Healthy, Refined Sugar-Free)
Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes (GF): fluffy ‘n moist healthy chocolate cupcakes with a soft crumb, topped with creamy, smooth chocolate frosting! The best GF oat flour cupcakes—Refined Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free!
”Make one, eat one. Make one, eat one. It’s the ideal work situation!” <– That just about sums up Erik’s entire philosophy in life about “helping” me in the kitchen. 😉
Like, how motivated do you think he’d be without a little sampling here and there? Ha!
A couple years back, when I first shared this vegan gluten free chocolate cupcakes recipe, Erik’s entire motivation for helping me was “make one, eat one” and, of course, his natural altruism. Heh heh.
Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes (Dairy-Free)
Since then, so many readers have made and enjoyed my gluten free dairy chocolate cupcakes recipe. Have you tried it yet? I thought today would be the day for sharing updated photos, answers to your common questions about these healthy vegan chocolate cupcakes and more!
Are you ready for the best vegan gluten free chocolate cupcakes ever? Let’s bake this!
What do these Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes Taste Like?
Vegan Chocolate Frosting: creamy, silky, smooth, and thick frosting that’s easy to frost, and won’t melt or droop on your perfect gluten free chocolate cupcakes! There’s a wonderful balance between chocolate and non-dairy milky-creaminess. And no coconut flavor!
Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes: Perfectly fluffy ‘n soft with just the right amount of oomph to hit that satisfying sweet spot. These healthy vegan cupcakes have the best crumb: rich ‘n chocolatey with an edge of dark chocolate flavor to balance out the sweet, creamy chocolate frosting.
Are these Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes … Dairy-Free? GF? Refined Sugar-Free? Healthy?
Yes, yes and yes! These gluten free vegan chocolate cupcakes are not only the best healthy chocolate cupcakes you’ll ever have… they’re the best gluten free dairy free cupcakes recipe you’ll ever have! They’re also refined sugar-free, too!
Where can I find a Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe?
Here is my moist and fluffy Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe (Almond Flour, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free). Enjoy!
How do I store this Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe?
Room Temperature: this gluten free dairy free cupcakes recipe stores very well at room temperature for 3 days. Of course, the vegan gf cupcakes are best the 1st day, but the cake & frosting stay fresh & yummy in an airtight container, kept out of direct sunlight for 3 days.
To Freeze: store these healthy chocolate cupcakes in a freezer-friendly container for up to 1 month. Store carefully if frosting the chocolate cupcakes in advance. Thawing instructions in Notes! 🙂
How do I turn these Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes into Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake?
Easy! Click on the link for my Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe. You’ll be taken through, step-by-step, to learn how to turn these healthy chocolate cupcakes into gluten free vegan chocolate cake!
Q&A for Healthy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (GF)
- Can I make the chocolate frosting for these vegan gf cupcakes in advance? While you might be able to make the chocolate “ganache” portion of the chocolate frosting 1-2 days in advance, I wouldn’t recommend making the frosting too far in advance. The chocolate frosting will dry out in the bowl and not be suitable for frosting your vegan gf cupcakes.
- Where do I find the coconut cream to make the vegan chocolate frosting for these cupcakes? This is the coconut cream that I use in these vegan gluten free cupcakes.
- Where can I buy vegan chocolate chips? Find dairy free vegan chocolate chips here.
- Can I use gf all purpose flour in these vegan gf cupcakes? A few readers have tried swapping the oat flour in these vegan chocolate cupcakes with gluten free all purpose flour with success. Try it and let me know what you think!
- Are these sugar free vegan cupcakes? These gluten free vegan chocolate cupcakes are refined sugar-free!
- I love these chocolate oat flour cupcakes… do you make anything else GF with oat flour? Yes! Nearly every recipe on Beaming Baker is made with gluten free oat flour. Here’s a sampling of my favorite oat flour recipes with chocolate:
Best Tools for the Best Easy & Moist Paleo Chocolate Cake (Vegan)
Click below to see the tools & ingredients I used to make these vegan gf cupcakes aka the best refined sugar free vegan cupcakes ever!!
- KitchenAid Hand Mixer with Whisk Attachment: Super cute and useful hand mixer. My favorite tools for whipping up vegan chocolate frosting.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips: a staple in my vegan kitchen!
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer: For those days when you just don’t feel like mixing by hand. 😉
- Coconut Oil: One of the most used ingredients in my pantry. A total vegan baking staple.
