These Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes are dairy-free, simple to make, and lend a bakery style texture and a vanilla bean finish. You can bake up a batch of these perfect cupcakes in no-time.
Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes
These are seriously the most incredible, better-than-bakery style Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes! They’ve been shared thousands of times and people come back weekly to tell me how amazing they are.
I’ve been making these gluten-free cupcakes for years and this is the third time I have redone the photos. I really want you guys to see how lovely they are and be excited about how amazing they taste. Just read the comments below. You will fall in love with these cupcakes.
Here’s an old photo that I took of these gluten-free cupcakes. You can see how perfect the texture is.
I use vanilla bean paste these days, but you can easily use Rodell’s vanilla extract. Rodelle Vanilla Paste is my newest favorite item to bake and cook with and that’s why I use it in my vanilla cupcakes.
Now that I’ve tried it, I may never go back to extract again. It has such a deep, rich flavor and it’s never too much. I do love Rodelle’s Vanilla Extract, but the paste is dreamy, especially in these Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes.
When I first developed this gluten-free cupcake recipe, I used vanilla extract, so please don’t think that you have to use vanilla bean paste. Extract lends a lovely flavor too.
Gluten-Free Cupcakes
I have been working on perfecting my gluten-free vanilla cupcake recipe since 2010. It’s not that it’s a complicated recipe or anything. I usually work on new recipes, not improving old ones.
My old gluten-free cupcake recipe was fine but I wanted a better texture. I wanted it to be fluffy and crumbly at the same time. I made these Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes a couple of times in January for one of my daughters birthday’s.
Finally the last time I made them I found the right amount of ingredients to get the exact flavor and texture that I had been dreaming about. From frosting to cake, they are now perfect. They’re buttery (even though dairy-free), tender, crumbly, and have the perfect amount of vanilla.
And guess what? These gluten-free vanilla cupcakes only cost about $5 to make. Can you imagine what you’d pay at a bakery for these? They are easy and you can make them yourself.
How to make gluten-free cupcakes
There are a couple of tips and tricks to getting the right texture with gluten-free cupcakes. First, you have to follow the recipe. So many people comment on recipe posts saying that they made a ton of substitutions and the recipe didn’t turn out.
Other than the dairy substitute, I haven’t tried other substitutes in this recipe. If you use substitutions, you are doing so at your own risk.
Second, you want to mix at the right time and not over-mix. When you are beating the oil, sugar, and eggs you’ll want to beat it for the time listed. This adds air which in turn helps the cupcakes rise.
Once you add your flour mixture, you’ll only want to beat until combined. Beating any longer will cause the batter to stiffen.
Why did my cupcakes explode?
First off, you may have overfilled the cupcake wells. Never fill more then 3/4 of the way full, and it’s best to stick to around 2/3’s of the way full. I use a 1/4 measuring cup to fill mine. Another reason could be that you added too much leavening agent, or that you are at higher elevation. Baking powder tends to work twice as hard at higher elevations. Consider cutting your baking powder in half if you are at a higher elevation.
All those tips are relevant to most cupcake recipes, not just these Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes.
Why did my cupcakes sink?
There are several reason why cupcakes sink, one is from over beating the batter and adding too much air. Also, cupcakes often will sink when there is too much moisture. This is more common in humid climates where added moisture can collect naturally in ingredients such as flour. When this occurs, cupcakes may rise rapidly and then fall during baking. In higher elevations, the leavening agent works twice as hard and may cause the batter to rise rapidly and sink before it’s had a chance to set up.
If you like these Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes, you might also like my Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes. They are simple to make and bursting with chocolate flavor.
I’ve also recently updated the photos for my Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes. If you’re a lemon fan, you’re going to love them.
Did you make these gluten-free vanilla cupcakes? Stop back by and let me know what you thought.
Gluten-Free Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or oil of choice)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk
- 2 teaspoons rodelle vanilla paste or vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup dairy-free butter (1 stick), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon rodelle vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons dairy-free milk
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Position rack in center of oven. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine oil and sugar.
- Add eggs and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for one minute. Add flour, salt, baking powder, dairy-free milk, and vanilla paste; beat at medium speed for one minute.
- Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the centers springs back when touched and cupcakes are very lightly browned.
- Let cool in the pan on rack for five minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan onto rack and cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: In a medium mixing bowl, beat together dairy-free butter and vanilla paste until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well. Alternate one cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of dairy-free milk until all ingredients are blended.
