Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 18 Comments
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TheseGluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes aresuper moist,sweet andfragrant,and topped with atangy "cream cheese" frosting!
My Banana Cake recipe has been so popular, so I decided to make it into cupcakes!
Why you'll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes:
- they'reundetectably veganandgluten-free
- they'reseriouslymoist
- they're full ofbananaflavour
- they're perfectlysweet
- they'rerefinedsugar free
- they'relow in sugar
- they're covered in afluffyfrosting
- they're made usingsimple ingredients!
How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes
Scrolldown to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mash the bananas.
- Mix with all the other ingredients in aglass mixing bowl.
Tip:Use ameasuring jugto measure out the plant-based milk, and add it bit by bit to make sure you don't add too much, as the amount of liquid in bananas can vary!
- Transfer the mixture betweencupcake cases in amuffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for15 minutes.
How to frost and decorate these cupcakes:
- Make thefrostingand use apiping bagor apalette knife for frostingto apply the frosting.
- Decorate withbanana slices, if desired.
Tips for frosting and decorating:
- For super fluffy frosting, you should make it fresh just before serving, but frosted cupcakes will retain their shape and texture for a good few days.
- If using banana slices to decorate the cupcakes, put these on before serving as otherwise they will go brown.
How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes keep for?
Although these cupcakes do taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Substitutions you can make to the recipe:
- you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
- you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
- you can substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts
- for a nut-free version: substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds
- you can use plain flour,wholemeal (whole wheat) flouror spelt flourinstead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free
- you canomitthe cinnamon
- you can useany type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
- you can omit the maple syruptomake the recipe completely free from added sugar
- you can add chopped walnuts ordesiccated coconutto the cake batter
- you can add chocolate chipsorraisinsto the cake batter
- if you can’t get hold of coconut milk for the frosting or are feeling lazy, you can use a thick coconut yogurt instead.
More vegan banana recipes:
- Blueberry Banana Bread
- Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Cake
- Banana Walnut Bread
- Chocolate Banana Bread
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes
TheseGluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes aresuper moist,sweet andfragrant,and topped with atangy "cream cheese" frosting!
4.25 from 20 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free vegan cupcakes, vegan banana cupcakes, vegan cupcakes
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 273kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 3 medium-sized ripe bananas
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) ***
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
For the frosting:
- 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ***
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate (optional):
- Banana slices ****
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
Peel the bananas and place in a wide-bottomed bowl, then use a fork to mash until you get a smooth paste
Place the coconut oil in a separate large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
Once melted, add the maple syrup to the same bowl along with the vinegar, salt, cinnamon (if using), vanilla and ground almonds
Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
Add the mashed bananas, and mix well, adding the milk a small amount at a time until you get a loose batter. You may not need to use it all depending on how liquidy your bananas are - you may also need to add a little more milk if your bananas are dry
Transfer mixture between 12 cupcake cases in a cupcake tin
Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
Once out the oven, transfer cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying the frosting
For the frosting:
You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!
Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)
Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl
Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract
Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy
To frost and decorate the cupcakes:
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife or spatula to apply an even amount of frosting to each of the cupcakes
Decorate with banana slices, if desired
Best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
*The vinegar is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the sponge fluffy
**You can alternatively usealmond flour
***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt
****If using banana slices to decorate the cupcakes, put these on before serving as otherwise they will go brown
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 273Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 11g55%
Sodium 41mg2%
Potassium 218mg6%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 20IU0%
Vitamin C 3.9mg5%
Calcium 73mg7%
Iron 2.1mg12%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
More Baking & Dessert Recipes
- Vegan Rice Chocolate Mousse (GF)
- Gluten-Free Vegan Almond Loaf Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Snack Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Muffins
Reader Interactions
Comments
jayne
can you use lemon juice instead of vinegar?
Reply
Rhian Williams
Yes!
Paulette
Can I leave out the nuts/seeds all together?
Reply
Rhian Williams
You can replace the ground almonds with a fifth of the amount coconut flour!
Jess
Thanks for this recipe Rhian! I made these cupcakes for a 5yo's birthday party today so my daughter wouldn't feel left out at cake time, as we are trialling a GF DF Egg free diet for her based on food intolerance test results we received this week. It was my first time baking anything GF and I was impressed! They were so moist and the flavour was delicious - a hit among both kids and adults!
I didn't have any almond meal in the cupboard, so I had to grind whole almonds in my food processor (which isn't a great one for a small amount of anything), so the texture of my cupcakes was a bit nuttier doing that than when I've used store-bought almond meal in the past for other recipes, so for anyone else making these whose food processor/blender isn't very powerful, I recommend following Rhian's advice to use almond meal/almond flour.
Looking forward to making these again and trying some of your other recipes 🙂Reply
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for sharing your substitutions, that's so helpful to know!
Paije
If I don’t have almond meal, but have almond flour… can I just use 2 1/2 cups of almond flour and omit the meal altogether?
Reply
Rhian Williams
You can use almond flour instead of the almond meal, but you can't use it to replace the gluten-free flour blend!
4.25 from 20 votes (17 ratings without comment)
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