Dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan, these heart-shaped cupcakes are perfect to whip up for Valentine’s Day! A vegan chocolate cupcake that’s soft, indulgent, and topped with pink icing makes the perfect dessert. Spread the love this February with these chocolate Valentine’s day cupcakes! These heart-shaped cupcakes are my girls’ new favorite! they’re super soft, moist (though I dislike that word) and contain actual sugar- which is a rarity to me! While I don’t love how much sugar they have in them, I’m starting to relax more on special occasions. These Valentine’s Day cupcakes not only have sugar in the cupcakes but the frosting is most similar to that of a “normal” cupcake as well. While the chocolate cupcakes are gluten-free & vegan, even non-health food addicts LOVE them (<– hehe) Don’t want to read? JUMP to the recipe! The flour you choose for these vegan Valentine’s Day cupcakes matters. Though I’ve long been aware that you cannot blindly substitute regular flour for gluten-free all-purpose, this is even more important when the recipe is vegan. This is because depending on what the flour is made of it will absorb liquid (or bind) more or less. Initially, this recipe was not gluten-free. However, after six batches of cupcakes, I nailed down a good ratio. We literally ate cupcakes all week. Thus, these vegan chocolate cupcakes are made with Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour. Though I’m sure other flours will work, this is the one that I used personally. It thickens the recipe a lot so you’ll notice that you don’t actually need very much! If you’re new to gluten-free baking you may be experiencing a lot of recipes that are denser than what you’re used to. Obviously, by now my household is used to this. However, every once in a while I strive to make a recipe more similar to “the norm” and something that not only will myself and the girls eat but that my hubby (who really eats a SAD) will enjoy too. These Valentine’s Day cupcakes will shock you in their texture. They’re extremely light, almost fluffy. And, thanks to enjoy life chocolate chips they’re also really moist. If you’re on the fence, these cupcakes are most similar to the norm. Icing will be the death of me, it’s something I simply don’t excel at. However, the pink icing for these cupcakes is pretty damn awesome. Since I’m against most vegan butter alternatives (they’re mostly made up of carcinogenic oils), Nuts For Cheese has one that I don’t entirely hate. Made with a base of cashews and coconut oil it’s vegan butter that tastes similar to regular (which means it’s yummy on paleo pancakes!). Thus, this pink frosting is: The icing use cane sugar and butter to get it’s texture and beet powder to color it. Fact: no, the beet powder will not affect the taste of the vegan frosting. Tip: because the icing uses cane sugar, you’ll want to grind the sugar down before mixing it into the butter. Can sugar naturally comes in larger granules and I’ve found that it doesn’t quite dissolve during the aeration process of the icing (notice in the picture below). So, use a coffee grinder to grind it down. Likewise, without grinding it you’ll notice (in the picture below) that the icing looks textured/chunky. It tastes find but grinding down the sugar will make the cupcakes more aesthetically pleasing. The icing is extremely sweet, and it can be piped (as you see in the video). However, it is a bit thicker than traditional icing. This means, if you’re piping it you’ll want a very large hole on your instrument as you’ll notice it gum up. In the video you’ll see that I don’t even use a piping tip, I simply use the bag. Note: Want to change the color of the icing? I use acai powder for purple, spirulina for a blue-ish hue, and chlorella for green 😉 Another option to ice these vegan chocolate cupcakes is to use coconut whip cream. Coconut whip is lighter, normally less sugar-filled, and absolutely delicious. It’s actually what I used for my girl’s sugar-free 1st birthday smash cake. That said if you’ve ever used coconut whip before you’ll know it melts pretty quickly out of the fridge- something to keep in mind. These heart-shaped cupcakes are best stored are room temperature and thus best eaten within a day or two. Though they can be stored in the fridge, the cupcakes will lose their softness and instead firm up. Placing them back at room temperature will make them soften up again after an hour or two but not to the extent that they were. Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Pink Frosting Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl except the chocolate chips. Melt the coconut oil and whisk wet together in another. Make sure the almond milk is room temperature so the coconut oil doesn’t solidify. Mix the wet into the dry ingredients until fully combined. Mix in the chocolate chips and scoop the batter into your silicone mold. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the mold fully so that they can firm up. While they’re cooling, make the frosting. Use electric beaters to whip the butter, sugar, beet powder, and coconut cream together. Slowly add in the almond milk and beat for another 3-5 minutes. Scoop the icing into a piping bag. Remove the vegan chocolate cupcakes from the molds and place them on a cooling rack. Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes and top with chocolate chips if desired. Dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan, these heart-shaped cupcakes are perfect to whip up for Valentine's Day! A vegan chocolate cupcake that's soft, indulgent, and topped with pink icing makes the perfect dessert. Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips in one bowl. Melt the coconut oil and whisk the wet ingredients in another. Make sure the almond milk is room temperature so the coconut oil doesn't solidify. Mix the wet into the dry ingredients until fully combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into the silicone mold Bake for 20 minutes. remove from the oven and let cool in the molds fully so they set. Use electric beaters to whip butter, sugar, beet powder, and coconut cream together. Slowly add in the almond milk and beat for another 3-5 minutes. Scoop the icing into a piping bag or ziplock with a large hole. Remove the cupcakes from the silicone molds. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with more chocolate chips if desired. Don't forget to read through the blog post as there's a lot of special notes on the cupcakes. Also, you can grab the ingredients you need from my Pantry Staples. Indulgent, soft, and perfect for Valentine’s Day. These heart-shaped cupcakes make the perfect treat for absolutely everyone! Even those following a typical diet will fall in love with these vegan cupcakes! Heart-Shaped Cupcakes (Vegan Valentine’s Cupcakes)
Choosing Gluten-Free Flour For The Heart Shaped Cupcakes
Texture Of The Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Tips On The Vegan Icing
Another Icing Option
How To Store The Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
Ingredients In The Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cupcakes
Kitchen Tools
How To Make Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
Don’t Forget To Pin These Soft, Chocolate, Heart-Shaped Cupcakes!
Grab your printable!
Healthy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
Frosting Ingredients
Instructions
Make the frosting
Recipe Notes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 12 cupcakes
Calories 326 kcal
Nutrition Facts
Healthy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 326
Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 1mg0%
Sodium 1285mg56%
Potassium 102mg3%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 37g41%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 491IU10%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 635mg64%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
5 cups of flour???? There’s not enough liquid
Hi Nelly,
My apologies! In converting the recipe to a recipe card there was a typo. The original recipe is 1.5 cups of flour. I’m off to update the recipe card now but truly, I’m sorry.