- Beat in additional dairy-free milk if needed to obtain desired constancy.
- Frost and enjoy!
Notes
When working with or measuring gluten-free flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level. Do not scoop your measuring cup into the gluten-free flour. The best method really is to weight it but I don't have the ingredient weights for all my recipes yet.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 cupcake w/frostingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 440 Total Fat: 20g Saturated Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 5950mg Sodium: 200mg Carbohydrates: 63g Sugar: 40g Protein: 4g
Tabitha says
I made these this weekend for my daughters bday. I’m going to make them into cake balls for her class. This was a great recipe! Thank you!
chrystal says
Hi Tabitha,
I’m so glad you like it. Thank you for letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Reilly says
Can I use coconut oil? Should I melt it first?
chrystal says
Hi Reilly,
You can use coconut oil. You will have to melt it, then let it come to room temperature (liquid, but cooled) before you use it.
Best,
Chrystal
Ale says
Hi Chrystal! I really like vanilla cupcakes, but I haven’t tried these yet. They look delish. One question, is there a chance that I can use another milk instead of dairy free milk? Thanks by the way.
chrystal says
Hi Ale,
Thank you for stopping by. You can use regular milk in this recipe 🙂 Happy Baking!
Best,
Chrystal
Tomoe says
Hi Chrystal, I am just about to bake these for my daughter’s fifth birthday as her best friend happens to be gluten intolerant. But haven’t had a chance to try this recipe beforehand and I am a little nervous! I will be using Cup4Cup multipurpose GF flour and was wondering if I should be making any adjustments to your recipe, since different GF blends seem to have slightly different properties.
Thank you so much for sharing your “GF knowledge” — You seem like a wonderful and very dedicated blogger!
chrystal says
Hi Tomoe,
I have not personally used Cup 4 Cup in this recipe, so I am not sure how it will turn out. When you measure your flour make sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it (don’t scoop the measuring cup into the flour). Hope that helps!
Happy Baking!
Best,
Chrystal
Catherine says
Mine came out more like Funky Monkey Bread! Not bad, and I did use 1/2 Splenda granular, 1/2 Splenda brown sugar blend, 1% milk, and Namaste Gluten-Free flour blend, dotted with hutter before baking. They are good-just tirned out much different than expected. Think I’ll make them into a Cinnamon Monkey Bread cupcake. Thank you. 🙂
chrystal says
Hi Catherine,
Thank you for stopping by. I haven’t tried splenda in this recipe, or Namaste flour. I’m guessing your cupcakes turned out more like monkey bread because of the difference in ingredients. So glad you still liked them.
Best,
Chrystal
Kenz says
I made to make these cupcakes for my class with my mom, and they are SO DELICIOUS. Thank you for the recipe, I kind of want to make them for my self!
chrystal says
Hi Kenz,
Thank you for stopping by and letting me know! I’m so glad you like them.
Best,
Chrystal
Elizabeth Dickinson says
I made these for my daughter’s birthday, and they are excellent. The kids (and adults) loved them. If you chill the cupcakes for 30 minutes, the frosting even tastes like ice cream or custard (but is also delicious non chilled). I’d like to make this again but use coconut sugar (and powdered coconut sugar for the frosting) and see how it turns out. Amazing recipe!
chrystal says
Hello Elizabeth,
I am so happy to hear that every liked them. That makes me so happy 🙂 Thank you for coming back and letting me know. I haven’t tried them with coconut sugar so I am curious as to how they turned out.
All my best,
Chrystal
Emma says
I made it today. It was perfect and yummy!
Thank you Thank you, now I can eat my ow home made Gluten Free cake again.
chrystal says
Hi Emma,
I am so glad you like them! Thank you for stopping by to let me know 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Virginia Wiles says
My son and I just tried this recipe. It’s beautifully simple, but we used butter for the”oil of choice” and for the flour we used Pam’s baking mix. They overflowed and fell badly. Sad day, but we’re not giving up. Should we reduce the baking powder next time or the flour? Or was using butter in the recipe the issue? Thanks
chrystal says
Hi Virginia,
I haven’t used Pamela’s mix in this recipe, so it’s hard to say. I just looked at the ingredient for Pamela’s mix and it already contains leavening agents in it like baking soda and baking powder, also the flour mix has different flours then what I normally use. My best guess without using Pamela’s mix is that because the leavening agents are included, and you added more based on what my recipe called for, that it caused the cupcakes to overfill. If you are not at a high elevation, and you’d like to try this recipe with Pamela’s mix again, I would try making it without the added baking powder.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help, as I haven’t tested this recipe with that mix.