- Cupcake Liners: These are wonderful liners made of unbleached parchment that peel off easily.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Such an amazing taste, it always adds that extra little sumthin’ sumthin’ to my cupcakes.
How’d you like learning how to make the best gluten free vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe in the world? 😉 Well, I suppose that’s up to you to decide! In the meantime, let me express my gratitude for being a part of the Beaming Baker community. I truly appreciate the time you take to share in these kitchen adventures with me. ‘Til the next one…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
. Click below to Pin .
Did you make this vegan gluten free cupcakes recipe? Take a pic & share it on Instagram with the hashtag #beamingbaker and tag @beamingbaker. I’d love to see it!
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Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes (GF, Dairy-Free, Healthy, Refined Sugar-Free)
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 cupcakes 1x
Description
Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes (GF): fluffy ‘n moist healthy chocolate cupcakes with a soft crumb, topped with creamy, smooth chocolate frosting! The best GF oat flour cupcakes—Refined Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free!
Ingredients
FROSTING
- 1 batch Vegan Chocolate Frosting
CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten free oat flour – if using homemade oat flour, make sure it’s very finely ground (not coarse)*
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – not dutch processed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons water
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the frosting: The night before, begin preparing one batch of this Vegan Chocolate Frosting. Do not whip the frosting until the cupcakes are cooled and ready to be frosted.
- Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add water and milk to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 10-second increments until just warm. This will prevent the melted coconut oil from solidifying once mixed with these liquids.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients: water, milk, coconut oil, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Whisk until well incorporated. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Whisk until just incorporated, making sure no flour patches remain.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin pan—filling each cup about 3/4 of the way. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Mine took 18 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out with a few dry bits of cake on it, but no liquidy batter.
- Place muffin pan on a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin pan and continue cooling on rack until completely cool before frosting.
- Frost the cupcakes: Whip the frosting as instructed. Frost the cupcakes. Enjoy! Storing instructions below.
If you prefer cake, try my 5-star Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe.
Delicious Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Desserts
Equipment
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Nonstick Parchment Muffin Liners
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Whisk Attachment for Hand Mixer
Buy Now →Notes
- *If using homemade oat flour, make sure to sift the flour to remove coarse bits of oats that could create grainy cupcakes.
- Storage notes: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Okay to keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, in a cool, dark environment.
- Freezing Instructions: Store frosted cupcakes in an airtight, freezer-friendly container for up to 1 month. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 15-40 minutes before enjoying.
- Substitution Notes in post above.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 18 mins
- Category: Dessert, Cupcakes, Chocolate, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Baking
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
© beamingbaker.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. Please do not use my images or recipe without my permission. Please do not republish this recipe, instead, include a link to this post for the recipe.
Hi!! My son really loved the cupcake, actually is there any way to increase the sweetness of cupcake, actually my son doesn’t like the frosting. I used regular sugar , can I increase the sugar? Thank u!
Hi Sangita! That’s so wonderful to hear. 🙂 Let’s see… the easiest way is, after baking & cooling cupcakes completely, turn cakes (unfrosted) upside down and drizzle syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to soak up the syrup & enjoy!
Love, love , LOVE these, I have made them a couple of times. I thought I saw you had a link on oat flour subs. Im curious about buckwheat flour. As much as i love oat flour, buckwheat is more readily available where i live. Im keen to give it a go and feed it back to you. But not sure if its viable or how much.
So happy that you enjoy the recipe! 🙂 Not sure if buckwheat flour would work, as it’s very dense and absorbs a lot of water, making it a less than ideal flour for cakes and cupcakes. If you do try it out, please let me know how it goes!
Hands down the BEST gf /df/ egg free cupcake recipe. I’ve tried so many in the last couple of years bc my daughter has several food allergies. Nothing I’ve tried comes out with a good texture like this. Everything is so dense and disappointing. This is AMAZING and not so sweet which gives room for a sweet frosting! Thank you!!!
Woohoo!!!! Daniella, I’m so happy to hear that you’ve finally found an allergy-friendly cupcake that you and your daughter can truly enjoy. 🙂 Three cheers for your search for an awesome gf/def/egg-free cupcake being over! Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts. Happy baking & eating! 🙂
Do you have nutritional information per cupcake? They are amazing my entire family loves them/
Hi Joan, unfortunately no. If you’d like to calculate nutrition info yourself, try the one here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator Just make sure to add the exact ingredients and amounts you’re using. Happy baking!
Oh my word! These are the best! Thank you. Even my husband likes them. I didn’t do the chocolate icing. I like vanilla icing on chocolate. I took a picture and they look great! I’m not sure if I can post that but they’re really pretty.
