Easy Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe |
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Mins | 14 Mins | 15 Cupcakes |
| Author | Category | Method |
| Madhuram | Cupcakes | Baking |
- 2 and 1/2 cups Cake Flour
- 3/4 cup White Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 tablespoon Orange Zest (Zest of about 3 oranges)
- 1 cup Milk (See My Notes)
- 3/4 cup Orange Juice, freshly squeezed (See My Notes)
- 1/2 cup Melted Butter
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- Cake Flour = 2 and 2/3 cups of all purpose flour + 5 tablespoons of cornstarch
- Milk = Evaporated, Whole or 2%; non-dairy for vegans
- Melted Butter = Oil or melted margarine
- Apple cider vinegar = White vinegar
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Prepare muffin tins either by lightly greasing it with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well.
- Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry mix one by one, stirring with a whisk simultaneously. Don't be bothered by some small lumps. Do not be tempted to dissolve the lumps by mixing the batter with an electric beater. (See My Notes)
- Fill each muffin cup 3/4th full, which is about 3 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake. Bake for about 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Mine was done in 14 minutes. But note that my oven usually bakes quicker than the time mentioned in a recipe by at least 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the pan/s from the oven and allow it cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Then take out the cupcakes from the pan and let it cool on the rack completely before frosting, if you decide to.
- I was super excited after tasting these eggless vanilla cupcakes because it was as good as this cupcake which I had baked using Ener-G. The orange juice and orange zest gave it an excellent flavor. Also it had a light and quite fluffy texture because of the cake flour I had used. So those of you who don't have access to Ener-G or other commercial egg replacers, worry no more because you don't need it. This easy recipe, with simple ingredients will give you amazing eggless vanilla cupcakes.
- I have tried this recipe using cake flour only. I have not tried it using the substitution I have mentioned. All purpose flour plus some cornstarch is the general substitution for cake flour. So I'm not sure about the texture of the cupcakes using this substitution.
- So far I have tested this recipe twice. The first time I used evaporated milk (unsweetened condensed milk) and the 2nd time I used 2% milk. I personally liked the cupcakes baked using evaporated milk. It was richer and lighter than the 2% milk cupcakes.
- I have mentioned it in many of my recipes and I'm mentioning it here again; use only freshly squeezed orange juice while baking. Store bought juice in cartons lends a bitter after taste in baked goods. That's my personal observation.
- Also the first time I just used 1/2 a cup of sugar and felt that the sweetness was very mild. It was okay for us who usually prefer mildly sweet treats. The 2nd time I increased the quantity to 3/4th cup. 1/2 cup sugar is perfectly okay if you are going to frost/slather it with frosting.
- My personal experience has shown me that cake flour and electric beater are not compatible. I tried the Ener-G eggless vanilla cupcakes twice using cake flour and mixing the batter with a beater and ended up with cupcakes which sunk more than the Titanic. The cupcakes looked very pitiful. So please avoid the temptation to use an electric beater while preparing the batter in these recipes, especially with cake flour.
- Update: I tried a vegan version of this vanilla cupcake recipe for my son's birthday and it came out very well. I used 1 and 3/4 cups of almond milk in place of the milk and orange juice. I also substituted 1/2 cup melted butter with coconut oil. I did use cake flour and the cakes turned out light, fluffy and tasted awesome. I got about 3 dozen mini cupcakes for this recipe.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 15 | |
| Per Serving | % Daily Value* |
| Calories 182 | |
| Total Fat 6.7g | 10% |
| Saturated Fat 4.1g | 21% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 18mg | 6% |
| Sodium 176mg | 7% |
| Potassium 110mg | 3% |
| Total Carb 28.3g | 9% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.6g | 2% |
| Sugars 11.8g | |
| Protein 2.8g | |
| Vitamin A 4% - Vitamin C 18% | |
| Calcium 5% - Iron 6% | |
When I posted the recipe for these egg free vanilla cupcakes, I never thought that any other cupcake recipe can even come closer to that one. I was so ecstatic that I have found the best eggless vanilla cupcake recipe. But the only drawback was that it used Ener-G egg replacer powder and it's not easily available in all parts of the world and many of the readers were asking me for a substitute for Ener-G.
