Recipe: Vegan Christmas Cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream

These deliciously light vegan gingerbread cupcakes with a generous swirl of cinnamon buttercream are a real taste of Christmas.

Look at the faces of those little gingerbread men…. they are drowning in cinnamon buttercream and loving it! What a way to go.

I seem to end up making lots of cupcakes around Christmas time – usually for cake sales and school bazaars, when everyone has already had one too many mince pies and we haven’t yet cracked open the Christmas Cake.

If you are baking for a cake sale, you might also like to have a look at my Jammy Christmas Star biscuits which have had some lovely reviews recently, or how about my Vegan Chocolate Yule Log with chestnut buttercream filling? Totally delicious.

What you need to make your Vegan Christmas Cupcakes

Ingredients

Dairy-free butter or margarine I like to use block margarine for baking, my favourite is the newly released Flora Plant Butter or the delicious Naturli block ‘butter’ if you can find it.

Dairy-free yoghurt and milk Soya yoghurt and milk work best in baking as they have the highest protein content so are the best replacement for eggs. But, if you are soya intolerant then coconut or oat yoghurt and any type of plant milk will also work well.

Spices I’ve used ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice for a really Christmassy flavour, but have been fairly conservative with the quantities as they were for kids. When you’ve tried these yourself you may decide to play around with the spice ratios for a bolder flavour.

For the buttercream:

Dairy-free butter or margarine Whatever type of ‘butter’ you choose, it needs to be really soft (but not melted) to get a really good buttercream.

Sugars I’ve added a little soft brown (muscavado) sugar to give a lovely butterscotch flavour to complement the cinnamon. It also makes the buttercream a beautiful pale brown colour which I think looks even more appetising!

Mini Gingerbread Men I used Organix mini gingerbread men (which I found in the baby food aisle in the supermarket!) as my kids love them. But there are many to choose from in most supermarkets, or you could make your own if you’re really keen!

You can read at the bottom of this post about the inspiration for these vegan Christmas cupcakes – a post by lovely blogging friend Isabella who was taken far too soon after a short illness at the age of 29.

Please do save this vegan Christmas cupcake recipe on Pinterest –> –> –> Sharing my posts helps me to keep creating free vegan recipes!

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I love hearing from you! Do send me pictures of your very own vegan gingerbread cupcakes on:

tagging me @thevegspace or using the hashtag #thevegspace to show me how you got on!

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Vegan Christmas Cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream

Kate Ford | The Veg Space

These deliciously light vegan gingerbread cupcakes with a generous swirl of cinnamon buttercream are a real taste of Christmas.

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Course Baking

Cuisine British

Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 306 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the gingerbread cupcakes:

• 150 g dairy-free margarine
• 225 g caster sugar
• 150 g dairy-free yoghurt
• 150 ml dairy-free milk
• 300 g self-raising flour
• 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch salt

For the cinnamon buttercream:

• 200 g dairy-free margarine
• 200 g icing sugar
• 50 g soft light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 12 mini gingerbread men to decorate

Instructions

 

• Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases and preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4.
• Beat together the margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the yoghurt and milk, (don't panic – it will look 'curdled' at this stage but it really doesn't matter!).
• Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt into the bowl and fold in gently to avoid knocking out any of the air.
• Divide the cake mixture between the 12 cake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes until an inserted skewer or knife comes out clean. Leave to cool.
• To make the buttercream, beat the margarine until fully softened. Sieve in the sugars and cinnamon, (especially important to sieve the light brown sugar which may otherwise be lumpy). Beat until pale and fluffy.
• When the cupcakes are completely cool, (ideally store them overnight in a sealed tin or tupperware and decorate the following day). pipe on the buttercream, and stand a mini gingerbread man up on top of each cake. Finish by sprinkling a tiny pinch more cinnamon over each cupcake.

Nutrition

Calories: 306kcalCarbohydrates: 66.9gProtein: 4.4gFat: 1.3gSaturated Fat: 0.3gSodium: 168mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 4.2gSugar: 40.9gCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg

Keyword vegan christmas cupcakes, vegan gingerbread cupcakes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

It was with shock and great sadness that we learned last month that one of the UK food blogger gang, the lovely Isabella King of food blog Coriander Queen had lost her battle with cancer at the age of 29.

As a tribute to Izzie, members of the group have all recreated one of her recipes to post today.  I chose to make these lovely Gingerbread Cupcakes.

Here’s a list of recipes from Coriander Queen posted on friends’ blogs today in tribute to Isabella:

Easy 5 ingredient pesto tomato tart on Amuse Your Bouche (vegetarian)
Globe artichoke with balsamic dip on Natural Kitchen Adventures (vegan)
Cider, apple and sausage casserole on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Chocolate orange oat bars on Veggie Desserts (vegan)
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on Tin and Thyme (vegetarian)
Arancini (risotto balls) on Coffee & Vanilla (vegetarian)
Rich coffee cupcakes on BakingQueen74 (vegetarian)
Gingerbread cupcakes with orange buttercream on The Veg Space (vegan)
Marmalade and ginger loaf cake on The Crafty Larder (vegetarian)
Ginger and oat cookies on Kavey Eats (vegetarian)
Amatriciana pasta on Kitchen Sanctuary
Treacle tart on Patisserie Makes Perfect (vegetarian)
Crispy fried halloumi on Supper In The Suburbs (vegetarian)
Chocolate fridge cake on Jo’s Kitchen (vegetarian)
Chocolate almond butter cookies on Rough Measures (vegetarian)
Eggless chocolate chip cookies on Simply Sensational Food (vegetarian)
Boozy decadent hot chocolate on Fab Food 4 All (vegetarian)
Easy no bake blackberry cheesecakes on Casa Costello (vegetarian)
Best coriander / cilantro recipes on Fuss Free Flavours (some vegetarian)
Easy gingerbread popcorn snack on Celery & Cupcakes (vegetarian)
Elderflower and vodka cocktail slush on The Hedgecombers (vegetarian)
Fruit flapjacks on The Petite Cook (vegan)
Tomato, garlic and prawn spaghetti on Hungry Healthy Happy (pesceterian)
Lemon drizzle loaf cake on Penne For Your Thoughts (vegetarian)
Chicken ramen on It’s Not Easy Being Greedy
Stuffed Nutella cookies on Munchies And Munchkins (vegetarian)
Easy Berry Compote on Eats Amazing (vegetarian)
Caipirinha on Lovely Appetite (vegetarian)
Garlic and Lime Coriander Prawns on Travels for Tatse (pesceterian)