Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
What is it about rainbow sprinkles that is just so damn fun?
Is it the childhood birthday cake memories, strong association with summertime and afternoon trips to get vanilla soft-serve, or the bright and happy colors? Probably all of these things.
I’m learning that the grown-up version of me is very similar to the wee version of me. I still love hot pink, ballerina tutus (my mom was a real-deal ballerina before she had me), glittery anything, and yes, sprinkles. I won’t ever turn down chocolate sprinkles, but I still believe that the rainbow ones are more fun. Also, I realize I’m making myself sound like a girly-girl here, and I am in a lot of ways, but I feel the need to put it out there that I’m actually very low-maintenance on the beauty and clothing fronts. Give me a tinted lip balm, stretchy black leggings, and pink running shoes and I’m ready to go. Where I am high(er) maintenance is my skincare products. That’s a post for another day.
Today is all about the vegan funfetti cupcakes!! These are some of my favorite vanilla cupcakes to date. They’re light and fluffy, all without the eggs and dairy and with significantly less oil than most recipes. Applesauce and non-dairy yogurt do the heavy lifting, and then there’s a bit of unrefined coconut oil for the perfect buttery richness. I mentioned on instagram that it took me three stores to find sprinkles, but I was wrong: it was actually four stores. Aaron drove me all around town in search of rainbow sprinkles. After store #3 was a fail, I thought I was going to have to stop by the vegan cupcake store near us and beg for a cup full of sprinkles. I’ve made some notes about this in the recipe, but you may just want to buy yours online.
I have to give props to Aaron not only for being a very patient driver, but also because this weekend he was hit hard with some sort of flu thing. He rallied anyway to take these photos before crashing on the couch and letting me watch back-to-back episodes of Girls. I repaid him in cupcakes but I don’t think he can really taste them (though he swears they are delicious). Today, I’m pumping him (and me) full of zinc and homemade lemon ginger turmeric tea.
And cupcakes, naturally. They’re good for the soul.
Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
Serves: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 22 mins
Total Time: 32 mins
Easy vegan funfetti cupcakes that are every bit as fun and delicious as the funfetti cake you ate as a kid! All you need are 10 ingredients and about 30 minutes.
Cuisine: Vegan Servings: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 22 mins Total Time: 32 mins
Easy vegan funfetti cupcakes that are every bit as fun and delicious as the funfetti cake you ate as a kid! All you need are 10 ingredients and about 30 minutes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with 12 liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, non-dairy milk, applesauce, coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla. Slowly stir in the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix until just combined (be careful not to over-mix), then fold in the rainbow sprinkles. Portion the batter into the cupcake liners until they are about 3/4 full. I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure evenly.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Spread a generous layer of frosting on top of the cupcakes and decorate with rainbow sprinkles. Enjoy!
Notes [2]
Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes adapted from my Easy 2-Layer Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe.
A few notes about sprinkles: most contain confectioner’s glaze, which is made from lac beetles. I was able to find Betty Crocker sprinkles that don’t contain confectioner’s glaze; however, they do have artificial dyes that give them their super bright colors. Check the ingredients because some Betty Crocker sprinkles are not vegan-friendly. Let’s Do Organics makes vegan and gluten-free sprinkles with much better ingredients, but they are a lot more muted in color. You can usually find these at stores like Whole Foods.
Copyright © 2022 Amanda Maguire for Pickles & Honey
these are stunning and look phenomenal. funfetti cupcakes were my absolute favorite cupcakes growing up- i miss them!
i hope aaron is feeling better. do you not drive or did he just want to come with you on the sprinkle mission?
We usually go grocery shopping together…it just happened that instead of going to 1 store we went to 4. But yes, I would almost always prefer someone else to do the driving. 😉
I love these! I agree, young me and present me are pretty similar, I still love sweets, ballet (it’s a baker thing I think?) and leggings for days. Vegan sprinkles are so hard to find and sometimes, I take the time to make mine, but other times you just need some easy grab and go sprinkles!
I really want to try making my own sprinkles!!
These look delicious! And such good timing because my best friend’s birthday is just a few weeks away and she requested funfetti cake. If I want to make a two-layer funfetti cake, should I somehow modify the quantities and bake time for this recipe to make two round cakes, or should I just add sprinkles to your “Easy 2-Layer Vanilla Birthday Cake” recipe?
Thanks!
Excellent timing! I think it’s probably easier to add sprinkles to the 2-layer cake so you get the baking times and recipe instructions right. I’d fold 2/3 cup of sprinkles into the cake batter just before dividing it between the two pans. I also used a mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour in that recipe, but you could do 100% all-purpose for an even lighter crumb. I’ve made it with 100% white whole wheat flour too and the results are almost as good. Maybe frost the cake and then cover the entire thing in sprinkles?! I really want to do that for my next cake!
I love funfetti! These look so cute and delicious.. I just love all the sprinkle action going on.
Thanks, Thalia! I love all of the sprinkle action too.
This looks delicious! I love your recipes! 🙂
Thank you!
These really are my childhood (but now I can eat them again!) And I love Let’s Do Organic sprinkles! The only vegan and GF ones that are ALSO Soy-free!
Good call on the soy-free thing! It’s nearly impossible to find vegan, gf AND soy-free.
These look lovely, Amanda! I’m in the Boston area, too, and am wondering where you finally located the vegan sprinkles. Thanks!
Stop & Shop of all places! Not my favorite store by a long shot, but they had the vegan Betty Crocker sprinkles (and the non-vegan ones so make sure to read the ingredients). That said, Let’s Do Organics can usually be found at Whole Foods and the ingredients are much better. For photography purposes the brighter ones were the winner.
This looks amazing. Where can I get the colored sprinkles you used in your recipe? I’ve searched online but have not been able to find those beautiful jimmies 🙂 Thanks!
I found the sprinkles at my local Stop & Shop (Betty Crocker brand, but without animal-derived ingredients). I just did a quick search on Amazon and this brand appears to be vegan-friendly too.
Thank you so much, Amanda!! Appreciate it 🙂