Also there was mixed review from people who tried it with Ener-G. I have tried it a couple times now and I have got it right each and every time, but I understand that not everybody is able to get it perfect.
I was working on finding another recipe for vanilla cupcakes which uses easily available ingredients. I tried a couple of recipes but was not satisfied with any of those. Which is when I decided to try this eggless vanilla cake recipe itself. Another reason for deciding to use that recipe was, some of the readers wanted a substitute for condensed milk in that recipe.
So I used the vanilla cake recipe as a base and made a couple of variations and baked it twice to get the right combination and I have to say that I'm completely satisfied with the results. If you love this orange scented eggless vanilla cupcakes, I'm pretty sure that you would love these orange cookies too! Do give it a try.
I tried this recipe using the cake flour substitute and it turned out hard, dry and a bit bitter. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T. I recommend using cake flour only for this recipe.
Hmm..I’m not sure if that would be the reason.
I had to try these 2x. First time I attempted the AP flour and cornstarch to no avail. They weighed 1 lb each LOL. I got some cake flour, used 1 3/4 cups of almond vanilla milk (no OJ) and almond extract instead of vanilla. They were light and fluffy and DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe.
That’s great Brandy.
My toddler son has an egg allergy so I plan to make he and his twin brother 2 small mini cakes for their birthday and use the remaining batter to make cupcakes for guests. I was looking at both the vanilla cupcake and cake recipes that don’t use ener-G egg replacer. I have some but think it adds a strange, slightly chemical flavor to recipes. Would you suggest I make the cupcake recipe or the cake recipe for this purpose?
Both are similar Sonya. I have used sweetened condensed milk in the cake recipe and some readers wanted to have an alternative for it and I came up with the cupcake recipe using milk and sugar instead of condensed milk.
Can I use something else for vinegar?
Lemon juice can be used.
Can I make these without the orange flavor? Would I just leave out the orange juice and orange zest or is there something I should substitute?
Yes you can. Either use milk or water, preferably milk instead of the orange juice and omit the zest.
This recipe is amazing just made a batch
Thanks Shiba.
Hi there
Can you include calories in your recipes . Thanks
Hmm..will try Amitha. I do it on and off.
Hi,
Please let me know the volume of your cups. Are they of 240ml or 200ml. Thanks
Hmm…I don’t use metric measurements. But have a baking measurements chart here. Probably this will help you.
Just tried this recipe. I used lemons instead of oranges. I only used 1/4 cup of lemon juice and added 1/2 cup of milk to the recipe. I also used plain flour and cornstarch instead of cake flour. Mine baked for 20mins. Turned out light, fluffy and tasty. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
You’re welcome Seethalaxmi.
Hi. I would like to use lemons instead of oranges, too. Did you squeeze the lemon juice? Did you use lemon zest?
I used only orange juice and zest. But if you use lemon you should not be using 3/4th cups of juice. It will be too sour. Maybe 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and lemon zest should be fine.
Actually I made them with whole wheat atta and the taste and texture were awesome.. soft and moist!
Oh really!? That’s great to know Anuradha.
The muffins are a super hit! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
I made vanilla cup cakes but it’s very hard.i don’t why can u help me…
This recipe is a fail proof recipe Hetvi. I’m not sure what went wrong. Did you bake it for too long?
Just made these and came out fab! I used vegan butter and almond coconut milk, light brown sugar instead of white and non freshly squeezed Simply Orange, orange juice with pulp and yum. I also added some extras like dried cranberries and walnuts for a crunch. Thanks for this recipe. The cake is just sweet enough.
You’re welcome Maxx.
