There have been quite a few requests for a basic vanilla gluten free cupcakes recipe.
To be honest, I went through many failed gluten free cupcake attempts before arriving at the recipe posted below. One experiment was too dry; another too crumbly; still another tasted like plaster of Paris poured into cupcake liners and baked.
(In case you were wondering, that experiment went straight into the trash.)
I’m glad I didn’t give up on the gluten free cupcakes recipe (although I did seriously think about it after the unfortunate plaster debacle…). These basic vanilla gluten free cupcakes turn out soft, perfectly domed, and delicious every single time.
Above, the gluten free cupcakes are iced with my Healthy Nutella Recipe.
Gluten Free Cupcakes
Ingredients
Gluten Free Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp Bob’s gluten free flour (regular white flour or spelt will work for a non-gf version) (90g)
- 1/4 tsp xantham gum
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup xylitol or sugar of choice (90g)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise spread (such as Earth Balance, Vegenaise, or even homemade cashew mayo) (58g)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp water (95g)
Instructions
Gluten Free Cupcakes Recipe: Preheat oven to 350F. Place 6-7 liners inside a cupcake pan. In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients and stir well. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk together until the mayo spread is completely smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just evenly combined. Divide among the liners (these cupcakes rise a lot), and bake 22 minutes or until cupcakes have domed and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let sit 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Refrigerate for optimum freshness. (The recipe for the healthy chocolate frosting shown in the photos is linked under the second picture in this post.)
Question of the Day:
Have you had any recent recipe failures?
With my job requiring multiple recipe experiments each day, I have recipe failures all the time! Some recent ones would include chocolate cheesecake cupcakes that blew up in the oven (not exactly a joy to clean up), super gummy quinoa cookies, and an extremely unfortunate attempt at a Butterfinger pie. (Butterfinger pie sounds really good, right? It wasn’t!)
Ooh, or remember the exploding cake in my post on Food Photography Gone Wrong?
I’m not gluten free, but these look great! Everyone could benefit from cutting back on gluten a little bit. Thanks Katie!
It’s always nice to have a basic gluten-free and vegan cupcake recipe on hand!
I’ve had a recent recipe “failure” for sure -although I managed to salvage it. It was supposed to be a cauliflower puree, but it ended up as a very thick soup. Everyone said it was “the best cauliflower soup ever.” So, I’m not sure if this qualifies as a failure! 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. I need t bring a gf cake this weekend…I think I am going to try these. You’re such a dear, Katie, you make my life happier. 😉
I am wondering why you don’t use a much lower carb count flour like almond flour for your recipe development. Not only is almond flour significantly lower in carbs and higher in protein but it also makes a good contribution of potassium.
One muffin with 15.7 carbs is extremely high considering that’s a lot of one’s daily allowance devoted to a single bite in your mouth! Way too expensive for me.
First of all, carbs aren’t bad for you. Second of all, how is a whole cupcake a “single bite”? Third of all, 15.7 grams is about 5% of one’s daily recommended allowance of carbs, so that’s not even a lot.
First of all, more carbs than you need, especially sugar carbs including starches in a gluten free flour, is DEFINITELY bad for you. The nutritional info for the recipe says 1 serving is 53 grams which is less than 2 ounces of muffin. That sounds like one really tiny muffin and yet it says 15.7 carb grams per serving not including the frosting shown in the pictures. So you tell me what is wrong with that info. If a “serving” is 2 muffins that wouldn’t be so bad. But the nutritional content info doesn’t say it is 2 muffins it says serving size is 53 grams. That’s not much and I doubt it is 2 muffins. A single 53 grams of muffin would be a single bite in my book. But if one wanted to nibble, crumb and pick at a 53 grams item for an hour, I suppose that could be done.
If you think 15.7 carb grams of starch is good and only 15% of what one should eat, that means you think 90 carb grams a day is a healthy diet? I would strongly and professionally disagree with that assessment.
I would never waste my net 15 net carbs per meal on ANY muffin made from gluten free flour when no carbs almond flour is a good alternative. But that’s me. I was just curious as to why that wasn’t considered as a good and healthy alternative to regular gluten free flour that has starch in it. I wasn’t trying to irritate you, I just asked a question.
Nutritional labeling information is NOT health advice and should never be interpreted as such. It is based on 2000 calorie intake per day to get at the 5% labeling info only. The recommendation for adult females is NOT 2000 per day. That is for labeling purposes only. If one is extremely active, they could need more than 2000 calories a day.
If you think 15 grams is 5% of a daily intake, that means you think people should consume 300 carb grams per day? I’m curious as to where that came from. I did the math incorrectly in my posting awaiting moderation. This is the more correct math for your comment of 15 grams is only 5% of carb allowance per day. That would mean 15 grams times 20 would be 300 grams carb for a daily intake and that is insane.
