Vegan Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe.
It may seem as if I have made these before.
You are probably thinking of the Chocolate Cupcakes stuffed with Fudge and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Icing.
Here is how this new creation was born:
During a recent conversation with my “significant other” (hehe) discussing what to have for dessert after dinner; naturally I said chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.
He knew exactly what I meant and that was: “Chocolate cupcakes with a bit of peanut butter thrown somewhere in there…..”
Like these:
Does he know me? Or what?
He definitely knew where I was going with this and quickly suggested to make them straight up Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Icing.
I thought, “Yikes! That’s a awful lot of peanut butter! I’m not sure about that!”
(Actually I said that out loud, it wasn’t merely a thought)
But of course I wanted to give his suggestion a go; after all I had a private stash of fudge icing that I could always add to mine to make it … ummmm, Better.
But here’s the deal, now listen, I can admit when I am wrong. And I am here to confess today, I WAS WRONG!
This Vegan Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe (double peanut butter cupcakes I should say) are out of this world amazing!
I really do have to give credit where credit is due, he knows a thing or two when it comes to good taste, after all he picked me didn’t he!?
I call him my professional taste tester and critic when trying out new recipes.
He will always tell me the truth if something is not great or could be improved.
Which was why I was in the test kitchen for a week when it came to the No Bake Key Lime Pie Cheesecake nightmare several weeks ago!
After 5 attempts at that one we finally nailed it down and got the taste and texture perfect!
So why would this one be any different?
Well, the only difference here was it only took one try!
I did however make this recipe 4 times afterwards, but that was only because it is so good we couldn’t get enough!
Check out this new recipe for Peanut Butter Cupcakes that are so moist you are going to flip your lid!
In my opinion, peanut butter cakes can tend to be a bit dry by nature but this is not the case here!
The addition of flax as the egg replacer makes this cake recipe super moist!
The icing is sort of a cream cheese icing / peanut butter buttercream mix.
It is not too sweet that is why I love to use it for cupcakes like this.
You can of course forgo the cream cheese icing altogether and just make a peanut butter buttercream.
Change it up however you like, but I am telling you the double peanut butter combo here is better than you would imagine!
For a layer cake, DOUBLE the recipe ingredients below and portion the batter in greased and parchment lined cake pans for - 3-8" layers
- For the Cake:
- Vegan Butter 12 tablespoons (170g)
- Granulated Sugar 1½ cup (300g)
- Creamy Peanut Butter ⅔ cup (160g)
- Flax Meal 3 Tablespoon (24g)
- Warm Water ½ cup (120ml)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoon (10ml)
- Soy Milk ½ cup (120ml)
- Vinegar 1 Tablespoon (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour 1¾ cup (220g)
- Baking Powder ¾ teaspoon
- *salt optional pinch
- For the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Buttercream Icing:
- Vegan Cream Cheese 1 -8oz package (224g)
- Vegan Butter 8 Tablespoons (113g)
- Creamy Peanut Butter 1 cup (240g)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
- Confectioners Sugar 2 cups (240g)
- *Optional fudge recipe for striping the icing as shown in the video, you will only need a small amount
- For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Sift the flour with the baking powder
- Combine the flax meal with the warm water and set aside to thicken about 5 minutes.
- Add the vinegar to the soy milk and then add the vanilla extract
- Cream the vegan butter with the sugar on medium to high speed until fluffy about 3 minutes.
- Add the peanut butter and mix well
- Add the flax "egg" mixture and cream well to combine
- Next add about ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix just until it is incorporated
- Then add about half of the soy milk mixture, mix to combine
- add another ⅓ of the flour and then the rest of the milk mixture
- Ending with the last addition of flour.
- Mix well then portion into cupcake liners, bake at 375°F for 12 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake approximately 10 minutes longer or until they are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers.
- Cool completely while you make the Icing:
- Combine the vegan cream cheese with the softened vegan butter and cream to smooth
- Add the peanut butter and mix well.