Best,
Chrystal
Virginia Wiles says
Thanks, Chrystal! I’m in Denver, so I’ll try it without the baking powder next time. 🙂
And there WILL be a next time, because these are still the best tasting vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever had! They are unreasonably DELICIOUS! Thank you for this recipe. And double thank you, because if my kids go off dairy again I can still use this recipe. Yay!!
chrystal says
Yes, definitely don’t add any additional baking powder then. Again, I haven’t use Pamela’s mix, so they may be different. So glad you like them!
Best,
Chrystal
LISA TONGA says
Best GF cupcake recipe I’ve found. Thank you. I add a package of strawberry “Jello” and they are amazing.
chrystal says
Hi Lisa,
I’m so glad you like them! Thank you for letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Megan Ancheta says
These are the best cupcakes! A dear friend asked me to bring some gluten-free cupcakes to her wedding. I ran out of time to develop a new recipe, so I decided to use this recipe from my blogger friend, Chrystal. They turned out exactly how I wanted them to! Tender, fluffy, and seriously delicious. 🙂 Thanks Chrystal!
chrystal says
Hi Megan,
I’m so glad you liked them! Thank you for stopping by to let me know.
All my best,
Chrystal
Laura Walker says
Hello.
Why do you use granulated sugar? All the recipes I’ve baked previously use caster sugar.
Thank you x
chrystal says
Hi Laura,
Most of the stores in my area use granulated sugar and it’s more commonly used in baking recipes in the US.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
Laura Walker says
Ahh!! Ok, I was just curious.
Just heading to the shops for ingredients now!
Thank you x
Linda billingsley says
Any yellow or white gluten free cake recipe?thank youlinda
chrystal says
Hi Linda,
I have them both on my list to develop a recipe for this year 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Mikaela says
Hi Chrystal! I can’t wait to try baking these—they look delicious! I live at high altitude (7000 ft) and was wondering how much I should cut the baking powder by? Thank you!
chrystal says
Hi Mikaela (beautiful name!),
I haven’t tried making these at that high of an altitude, but I would try cutting it back to 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking powder. Hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
Shirley says
Hi Chrystal,
How much cocoa powder do I need to add if I want to turn this recipe into chocolate cupcakes? Because my son only eats chocolate cupcakes. Thanks!
chrystal says
Hi Shirley,
I have a chocolate cupcake recipe 🙂 https://www.glutenfreepalate.com/easy-gluten-free-chocolate-cupcakes/
Best,
Chrystal
Lilly says
Are these also nut free
chrystal says
Yes, as long as you don’t use a nut milk (or any other nut ingredients) for the dairy-free milk. You can use another type of dairy-free milk, or regular milk.
Best,
Chrystal
Yuki says
Thanks for the recipe! It looks great. Could you tell me how many cupcakes your recipe makes? Also can I substitute the butter and milk with dairy one? Thanks!
chrystal says
Hi Yuki,
This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. You can double it to make 24 cupcakes. You can use regular milk and regular butter.
Best,
Chrystal
Yuki says
Hi Chrystal, Thank you so much for getting back to me. I’ll try to make these cupcakes for my son’s Birthday party this weekend 🙂 Will I be able to freeze them or keep them in the fridge if I bake them a day or two days before the party or is it best to be served the day they are made? Thanks!!
chrystal says
Hi Yuki,
These are best the day of, but you can freeze them in advance too. They will still be yummy. Make sure to pull them out with enough time to defrost before your son’s birthday party.
Best,
Chrystal
Yuki says
So they can’t be kept in the fridge, (but in the freezer is ok?)?Sorry to ask you many times. Thanks!
chrystal says
Hi Yuki,
You can keep them in the fridge. I recommend not more than a day in the fridge. If it’s more than a day, I recommend the freezer.
Best,
Chrystal
Cynthia Burch says
Hi Chrystal,
I am the baker in the family, but have no experience with gluten free, because neither I, nor my kids are gluten intolerant.
My sister started getting regular migraines and they determined that gluten seemed to be a trigger, so now she is gluten free.