Basically, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Most women are recommended to consume in the ballpark of 2000 calories if they’re even moderately active. Since carbs should make up 45-65% of your calorie intake, then that means somewhere around 300 grams of carbs per day. If you’ve even taken a nutrition class or looked at a reliable website about nutrition, you will find the same information. Of course, those websites also recommend the consumption of dairy and this is a vegan website (and I am a vegan) so that can be debated endlessly. However, this conversation is regarding carbs. And yes, somewhere in the ballpark of 300 grams per day is recommended if you eat about 2000 calories a day. You said you don’t eat that many calories, so obviously your carbs intake (along with fat and protein) would be lower. Nonetheless, for most people, it is true.
Not only have I taken many classes in biochemistry and nutrition, I have 2 degrees in it, a BS and a double MS in Food Science Technology and Food and Nutrition Research plus I’m a LDE (licensed diabetic educator) and have 35 years experience in running several research projects including one in the incipient WIC program. There’s no such level of 2000 calories for all women, period. Most that are moderately active have 1200 to 1500 maximum. You continue to mistake the Nutrition labeling level of 2000 calories for the level of what ALL women should eat. This is one of the many reasons why the labeling information has been changed. People simply didn’t know how to interpret it. This is a great example of just that. The 15.7 CHO of a single muffin is way too high.
I’m not sure how you can possibly argue that ACTIVE women need 1200 to 1500 calories per day, unless they are trying to LOSE weight, which you never indicated. I didn’t “misinterpret” the label. The nutrition label is based off of a 2000 calorie diet – if you need less then don’t follow the guidelines on the label – I mentioned that if you’d read my previous comment. I personally DO require about 2000 calories a day and so do many others. People who are TRULY moderately or highly active WILL require ABOUT 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight unless their metabolism is completely shot. I’m going to step out of the argument now because it’s obviously going nowhere.
Here’s a yo0utube presentation on sugar and carb metabolism that also covers the carbs one needs so hopefully this will give you a more accurate background on the reality of how bad too many carbs and sugars especially fructose and its relationship to diabetes and metabolic syndrome are for everyone. Maybe it will convince you and maybe not. But at least I and the UCSF endocrinology dept tried.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Wow! I know this is an older post but I just have to say … this is a cupcake recipe!!! It isn’t something you would eat every day nor is it something that you would eat till they are gone. It’s a splurge. A treat for goodness sake!
And it can STILL cause hardening of the arteries because it is an added sugar even if you see it only as a “cupcake for goodness sake” treat and therefore having NO effect whatsoever. That’s simply not true but keep on thinking that way and when you’re not so young, it will possibly catch up to you. I hope it doesn’t.
I want to try these but don’t have any vegan mayo on hand. Could I substitute coconut oil or Earth Balance?
If you try it, please report back with results. I might also reduce the liquid a smidge and add a little vinegar for rising.
Thanks… Could you recommend amounts of how much oil, what to reduce and by how much, and how much vinegar to add?
These look so good! Of course, I tried them and they did not come out like yours….dun dun dun. I did use Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Blend. The batter was very thick and the cupcakes did not rise at all…..any thoughts?
It’s always advised to use the recipe exactly as written, especially the first time making it. For these, the recipe states Bob’s so that is what I would use. You can also check out CCK’s recipe FAQ page at the top of the blog for trobleshooting. Hope that helps!
What consistency should the batter be? and how much should you fill the cups?
Mine didn’t turn out too well, but I’d like to try again. They were dry open and cracked like bread on the top, and mushy underneath.And can you give the flour amount in weight? because it was way too dry to mix without adding more water and I know how a 1/2 cup of flour can vary wildly depending on how compacted it was in the bag. I realize a few things may have contributed to it:
I used stevia and then apple fiber powder to make up the 1/2 cup of xylitol.
I had to overmix because it was too dry even for dough, and had to keep adding more water.
What do you think I did wrong?
Hannah, did you use the Bob’s Red Mill and get those results?
oops. didn’t realize you did give the 90 grams for that 1/2 cup. I’ll definitely try it again.
Can I replace the mayo with coconut oil, margarine or almond butter?
Hi Katy,
The Bob’s GF that you use… is that the garbanzo/fava based all-purpose flour mix? I’ve not used Bob’s yet, and want to try these as Pamela’s does not turn out fluffy light cupcakes like you got here.
Thanks for your work! My gluten-free/dairy-free/egg-free/cane sugar-free/nut-free family SO appreciates all you do!
That’s the one!