Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

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These Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes are moist, rich, and incredibly decadent! Paired together with a silky-smooth chocolate frosting, they are a chocolate lover's dream come true.

These classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes are a crowd pleaser and are seriously addictive! Fluffy, tender, and perfectly sweetened, no one will guess that they are vegan.

Plus, they are easy to make and only require pantry staples that you might already have on hand.

I topped them with my Vegan Chocolate Frosting, but you can also use my Vegan Buttercream Frosting or Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients, notes, and substitutions

️🌟 This is a quick overview with step-by-step photos. For the complete ingredient amounts and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card below.

• Soy Milk – it yields a consistency that is very similar to dairy buttermilk when an acid is added. If you can't have soy, you can use any non-dairy milk. It won't thicken or curdle much, but that's ok and the recipe will still work.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – Lemon juice can be used instead.
• Granulated Sugar – To keep these chocolate cupcakes vegan, use organic or unrefined sugar. Non-organic or refined sugar might be filtered using bone char.
• Canola Oil – Any other neutral-tasting oil like sunflower seed or avocado oil will work, too. You can use coconut oil, but make sure it's measured in its liquid state. Also, it's imperative that all the ingredients are room temp or the oil will solidify when mixing.
• Dutch Process Cocoa Powder - It provides an intense dark chocolate flavor that is just heavenly. However, you can also use regular cocoa powder if you want and it'll still turn out chocolatey and delicious!

How to make Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

The batter will come together in just 4 easy steps. This is how it's done:

• In a mixing bowl, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to make vegan buttermilk. Let it rest for 10 minutes until it has thickened and curdled.
• Whisk the buttermilk with the oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla.
• In a separate mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner about ⅔ of the way full. Bake for 20-24 minutes.

Helpful baking tips

If you would like to learn even more baking tips, here is a great article with 10 Tips for Baking the Best Cupcakes.

Storing Tips

Although these vegan chocolate cupcakes are best enjoyed fresh, they store well and can even be frozen.

• Room temperature – Unfrosted cupcakes will stay good at room temp. for 2-3 days in an airtight container. To prevent excess moisture, place a layer of paper towel on the bottom of the container, and another layer on the cupcakes before placing the lid on.
• Frosted - although they can stay outside for quite a while, the frosting might soften if the weather is too warm. I recommend that you store decorated cupcakes in the fridge and take them out about an hour before serving.
• Fridge – Both frosted and unfrosted cupcakes can be refrigerated for 3-5 days in an airtight container.
• Freezer – they can be frozen for up to 3 months. For cupcakes without frosting, wrap them individually in wax paper and place them in an airtight container or Ziploc. For frosted cupcakes, place them on a tray and place them in the freezer, uncovered for at least an hour, or until the frosting has frozen. Then wrap them and store them the same way as the unfrosted cupcakes.

More Cupcake Recipes to try

Want more recipes like this one? Here are some reader favorites to try out:

• Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
• Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
• Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes