Gluten Free Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe

Ahhh, strawberry season! Don’t you just love it? Pints and pints of gorgeous strawberries, lusciously ripe, inexpensive and just waiting to be turned into all sorts of gluten-free treats.

You may have noticed I have a fondness for gluten-free cupcakes. I mean seriously… who doesn’t love a cupcake? And do you want to know what the number one request I get for recipes is? Vegan gluten-free cupcakes; obviously I am not the only person who loves cupcakes!

This recipe is a double strawberry whammy – strawberries in the cupcakes and the frosting. The batter for the cupcakes is made with my gluten-free vegan cupcake “secret weapon” Vegenasie, an egg-free mayonnaise substitute and for the strawberry “cream cheese” frosting I used a combination of Vegan Gourmet cream cheese alternative with Earth Balance’s non-dairy butter substitute and just a touch of coconut oil for a rich, creamy texture. Resist the temptation to overload the frosting with too many strawberries, they will exude liquid that will make the frosting too difficult to set up and work with. I know this because it took me three tries to get the frosting perfect! I also found that if I used the cream cheese alternative and Earth Balance straight out of the fridge (cold), it worked better. Depending on the type of powdered sugar you use and the humidity, the amount of powdered sugar in the frosting will vary. If you want it stiff enough to pipe, just keep adding more sugar until it holds it shape well.  Another tip – if garnishing with strawberries (recommended, to make them oh.. so pretty!) do so just before serving, otheriwse the strawberries will weep out liquid on the frosting.

Rejoice in beautiful, red, ripe strawberries while they are here! What’s your favorite way to use strawberries?  Tell me!

Gluten Free Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1½ cups good quality gluten-free flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea slat
½ cup Vegenaise
1 cup sugar
1 cup dairy free milk or water (I like to use a combination of half coconut milk and half water)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, very finely chopped

Frosting:

¼ cup Vegan Gourmet cream cheese alternative
¼ cup Earth Balance
1 tablespoon coconut oil
¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup finely chopped strawberries
4 – 5 cups (or more) powdered sugar

Garnish – optional:

Strawberries
Mint leaves

* You can make your own gluten-free flour blend by whisking together 1 cup superfine white rice flour, 1/3 cup potato starch (not potato flour), 3 tablespoons tapioca starch and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 standard sized muffin cups with paper liners.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. In another mixing bowl whisk together the Vegenaise, sugar, dairy free milk, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken up. Stir in the strawberries and divide the batter among the prepared cups filling each cup almost full. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown, the cupcakes feel firm to the touch and a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean. The strawberries will make these cupcakes very moist.

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting.

Combine the Vegan Gourmet cream cheese alternative, Earth Balance and coconut oil in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, and beat at medium-high speed until smooth. You may have to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times to ensure the mixture is completely smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, lemon juice and strawberries and mix to combine. Sift in 4 cups of powdered sugar and mix, starting on low speed, to combine. You may need to add more sugar because you want the frosting to be the consistency of either stiffly whipped cream or buttercream frosting. Refrigerate the frosting for about 10 minutes before frosting the cupcakes.

Frost cupcakes and refrigerate until serving time.  If desired garnish with strawberry slices and mint leaves just before serving.

Make 12 gluten-free vegan cupcakes.

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