- Add the vanilla extract and the sifted confectioners sugar and mix just until all combined
- Refrigerate until needed
Just wondering what I can substitute for the flax meal (I don’t need to do vegan)
Can I also replace regular milk instead of soy milk?
They look delicious – I can’t wait to try them!!!
yes you can click here for a non vegan version for peanut butter cupcakes
But as I said in the video there is no comparison to this recipe from my non vegan version, I would love for you to try the flax, it’s not so much ” a need to do vegan” which I totally get it, but if the recipe is just better this way it’s more a fact that this recipe simply is BETTER this way. Vegan or not, better is just better 🙂
I’m not vegan, but I’m sure trying this. Flax seed is not expensive, I bought a large container just for Gretchen’s vegan recipes. i
I am confused regarding the Vegan Cream Cheese: Is it 1 8 oz container, or 113g? Thank you!
Hey thanks for pointing that out! It is 8 ounces which is 224g (not 113g- Ill correct that!)
Do you think a raspberry compote filling would work here for a PB&J cupcake?
yes totally!
Moist and delicious! My family gobbled them up!
I don’t like milk substitutes but want it vegan still, help??!!
Hmm, well you will have to replace the soy (or any milk alternative) with something. Water would fall flat- but would still work out.
It is baked, so you wouldn’t taste anything about the milk substitute, unless you mean just don’t like buying it for 1 cup to put in a recipe?
Hi. Why on earth are these cupcakes baked SO VERY LONG–and at a higher than typical temperature to start?!?! I’ve NEVER baked ANY home made cupcake–vegan or not–for nearly that long. Mine bake up in 19-22 minutes at 350°F. Please explain so I don’t waste time, money and ingredients. I want to make sure this isn’t an error. Thank you.
Hi Christine, I like to start cupcakes at a higher temperature because that helps them get a nice jump on the rise. (I find vegan cupcakes especially need a little boost in that area) Once you open the preheated oven to place the cupcakes (or cake) you lose almost 30°F temperature right off the bat.
But if you feel better about baking them at 350 the whole time, that is totally fine, I am sure by what you wrote you have quite alot of knowledge as to knowing when your cupcakes are done, so you can use the 20 minute mark as a time to check them and see if they need another couple minutes.
Could I sub organic shortening for the butter in the frosting? I feel like whenever I use Earth Balance my frosting melts! I can never get my vegan frosting to stiffen up without shortening. Thank you! These look delicious!`
yes definitely!
Hi,
I tried these cupcakes, but unfortunately the texture was terrible and they were falling apart :/ I think it was due to the flaxseed meal (Perhaps of different brand in Europe), as normally my cupcakes with soy flour turn out perfectly.
Nevertheless I will continue to try your recipes as they look great 🙂
Can I cut this recipe I half to make a smaller batch? Would any ingredients need to remain as is in terms of amount (I’m thinking of the vinegar, for example)?
yes all half would be fine
To make this Keto can I use Almond flour? TX Karen
Yes sure instead of graham crumbs! Absolutely!
I made these, and unfortunately they were a fail. They sunk in the middle, making them a bit gooey, brownie-like in texture. They still tasted great, actually, but I made them for a friend’s birthday and I couldn’t give them to her. So not only did I spend time and money making them, I had to make a different cupcake afterwards. I am an experienced (vegan and non-vegan, once upon a time) baker, and I’m not sure what went wrong here. It seemed to me that there wasn’t enough flour to prop up all the fat in these cupcakes.
I’ve made other recipes by Gretchen, and they’ve turned out great, but this one didn’t work for some reason. I’ll just console myself by eating the crunchy edges off these cupcakes and dreaming of how to make this flavor work in the future! (Once I opened the oven and saw they had fallen, I cooked them a bit longer to at least give me some crunchy tops to snack on 🙂 )
Hey thanks for commenting, I’m so sorry this happened to you!
The video and pictures here on my blog are exactly the recipe I used, meaning I don’t do camera tricks or anything like that, what I make goes directly to photo here on the recipe post. but I will have another look as sometimes I do make errors in the recipe when I type into the recipe app.