Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (Rich, Moist & Delicious!)

Who doesn’t love cupcakes? These easy vegan chocolate cupcakes are rich, moist, and full of deep cocoa flavour. They are the kind of treat that works just as well for birthdays as it does for an afternoon pick-me-up.

They’re dairy-free, egg-free, and still come out fluffy and decadent every time. I usually top mine with a swirl of chocolate frosting, but if you prefer a lighter touch, you can go for vanilla buttercream instead. Either way, you’ll have a batch of cupcakes that nobody will guess are vegan.

The best thing about these vegan chocolate cupcake recipe is that it takes just 10 minutes to prepare.

These eggless chocolate cupcakes use my secret ingredient to make them moist, light, and fluffy. This secret ingredient is vegan mayonnaise! Honestly don’t mock it until you try it.

You are in for a real treat. The end results are truly one of the best things you will ever taste.

I do hope you enjoy the best vegan cupcake recipe that my family has been making for over 15 years.

So let’s show you how to make them.

Can You Use This Recipe To Make A Cake Instead Of Cupcakes?

Believe it or not, you can use pretty much any single-layer cake recipe to make cupcakes and vice versa!

That means that you can use this easy vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe to make a chocolate cake if you so choose! In fact, this recipe is the base of my Vegan Oreo Cake so you can see it in action over there too!

Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients

• Flour. Any type works, including gluten-free.
• Cocoa Powder.
• Baking Soda.
• Salt. I use sea salt, but any will be fine.
• Vegan Mayonnaise. This secret ingredient acts as a replacement for eggs.
• Water.
• Sugar.
• Vanilla Extract. For an added flavor.
• Vegan Chocolate Chips.
• Vegan Chocolate Frosting. Make my Vegan Chocolate Frosting to top the cupcakes. If you prefer vanilla frosting instead of chocolate, try a simple vegan vanilla buttercream (vegan butter + icing sugar + vanilla extract + a splash of non-dairy milk). It adds a nice contrast.

How To Make Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

First, you want to preheat your oven to 350F.

Then, get a large bowl and mix your dry ingredients with a whisk. Your dry ingredients are your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt.

Then, you want to combine your vegan mayo, water, sugar, and vanilla together. Use a whisk to ensure that they are well mixed together.

Now, add in the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and fold until just barely combined.

Next, add in your chocolate chips and fold the chocolate chips into the cupcake batter until they are evenly distributed throughout.

If you want to add nuts or you don’t want to use chocolate chips at all, that is okay, this vegan chocolate cupcakes recipe will still taste good and work well.

I have added a variety of mix-ins such as Oreos in my Vegan Oreo Cake recipe so you can feel free to play it up instead of just doing plain dairy-free chocolate cupcakes!

Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners and evenly pour the batter among each liner.

Make sure that you only fill each one 2/3 of the way as you don’t want the cupcakes to spill over during baking or else they will be ruined.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Make sure to let the chocolate egg-free cupcakes cool completely before frosting them with my Vegan Chocolate Frosting or else the frosting will melt right off.

Enjoy these tasty chocolatey cupcakes!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Variations

Just this one recipe can produce multiple fun variations if you are looking for something different!

Here are a few easy modifications I love for changing up this vegan chocolate cupcake recipe:

• Vegan Peppermint Cupcakes: Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Top with the peppermint frosting variation from my Vegan Chocolate Frosting recipe. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy on top of each cupcake when finished!
• Vegan Oreo Cupcakes: Just like my Vegan Oreo Cake, but small! Add crushed Oreos to the cupcake batter and then add ground Oreos to my Vegan Vanilla Frosting. Top each cupcake with a mini Oreo cookie.
• Vegan Coconut Cupcakes: Sub the chocolate chips for 1 cup of coconut flakes and top with the coconut icing from my Vegan Vanilla Frosting recipe.

As you can see, there are a variety of ways that you can take this one simple vegan chocolate cupcake recipe and vary it for different moods and holidays!

I love doing the peppermint cupcakes for Christmas and they turn out kind of like my Vegan Peppermint Fudge but in cupcake form. The sky is the limit!

How To Store The Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Storing the non-dairy chocolate cupcakes is quite easy and they keep well!

You can store them uniced in the fridge for 3-4 days and then frost them when you are ready. The frosted chocolate cupcakes last in the fridge for the same time and they keep pretty well. Make sure to store them in an air-tight container!

Can I freeze vegan chocolate cupcakes?

You can freeze the cupcakes for later and I recommend freezing the uniced cupcakes and then frosting them when the day you want to serve them arrives for best results.

What frosting works best?

Chocolate buttercream is the classic pairing, but these cupcakes are just as good with a simple vegan vanilla buttercream if you want contrast. You could also try peanut butter frosting or even a cream cheese–style frosting for a tangy twist.

Can I make these gluten-free?

Yes! These vegan chocolate cupcakes work well with a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose baking flour blend. Just swap it in for the regular flour. The texture may be slightly softer, but they’ll still bake up moist and fluffy.

These vegan chocolate cupcakes are proof that you don’t need dairy or eggs to bake something truly indulgent. Keep them classic with chocolate frosting, switch things up with vanilla buttercream, or pair them with a batch of my vegan brownies for the ultimate chocolate lover’s spread. However you serve them, these cupcakes are easy to make, fun to decorate, and guaranteed to disappear fast.

If you love chocolate you might also like to try my 3-Ingredient Hot Chocolate Bombs, 3-Minute Molten Chocolate Vegan Mug Cake and 5-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Pudding.