Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe (Two Frosting Options!)

Years ago, my friend Hannah made the vegan gingerbread cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World with her own special twist. She swapped the lemon cream cheese frosting for a cinnamon vanilla frosting, and topped each cupcake with a Newman Ginger-O cookie. They no longer make that sandwich cookie flavor, but fortunately, these cupcakes really don’t need a garnish. They are warmly spiced, sweet, and flavorful on their own! Nevertheless, I’ve updated this sample cookbook recipe with Hannah’s frosting option, and a couple of our own little recipe tweaks.

Special Diet Notes: Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Just be sure to choose the milk beverage and frosting ingredients that suit your dietary needs.

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes (2 Frosting Options!)

Author: adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup oil
½ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup light molasses (not blackstrap)
¼ cup plain dairy-free milk beverage
2 tablespoons aquafaba (can sub unsweetened applesauce)
1½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting or Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting (recipes below)

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line 12 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cloves.
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, molasses, milk beverage, yogurt, and lemon zest. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined; do not overmix. Fold in the crystalized ginger.
Divide the batter between your cupcake liners – they should each be about two-thirds full.
Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting: in a mixing bowl, briefly cream ¼ cup dairy-free buttery sticks and ¼ cup vegan cream cheese together. With the mixer on low, blend 2 cups of powdered sugar in gradually. Once incorporated, turn the mixer up and mix until smooth and creamy. Add 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and mix until combined.

Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting: In a mixing bowl, cream 1 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (like Spectrum or Nutiva). Add 3 cups powdered sugar, and mix with a hand mixer on low speed, until incorporated. Add 2 tablespoons vanilla or plain milk beverage, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix the frosting until smooth and creamy.

Serving size: 1 cupcake (unfrosted) Calories: 200 Fat: 9.4g Saturated fat: 1.2g Carbohydrates: 28.5g Sugar: 15g Sodium: 112mg Fiber: .6g Protein: 1.4g

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