I’m so happy they were such a hit with you and the hubby! And I’d love to see the pic—you can tag me on Instagram or just send me an email. 🙂
Hi! I have these in the oven right now. Quick question for you…. I followed the recipe exactly, but when I put the wet into the dry somehow the dry ingredients became very lumpy. Not sure why? I was trying not to overmix, but at the same time getting the lumps out. I ended up with some lumps going into the oven, so hopefully that is ok. is that normal? Any idea why that happened? Thanks for your help!
Hi Stephanie! 1) Did you warm up your water and milk before mixing with the melted coconut oil? 2) Was the room in which you were baking cold at all? I think what might’ve happened is the coconut oil solidified. Let me know how the cupcakes turn out and we can go from there. 🙂
I only put in the liquid sweetener, I try to avoid sugar as much as I can with my toddler. These were great, a nice dark chocolate flavor, plenty sweet, ended up with only 8 cupcakes.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them Elizabeth! .
What could I substitute for the coconut oil. Are son is allergic to coconut.
Thank you,
CharlieAnn
Hi CharlieAnn! I’ve had a few readers use avocado oil in other recipes, but I haven’t tried it myself. Let me know how it goes!
Hi, does this cupcake taste like coconut? I had tried a recipe once with coconut oil and the oil kind of solidified and had the coconut stringy texture and i just didn’t enjoy it. I am hoping this one is different?
Hi Erica! This recipe doesn’t taste like coconut—unless you’re quite sensitive to coconut flavors (that’s up to your judgment). No stringy texture here! The coconut cream incorporates very smoothly into the chocolate frosting. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for your reply! will try them this weekend!!!! 🙂
My pleasure! Can’t wait to hear what you think! 🙂
This recipe is so simple and tastes fantastic!
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it Karenia!
Would it be acceptable to use coconut flour instead of its flour for this recipe?
I love your website so much!
These cupcakes were sooooo delicious! Rich and chocolatey. I used a different frosting recipe because we didn’t have any coconut cream/milk, and it paired together so well! These cupcakes and your chocolate cake recipe are really delicious with frozen bananas (it’s like ice cream!) on the side. Also, please make a vegan scone recipe sometime! Your recipes are the best.
Aww thank you Elspeth! ☺️ You’re kind words really mean a lot to me. And yes for the banana ice cream on the side! .
This cupcakes are the bomb! I just made them for my daughters birthday! They are super moist and decadent! I’m so happy with the results! I swapped some of the coconut sugar with xylitol and it worked perfectly! I didn’t use a hand mixer or stand mixer I just beated this by hand and the batter was so smooth and delicious!
Yay! I’m beyond happy to hear that this was such a success for your daughters b-day! . Wish her a wonderful day for me! .
Hi! I’m excited to find an oat flour-based cake recipe; most gf flours are so expensive. I see that the recipe says not to use dutched cocoa- I’m assuming that’s to keep the acid/base ratio? I’d like to make this but I only have dutched cocoa. Do you think it would work if I substituted baking powder for the baking soda or added a little acid(vinegar,etc)?
This couldn’t look any more perfect! This looks absolutely delicious! Yummy!
Thanks Erin! Chocolate cupcakes ftw! 🙂
Looks so delightful! Our whole fam will definitely love this, need to try it soon!
I just know they’re gonna love them! .
Oh my goodness! I am drooling over these!
Haha that’s what I like to hear! .
I made these today with the frosting. Cupcakes are awesome but when I best the frosting it was too thick to spread. Any ideas on how I can soften it so I can spread it on the cupcakes?
*beat
Hi Jody, try leaving the frosting out at room temperature (or in a warm room) to allow the frosting to soften for 30 minutes or so. If that doesn’t work, you can *carefully* warm up the frosting in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Then, whip it again to get it fluffy. Good luck!
What a perfectly light and sweet cupcake recipe! These will be perfect for my son’s birthday this weekend! Delish!
Yay! Wish your son a happy birthday for me Beth! .
You can make the best of everything to fit into everyone’s lifestyle. You truly have a gift and I am thankful for this. I share your recipes often with friends with food allergies. This cupcake recipe is what I needed to see today. Can’t wait to make them for my gluten free friends.
Thank you so much, Jacquelyn! That’s so kind of you to say. 🙂 I so appreciate you taking the time to share my recipes with your friends. <3 Hope you enjoy these cupcakes!