Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes
These failproof dairy-free and eggless chocolate cupcakes should be a staple in every baker’s household! They are soft, light and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness, and they taste delicious served with dairy-free chocolate buttercream. The perfect basic bake for any special occasion!
Chocolate cupcakes. There’s nothing better.
In case you couldn’t tell from a quick scroll through my blog, I am a HUGE chocolate lover. Brownies, cakes, truffles, tarts…
You name it, I’ll eat it if it contains chocolate.
But one thing I haven’t made for the blog yet? Some basic, dairy-free chocolate cupcakes! After perfecting my vanilla cupcakes, I thought it was time to start focusing on more basic/staple recipes and get my dairy-free and eggless chocolate cupcakes recipe up too. And I thought it’d be handy to make a UK recipe for those who don’t like baking with cups.
I’ve been making these cupcakes for a while now, and you may have noticed I’ve used a similar recipe for my Oreo cupcakes and candy cane cupcakes. But because they are so simple and versatile, I thought they deserved a post of their own! So here we are.
A basic, staple recipe!
I love this recipe because it’s so simple. They are the most failproof eggless chocolate cupcakes you’ll ever find, topped with chocolate buttercream. There’s no vegan butter, no flax eggs and no seeds of any kind required to make these cupcakes.
When I first started vegan baking, I added chia seeds to everything I baked.
EVERYTHING.
The results were always alright, but I always hated that gummy texture the seeds left behind. Plus, they always got stuck in my teeth. Yuck.
When baking my Biscoff donuts one day, I accidentally forgot to include the chia seeds my recipe called for. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the donuts still held together, and were even lighter and fluffier than they were with the seeds added.
So from then on, I skipped chia seeds in baking altogether.
And for the recipes that don’t have quite the same texture without an egg replacement, such as my double chocolate chip cookies, I use flax eggs instead. I find the taste and texture way more subtle!
How to make eggless chocolate cupcakes
Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and line a cupcake tray with 12 paper liners.
Step 2:
In a small bowl or mug, mix together 280ml (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) of soy milk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Set it aside for a few minutes and allow it to curdle. This will act as a vegan buttermilk substitute.
Step 3:
To a large bowl, add 200g (1+1/2 cups) of self-raising flour, 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and 200g (1 cup) of caster sugar.
Mix everything together until there are no lumps of flour or cocoa powder left.
Step 4:
Now add in the buttermilk you made earlier along with 6 tablespoons of oil and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth, making sure none of the dry mixture is stuck at the bottom of the bowl.
I prefer to use a neutral-tasting oil such as rapeseed/canola because it allows the chocolate flavour to shine through. I find stronger oils such as coconut or olive oil to be a little overpowering.
Step 5:
Spoon the cake batter into your cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes. You can double-check that they’re ready by inserting a toothpick through the middle. If it comes out clean, they’re ready!
After your dairy-free chocolate cupcakes have been out of the oven for 5 minutes or so, transfer them to a wire rack and leave them to cool down completely.
What to top the cupcakes with
You can eat the cupcakes just on their own or you can add some buttercream for a more indulgent dessert. If you don’t fancy the chocolate buttercream in this post, here are some other ideas:
- Biscoff buttercream
- Dark chocolate ganache
- Vanilla buttercream (find the recipe in my vanilla cupcakes post)
- Cream cheese icing
A quick and easy chocolate buttercream recipe
For the icing in the pictures, I used Betty Crocker’s chocolate fudge frosting for convenience, which is accidentally vegan in the UK. But I thought I’d include an easy buttercream recipe in this post in case you can’t/don’t want to use ready-made buttercream.
All you’ll need is 300g icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 180g vegan butter, 80g cocoa powder and some soy milk.
This recipe will give you enough buttercream to pipe onto all 12 cupcakes. If you plan to spread on the buttercream instead of piping it, you’ll need a lot less. I’d say you could probably half the recipe.
In a large bowl, soften the vegan butter until it’s easy to mix then stir in the vanilla. Add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder, a little at a time, mixing as you go. Use as much soy milk as needed to loosen it.
Once you’ve mixed it all in, it should have a nice, creamy consistency that will stand firm when piped onto the cakes.
However, if it’s too thick, you can add more soy milk to loosen it a bit. Likewise, if it’s too thin or runny, you can fix it by adding more icing sugar until you get your desired consistency.
Love chocolate? Check out these posts
- All vegan chocolate cakes
- Chocolate truffles
- Scottish macaroon bars
- Oreo tiffin
- Chocolate layer cake
- Best ever vegan brownies
- Cadbury’s Crème Eggs copycat
FAQ:
This recipe will make around 12 averaged-sized cupcakes so unless you’re baking for a party, you might have some leftover!
For cupcakes without buttercream, you can just pop them into an airtight container and keep them at room temperature in a cool, dry place such as the kitchen cupboard. They will last around 4-5 days this way.
If you have added any type of buttercream to the cakes, they may need to be refrigerated depending on what you used. Vegan buttercream usually holds up quite well at room temperature but things like chocolate ganache and cream cheese icing will need to be refrigerated.
Yes! These cupcakes are great for freezing in advance and defrost nice and fluffy, the same way as they are before going into the freezer!
If you’d like to freeze them, you can just place them all into an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. I’d recommend freezing them without buttercream for best results- this will taste nicer if you add it on the day that you plan to eat them!
To defrost, just transfer the cupcakes onto a plate or wire rack and allow them to sit at room temperature for a few hours until soft and fluffy.
I hope you enjoy these dairy-free chocolate cupcakes as much as I do! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment and rating below. Happy baking! Xo
More vegan cupcakes:
Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes with Dairy-Free Buttercream
A basic vegan chocolate cupcake recipe for light and fluffy sponges! No fancy ingredients and super easy to make.
Ingredients
- 280 ml Soy milk (1 cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 1 Teaspoon Apple cider vinegar (sub for white vinegar)
- 200 g Self-raising flour (1+½ cups)
- ½ Teaspoon Baking soda
- 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200 g Caster sugar (1 cup)
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
Chocolate buttercream:
- 180 g Vegan butter (¾ cup)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 80 g Cocoa powder (¾ cup)
- 300 g Icing sugar (~2+½ cups)
- ~5-7 Tablespoons Soy milk to loosen as needed
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C/325°F if using a fan or convection oven) and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases.
-
Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together and set aside. This will become your vegan buttermilk.
-
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and sugar until well combined.
-
Now add in the vegan buttermilk along with the oil and vanilla extract. Mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.
-
Divide the batter between your 12 cases and bake for 18-20 minutes. Check they're ready by inserting a toothpick through the centre- if it comes out dry, they're done.
-
Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
For the chocolate buttercream:
-
In a large bowl, beat the vegan butter until it’s slightly soft. Stir in the vanilla.
-
Add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder, a little at a time, mixing as you go. Use as much soy milk as you need to help loosen it. The amount you need will depend on which type of butter you're using so add it in slowly as you might not need it all.
-
If the buttercream is too thick, add some extra soy milk. If you want it thicker, add more icing sugar.
Recipe Notes
- Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- The dairy-free buttercream recipe will produce enough to pipe onto all 12 cupcakes. If you plan to spread on a thin layer of the buttercream instead of piping it, half the recipe.
Alex
Monday 11th of March 2024
Hello!! Would it be the same if instead of self-raising flower i used normal flower and then baking soda?
Chloe
Monday 11th of March 2024
Hi Alex, you can use 2 teaspoons of baking powder in the plain flour, along with the 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. :)