Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes are super moist, sweet and fragrant, and topped with a tangy "cream cheese" frosting!

My Banana Cake recipe has been so popular, so I decided to make it into cupcakes!

Why you'll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes:

• they're undetectably vegan and gluten-free
• they're seriously moist
• they're full of banana flavour
• they're perfectly sweet
• they're refined sugar free 
• they're low in sugar
• they're covered in a fluffy frosting
• they're made using simple ingredients!

How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mash the bananas.

• Mix with all the other ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.

Tip: Use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk, and add it bit by bit to make sure you don't add too much, as the amount of liquid in bananas can vary!

• Transfer the mixture between cupcake cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
• Bake for 15 minutes.

How to frost and decorate these cupcakes:

• Make the frosting and use a piping bag or a palette knife for frosting to apply the frosting.
• Decorate with banana slices, if desired.

Tips for frosting and decorating: 

• For super fluffy frosting, you should make it fresh just before serving, but frosted cupcakes will retain their shape and texture for a good few days.
• If using banana slices to decorate the cupcakes, put these on before serving as otherwise they will go brown.

How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes keep for?

Although these cupcakes do taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Substitutions you can make to the recipe:

• you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
• you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
• you can substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts
• for a nut-free version: substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds
• you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free
• you can omit the cinnamon
• you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
• you can omit the maple syrup to make the recipe completely free from added sugar 
• you can add chopped walnuts or desiccated coconut to the cake batter
• you can add chocolate chips or raisins to the cake batter
• if you can’t get hold of coconut milk for the frosting or are feeling lazy, you can use a thick coconut yogurt instead.

More vegan banana recipes:

• Blueberry Banana Bread
• Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Banana Cake
• Banana Walnut Bread
• Chocolate Banana Bread

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes are super moist, sweet and fragrant, and topped with a tangy "cream cheese" frosting!

4.37 from 19 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free vegan cupcakes, vegan banana cupcakes, vegan cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Calories: 273kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• ▢ 3 medium-sized ripe bananas
• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) ***
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend 
 (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ▢ 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)

For the frosting:

• ▢ 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ***
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate (optional):

• ▢ Banana slices ****

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Peel the bananas and place in a wide-bottomed bowl, then use a fork to mash until you get a smooth paste
• Place the coconut oil in a separate large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
• Once melted, add the maple syrup to the same bowl along with the vinegar, salt, cinnamon (if using), vanilla and ground almonds
• Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
• Add the mashed bananas, and mix well, adding the milk a small amount at a time until you get a loose batter. You may not need to use it all depending on how liquidy your bananas are - you may also need to add a little more milk if your bananas are dry
• Transfer mixture between 12 cupcake cases in a cupcake tin
• Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Once out the oven, transfer cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying the frosting

For the frosting:

• You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!
• Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)
• Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl
• Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract
• Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy

To frost and decorate the cupcakes:

• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife or spatula to apply an even amount of frosting to each of the cupcakes
• Decorate with banana slices, if desired
• Best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

*The vinegar is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the sponge fluffy

**You can alternatively use almond flour

***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt

****If using banana slices to decorate the cupcakes, put these on before serving as otherwise they will go brown 

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 273 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Fat 18g28%

Saturated Fat 11g55%

Sodium 41mg2%

Potassium 218mg6%

Carbohydrates 25g8%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 10g11%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 20IU0%

Vitamin C 3.9mg5%

Calcium 73mg7%

Iron 2.1mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.