Made these for a party this weekend with gluten free flour and even left the batter over night due to time constraints. As expected due to leaving it to sit as a batter overnight I had to add an extra tsp of baking powder. But other than that they were amazing. Best gluten and egg free cupcakes I’ve ever eaten let alone baked myself!
That’s great to know! I too am going to try baking the gluten-free version. Thanks Angharad. 🙂
Hi,what gluten free flour did you use and did you substitute it 1-1? Thanks!
I made these cupcakes for my son’s birthday party since we had vegetarian guests and guests with allergies. They turned out amazing! I made a simple vanilla icing to top them off and some colored sprinkles to match our theme. Everyone loved them and I followed the recipe with no substitutions from the original. Thank you for this recipe!
You’re very welcome SM 🙂
What does the Orange Zest do for the cupcakes? Also, what can I use to substitute it?
It’s just for flavour and is completely optional. You may choose to omit it. But I personally like the vanilla orange combo very much.
Hi I tried this recipe today.I could make only six cupcakes since my cupcake tray is a small one
So I baked the remaining batter in cake mould
I would like to ask u whether I can keep the leftover batter in the fridge and make the cup cakes in 2 or 3 batches. Byt thee way cup cakes came out very well they were fluffy and tasty. I am the first time baker at age of 62 at my son’s place in USA
Wow! Thanks for the feedback Vidhya ji 🙂 I think storing the batter for a day or two might affect the texture of the cake. It might not rise as good as the ones that are baked immediately. This is again my guess because I haven’t tried it.
Hello,
Its a great recipe and very easy to learn.i tried it the same way with the same ingredients however the plumness in the cake was entirely missing.the cake was not spongy at all i did not miss on adding the baking powder too.what could have been done to get the spongyness in this case.
Did you use the vinegar?
Hi, Thanks for this wonderful recipe. It came out light and airy – just like a bakery cupcake. I didn’t have cake flour and so used all purpose flour plus cornstarch. Also I used all milk instead of orange juice and zest as we are fond of orange flavored cakes. I also sifted the dry ingredients a couple of times to mix them well.
Just one thing about the measurements though- you have said 2 and 1/2 cups cake flour but the substitution is given as “2 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour + 5 tablespoons of cornstarch” – this comes around 3 cups total. I wasn’t sure if this was right, so I just measured out 2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, removed 5 tablespoons and then added 5 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Thank you very much Gayathri. Will check the measurements. Maybe it should have been 2 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour.
Hello there! I am from England. What is the difference between “CAKE FLOUR” and “ALL PURPOSE FLOUR” ?
I am presuming the English equivalent would be “SELF RAISING FLOUR” for “CAKE FLOUR”
and “PLAIN FLOUR” for “ALL PURPOSE” ?
Thanks! x
All-purpose flour, white flour and plain flour are all one and the same. Cake flour is also called as pastry flour it has lesser gluten content. For more information check this page: https://www.egglesscooking.com/recipes/all-purpose-flour/
Hi great recipe why does the vinegar need to be added? Can I substitute the vinegar with anything else?
It gives that airy texture. You can use lemon juice instead.
Thank toy for recipe. Do U still need to add vinegar if I substitute the milk for orange juice and use oil?
Yes. Vinegar gives the light and airy texture.
Awsome recipe, I substituted lemon extract instead of vinegar and came out excellent. Thank you
You’re welcome Kanimozhi.
I tried this cupcake and the cake didnot raise and it had a well right in the middle of the cupcake. the taste was the best.I had the measurement checked twice since there was one mention about runny batter and cup cake not rising. I got 15 cupcakes.Not sure what was wrong
Hmm..not sure what went wrong because this is one of the recipes that I have baked quite a lot.
So I’ve tried it with any orange zest or juice and I used all purpose flour 3 cups. I also tweaked the milk adding 1/2 cup extra and the extract using 1 tablespoon extra. It came out great! Thanks so much!
You’re welcome Mandi.
What wouldn’t You use to replace the orange zest? What would be the measure of that ingredient?
Lemon zest maybe.