The Best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes I've Ever Made

I haven't been happy with a vegan cupcake in a very long time. The ones I make at home are either too dense, taste too much like extract, or are too crumbly. Last week, though, I made some that I think are absolutely delicious. Four of my coworkers have also asked me when I'm going to put the recipe online, so I guess that they liked them as well!

Aren't they cute!? I made mini cupcakes so that there would be more to go around (I have a lot of coworkers) and I knew that they would probably be prettier that way. I used gold foil wrappers and dyed my frosting green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. That one in the back is a full grown cupcake. It seems a bit out of place now that I'm looking at it. Oh well. I made four of them to keep for Chris and I to eat at home...

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients well. Add your liquid ingredients and mix with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Line your cupcake pan with your wrappers. Use your favorite method for transferring batter to the cupcake foils. This time around, I used the Dessert Decorator Plus made by Wilton. I had to fill it several times, which was awkward and sticky, but it made for perfectly sized cupcakes without any drips on the wrappers or the pan. I think it even helped them bake more evenly, too. You can spoon the batter, use an ice cream scoop, or fill a plastic bag with the batter, poke a hole in it, and squeeze the right amount of batter into each little foil.

Fill each liner 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake on the center wrack for approximately 10-12 minutes for mini cupcakes or 15-17 minutes for full sized ones. Test the batter by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out "clean" without any dough on it, the cupcakes are baked all the way through.

Let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan using a fork or knife and your fingers. They'll still be a bit warm so be careful! Let them cool COMPLETELY before attempting to frost. Even slightly warm cupcakes will make frosting separate and/or run.

Use your favorite frosting recipe or a storebought variety. The recipe I used is from the delightfully famous cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. You can find the recipe on CHOW by clicking here.