The only eggless red velvet cupcakes recipe you’ll ever need! It’s soft, moist, and super fluffy with vibrant red color. The tangy sweet whipped cream cheese frosting on top makes them even more decadently delicious. These aren’t just for Valentine’s day.
Jump to:
❤️ You’ll Love This Recipe
- Super moist: These eggless red velvet cupcakes are made with oil and it makes soft, tender and moist crumbs. These cupcakes stay soft even after refrigerating.
- Slight hint of cocoa: This recipe calls for just 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder for 12 cupcakes. So it has a slightly chocolatey flavor.
- Lightly tangy: This flavor comes from the addition of vinegar.
- Without eggs: These turned out super soft and fluffy that you won’t even believe that these red velvet cupcakes are made without eggs.
- Perfectly vibrant red: This comes from the red food color. In the past, these cupcakes had a natural red tinge from the reaction between acidic vinegar (or buttermilk), cocoa powder and baking soda. But nowadays cocoa powder is often dutch processed which prevents color change. Hence we are using red food color.
- Perfect for any occasion: Because of its bold red color with white frosting on top, it’s perfect for valentine, Christmas or Canada day. Garnish them with blue sprinkles or blueberries for the 4th of July or Memorial day. These eggless red velvet cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties as well.
- Frosted with whipped cream cheese frosting: The sweet and tangy flavor of frosting goes well with this red velvet flavor.
🧾 Ingredient Notes
- Flour: Regular all purpose flour is required. I prefer to use unbleached flour as it is less processed.
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar is required.
- Cocoa powder: I have used natural cocoa powder that is widely available in most grocery stores.
- Baking powder and baking soda: You’ll need both leavening agents.
- Salt: It enhances the flavor overall.
- Milk + Vinegar: I recommend using full-fat whole milk and white distilled vinegar. I don’t recommend using buttermilk instead. Because these cupcakes are made without eggs milk and vinegar mixture works better than using store-bought buttermilk.
- Oil: Always use flavorless oil like avocado oil, corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil or vegetable oil.
- Vanilla: go for pure vanilla extract and stay away from artificial or imitation ones.
- Red food color: I always use McCormick’s red liquid food color for red velvet desserts e.g. red velvet cheesecake brownies.
👩🍳 How To Make Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes?
1) Take room temperature milk in a large bowl (in which you’re going to make cupcake batter). Add vinegar to it and stir.
2) Let it rest for 10 minutes and meantime prep the rest of the ingredients. After resting time, the milk will be curdled.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners and keep it ready.
3) In another bowl add dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt).
4) Whisk it until everything is combined well and keep it aside.
5) Now into the milk+vinegar bowl, add oil, vanilla and red food color.
6) Beat it using a wire whisk until combined.
7,8) Sift the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture.
9, 10) Start mixing using a whisk until the batter comes together and it should be a lump-free batter. Using a spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter.
11) Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Each section should be ¾ full.
12) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Check by inserting a toothpick in a center of the cupcake and it should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
13) Remove it to a cooling rack and let the cupcakes cool down completely. You can see nicely baked flat-top cupcakes (not dome-like, mushroom shape).
While the cupcakes are cooling you start making whipped cream cheese frosting. Once the cupcakes are cooled completely, you can pipe the frosting on them as per your liking. Here I have used Wilton 1M tip to pipe the frosting.
I have crumbled 1 cupcake and use those crumbs to garnish remaining 11 cupcakes. Instead you can use red, white sprinkles.
💭 Tips For Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Measure the flour correctly! Too much flour makes the cake dense. To measure, you must fluff up your flour using a spoon, add it to the measuring cup using a spoon and level it off using a straight butter knife.
- Do not over-mix the batter! To get the fluffy texture, mix the batter just until combined. Over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour and cupcakes will turn out dense and gummy.
- Use room-temperature milk. When vinegar is added to room-temperature milk, it curdles faster.
- Let the cupcakes cool down completely before frosting otherwise the frosting will start to melt.
- If you’re not using cupcake liners then grease the muffin pan section with oil/butter.
🧁 Storage Instructions
- At room temperature, these cupcakes stay good for a few hours (3-5 hours) because of the cream cheese frosting on top.
- In the refrigerator, frosted cupcakes stay good for 3-4 days. I suggest removing cupcakes from the fridges 1-2 hours before serving and they get a chance to come to room temperature.
Check Out Other Eggless Cupcakes
Did you try this eggless red velvet cupcakes recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
📋 Recipe Card
Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
For Cupcakes:
- 1 cup Milk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons White distilled vinegar
- 1 ½ cups All purpose flour (Maida)
- ¾ cup White sugar
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ cup Oil any flavorless oil like avocado, canola, safflower, vegetable, corn oil.
- 1 tablespoon Red food color I used McCormick’s liquid color
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
For Frosting:
- 8 oz Cream cheese block, fully softened at room temperature
- ½ cup Powdered sugar (Confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar)
- ½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup Heavy whipping cream cold, remove it from the fridge right before you need
Instructions
Making Cupcakes:
- Take room temperature milk in a large bowl (in which you’re going to make cupcake batter). Add vinegar to it and stir. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners and keep it ready.
- In another bowl add dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt). Whisk it until everything is combined well and keep it aside.
- Now into the milk+vinegar bowl, add oil, vanilla and red food color. Beat it using a wire whisk until combined.
- Sift the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture. Start mixing using a whisk until the batter comes together and it should be a lump-free batter. Using a spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Each section should be ¾ full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Check by inserting a toothpick in a center of the cupcake and it should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Remove it to a cooling rack and let the cupcakes cool down completely.
Make Frosting:
- Take softened cream cheese in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat it using a paddle attachment until smooth and creamy.
- Sift the powdered sugar in it and beat it until smooth.
- Switch to a whisk attachment and run the mixture of medium and gradually add the heavy cream and continue beating. Gradually increase the speed to high and beat until you see the frosting has a spreadable consistency and when your lift the beater up you see the stiff peak.
- For detailed instructions and tips, check out this whipped cream cheese frosting recipe.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled completely, you can pipe the frosting on them as per your liking. Here I have used Wilton 1M tip to pipe the frosting.
- I have crumbled 1 cupcake and use those crumbs to garnish remaining 11 cupcakes. Instead you can use red, white sprinkles
Notes
- Do not over-mix the batter! To get the fluffy texture, mix the batter just until combined. Over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour and cupcakes will turn out dense and gummy.
- Use room-temperature milk. When vinegar is added to room-temperature milk, it curdles faster.
- Let the cupcakes cool down completely before frosting otherwise the frosting will start to melt.
- If you’re not using cupcake liners then grease the muffin pan section with oil/butter.
AMY PATEL
Hi Kanan - For the icing, should we use salted or unsalted butter?
Kanan Patel
Unsalted is recommended.
But is you have salted butter on hand, you can use that.
Parita
Hi
I hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask you a question I’ve seen in a lot of recipes people using butter and yogurt together with oil. What does two products do for the cakes? Thank you very much
Parita
X
Kanan Patel
Butter is used for flavor, Plus the fat in the butter makes the tender cake by breaking the gluten strands of flour. And moisture in the butter creates the steam and makes the cake rise.
Yogurt keep the cake soft and moist