She told me she missed cupcakes (my specialty), so I decided to find a recipe and surprise her.
My question is, in the chocolate cupcakes you call for gluten free baking powder and vanilla. (I didn’t know those existed!) Why don’t you call for them in the vanilla cupcakes? And can I use regular in the chocolate?
Thanks for your blog! Looking forward to trying gluten free!
chrystal says
Hi Cynthia,
Thank you for stopping by. I should be calling out gf in the vanilla cupcakes. I will update that. Some vanilla extracts (cheaper brands) and baking powder are made with wheat ingredients. I like to ensure that my ingredients are gluten-free. Definitely check the labels on your baking powder and vanilla, they may already be gluten-free.
I hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
sandy says
I cannot believe how delicious these are. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m making these for my son’s class on Tuesday to celebrate Mardi Gras. There are a few GF kids in the class. I’m making cupcakes for all and GF ones for the few. The frosting will be the same so no one will feel left out. These cupcakes were moist, fluffy and delicious. Love them!
chrystal says
Hi Sandy,
I am so happy you loved these cupcakes. They are a favorite among many of my readers and we love them too. Thank you for stopping by and letting me know. I hope the other kids in your son’s class love them as much as you do.
All my best,
Chrystal
Jenn says
This was a delicious and super simple recipe. We’ve also tried your pizza dough and love it! Thank you.
chrystal says
Hi Jenn,
I am so glad! Thank you for stopping by and letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Yuki says
Hi Chrystal,
The recipe worked super well! The cupcakes were so easy to make and delicious it’ll be my go to cupcake recipe for sure!
One thing I learned was that I should not keep them in the fridge once the frosting is on. I made one bunch a night before my kid’s birthday party and kept them in the fridge. Next day they turned hard, but I just put them in the warm oven after I made two more bunches then they become fluffy again 🙂 However regrettably I kept all of the cupcakes after putting frosting on in the fridge (to keep them away from little kiddos, a wrong place!) just for about 90 minutes then unfortunately they hardened and lost their lovely moist fluffy texture and as frosting will melt I obviously couldn’t put them back in the oven again. They still tastes good though. And as I left them out in the room temperature for a couple of hours they became softer (though not as soft and fluffy as freshly baked). So next time I’ll bake them the day I serve them and keep them out on the counter! Thanks for the great recipe. I love it!
chrystal says
Hi Yuki,
Yes, I should have specified not to frost them before putting them in the refrigerator. I am so glad you like them though. Thank you for stopping back by.
Best,
Chrystal
Danel says
Can I substitute the flour mix with coconut flour?
chrystal says
HI Danel,
I haven’t tried substituting with coconut flour in this recipe. It won’t work for a 1:1, but possibly reduced.
Best,
Chrystal
Tammy says
This was the perfect recipe for my neice who is gf and a diabetic. I used coconut sugar in the cake and Swerve confectionery sugar in the frosting. They didn’t rise as nicely as yours but I’m sure she’ll be happy.
chrystal says
Hi Tammy,
I am so glad you like these cupcakes and were able to make them a good fit for your niece. Thank you for stopping by.
Best,
Chrystal
Linda says
Am going to try your recipe, can I use Soy milk?
chrystal says
Hi Linda,
I haven’t use soy milk in this recipe but I imagine it would work.
Best,
Chrystal
summer says
yes
Camille says
I’ve made this recipe twice now and both times they were a big hit. Our sons are sort of obsessed with the little bundt cakes (I’ve been using a six cake bundt pan). My 8 year old thinks they’re big, luxurious donuts and finishes his meals with gusto just to get another slice. I make the recipe exactly as you have it here (except for the pan). I’m not much of a baker but I seem to be able to get this one right. We’ve been transitioning to GF since last summer so it’s a new change for us. Being able to find a sweet treat the guys enjoy while still keeping gluten out of their diet is a gift. I’m completely grateful.
chrystal says
Hi Camille,
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop back by and leave a comment with your experience. I am glad you and your sons love these cupcakes. I’ve been meaning to post my bundt cake version and your sweet note is motivating me to get it up soon.
Thank you,
Chrystal
Sur says
The cupcakes look lovely, are they soya free as well as gluten and dairy free?
chrystal says
Hi Sur,
Yes, they are naturally soy free. Just don’t use soy milk.
Best,
Chrystal