Gluten Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes made from whole food ingredients. No dyes or food coloring, no oils or refined sugars. These decadent cupcakes are soft and light. A delicious plant-based treat!
Red velvet! It's one of my favorite flavors. I love the hint of chocolate that isn't too overwhelming. It creates a beautiful decadence. Slightly rich, but not too overwhelming. (If you want all the rich chocolate flavors, try my vegan gluten-free chocolate cupcakes.)
Then there's the icing. Red velvet cake often has cream cheese frosting. For this recipe, I recreated that classic cream cheese tang and sweetness with a vegan cream cheese frosting. It's so tasty I could eat it with a spoon!
Red velvet cake is traditionally a red colored layer cake with a buttercream frosting. The original red velvet cake did not use food coloring, but many modern day recipes use dyes to get that bright red color.
Red velvet is basically a white cake with a bit of cocoa powder mixed in. It's like a mix between a vanilla and chocolate cupcake.
This vegan and gluten free version of red velvet cupcakes is a healthier version of the traditional recipe. It's colored naturally and is completely plant-based, gluten-free, and oil-free.
If you're looking for an even healthier cake version of these cupcakes, head over to my plant-based red velvet cake recipe.
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with liners.
Step 2. Make a flax egg: combine the 4 teaspoons of ground flax with 1/4 cup water. Set aside.
Step 3. In a medium bowl, mix the oat flour, almond flour, beetroot powder, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 4. In a separate, large bowl, whisk the flax egg, applesauce, maple syrup, nut butter, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.
Step 5. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
Step 6. Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way full. You may have 1-2 cupcakes worth of extra batter - don't overfill the cups. Gently shake the pan for 30 seconds to help the batter settle.
Step 7. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Step 8. Meanwhile, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer beat the frosting ingredients until combined and slightly fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 9. When the cupcakes are cooled, spread frosting onto each cupcake. Enjoy!
Yes, you can turn recipe into a cake. The batter will translate to a 9-inch springform or cake pan.
Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper (since you won't be using cupcake liners). If you make the recipe as a cake, it will need to bake longer in the oven, around 50 minutes. Watch it carefully, and check with a toothpick to make sure it’s done in the middle.
Or, head over to my plant-based red velvet cake post and make a super healthy layer cake
Yep! Use a mini cupcake pan and liners. And bake for 12-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to check for doneness.
I've tested multiple versions of these cupcakes in an attempt to avoid using a powder. Unfortunately, if you want the red color, beetroot powder is the best option.
An alternate natural coloring option is pink pitaya powder. I have not tested this recipe with dragonfruit powder, but you could try that as well.
If you don't care about the color, you can omit the beetroot powder altogether and replace it with more flour. Alternatively, you can try a vegan food coloring.
Oil is a processed food. To make olive oil, you take whole olives and press and press and press them until nothing is left except oil.
It takes a lot of processing to turn an olive into oil. And when you process the olives, you take out almost all of their nutrient content - like fiber - and the result is a high-fat, low-nutrient substance.
Plus, oil (even olive oil) has been shown to have the same detrimental affects to our arteries as fast foods. Read this article for more information.
First, let me just say: these cupcakes are incredible without frosting. They do not need frosting to taste good! But if you want to frost your cupcakes, I've included a recipe for a minimally processed cream cheese frosting.
For a chocolate twist: use my oil-free vegan chocolate frosting
For a WFPB icing: head over to my maple pecan cupcakes and use the frosting recipe from that post
Unfrosted cupcakes: store at room temperature in an air-tight container. The cupcakes will last for 5-7 days.
Frosted cupcakes: because the frosting uses minimally processed ingredients, it needs to be stored in the fridge. Store any frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator. They will last for a week
Thank you God for the beautiful food that you give us. We are grateful for the incredible colors of your creation.
Try my vegan and gluten-free chocolate cupcakes or maple pecan cupcakes next!
All vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free!
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Gluten Free Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes made from whole food ingredients. No dyes or food coloring, no oils or refined sugars. These decadent cupcakes are soft and light. A delicious plant-based treat!
Frosting
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