• About
  • Work with Me
  • Contact
  • Food Photography

Chef Janet

So good, they'll never know it's gluten-free.

  • Gluten-Free Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Baked Goods
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Main Course
    • Salads
    • Sauces and Dressings
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
  • Cooking Basics
  • Gluten-Free Diet Tips
Home Β» Baked Goods Β» Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Vanilla Cupcakes

January 14, 2021

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Vanilla Cupcakes

Jump to Recipe

These vanilla cupcakes are moist, light, gluten-free AND dairy-free. The recipe is super simple and can be mixed up in one bowl for easy clean up!

These cupcakes would be perfect with my vegan chocolate frosting, strawberry buttercream frosting, vanilla buttercream frosting or my fav, easy chocolate buttercream frosting.

close up of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting on white platter, Piping bag with frosting in front.

Ingredients

I prefer to mix up my own gluten-free flour blend. I find that most store-bought blends are quite starchy and I don’t like the texture they create in cakes and cupcakes as much. My blend also has much better flavor than your average rice flour blend. The best part is that DIY flour blends are a HUGE cost saver. Here is the mix that I prefer:

  • 1 cup sweet white sorghum flour
  • 1/2 c brown rice flour
  • 1/2 c millet flour
  • 2/3 c potato starch
  • 1/3 c tapioca starch

For more info on mixing up your own flour blend, check out my post Gluten-Free Flour Blends.

If you prefer a store bought blend, I like King Arthur Flour’s All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour. This is their blend without binders (xanthan gum, guar gum). Omit the xanthan gum in the recipe if your flour blend already contains it or other binders like inulin and guar gum.

Vanilla – Seems so simple but there are options. I prefer to get vanilla flavor into my cupcakes without the alcohol in extracts. Cook’s Vanilla Powder is the perfect way to do this. It’s slightly sweetened, pale and bursting with vanilla flavor. Vanilla bean pastes still have some alcohol in them, but I do like the flavor.

Milk – I am mostly dairy-free (other than butter) so I use a dairy-free milk substitute. Any unsweetened one will work in the recipe. Dairy is very helpful in getting gluten-free cakes to brown, so expect yours to be more pale if you you use a sub.

Xanthan gum is a binder used in most gluten-free baked goods. If your flour blend has it, just leave out the 1/2 tsp called for in the recipe.

close up of 3 gluten free dairy free cupcakes with chocolate frosting on marble plate, gray background

Tools

My absolute favorite tool for cupcake and muffin making is this Wilton Perfect Fill Batter Tip. It’s a tip that fits into a piping bag and allows you to fill paper liners with out the messy drips and glops of batter all over the pan. It has a silicone tip that opens and closes with pressure on the piping bag. I NEVER make cupcakes or muffins without it. Unless of course there are blueberries or something else that would clog it up – it must be a smooth batter like this cupcake batter.

Cupcake liners are a pretty basic item but I love a natural cupcake liner without chemicals.

Continue to Content
close up of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting on white platter, Piping bag with frosting in front.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

These gluten-free vanilla cupcakes are moist, light and is sublime. My FAVORITE cake gluten-free or not.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 c gluten-free flour blend*
  • 3/4 c + 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 c oil (neutral oil like sunflower or canola)
  • 1/2 c milk or non-dairy substitute
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder or extract

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and vanilla, if in powder form, into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
  3. Beat the eggs, milk, oil and (liquid) vanilla. This can be done in a 2 cup measuring cup (or larger) to save using another bowl.
  4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir until the batter is smooth. An electric mixer is not necessary.
  5. Divide the batter evenly between the liners (about 2/3-3/4 full)
  6. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the top is set and bounces back from a gentle tap.
  7. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

*If you use a flour blend that contains xanthan gum, guar gum or inulin, omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe.

A simple DIY gluten-free flour blend

  • 2 c brown rice flour
  • 2/3 c potato starch
  • 1/3 cup tapioca starch

Recommended Products

  • Vanilla Powder
    Vanilla Powder
  • Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
    Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 500Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 20gCholesterol 78mgSodium 387mgCarbohydrates 61gFiber 1gSugar 34gProtein 10g

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated using information from the Nutritionix database. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Did you make this recipe?

Share the yum!

© Janet Harlow
Cuisine: American / Category: Baked Goods
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Posted In: Baked Goods, Dessert · Tagged: cupcakes, vanilla

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe Cancel reply

If you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and review when you post a comment. Star ratings help people discover my recipes online. Your support means a great deal to me.

Thank you!
Janet

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me
Hi, Welcome! I'm Chef Janet and I create gluten-free recipes that everyone will love, gluten-free or not.

Set up a customized lesson with me to learn basic cooking techniques, gluten-free, menu planning and kitchen tips to make your life easier. Follow me on instagram to keep up with my latest and let me know how I can help.

Follow along on Instagram

I am so excited to present these after & before ph I am so excited to present these after & before photos of my Gluten-Free Spice Cake (also dairy-free) with sweet potato frosting. Link to the recipe in my profile.Β 
πŸŽ‚πŸŽ‚πŸŽ‚
The 3rd photo, from back in 2015, was on my old blog. When I started to learn photography last year, I also launched a new blog & didn't want to post the recipe with that unappealing photo. I finally got around to a re-shoot & the recipe is back.
πŸŽ‚πŸŽ‚πŸŽ‚
Thank you to @dr_nadiafazal and @sweet_tooth_by_drj for hosting and to @heathygoodiesbylucia for judging this
#foodphotoglowup & inspiring me to do something I'm proud of!Β 
Check out the # for some beautiful food photography.
No food coloring or powdered sugar (no cane sugar No food coloring or powdered sugar (no cane sugar at all) was used in this Sweet Potato Frosting. Just sweet potato, cream cheese butter and maple syrup. Maybe using sweet potato in frosting sounds really weird to you, I think it is perfect. Link to the recipe for this creamy, dreamy frosting in my profile. 
🍠🧁🍠
In my opinion most frostings are way too sweet. Using a naturally sweet base for frosting, means less added sugar. This frosting is just sweet enough and is perfect slathered on carrot cake, spice cake, vanilla cake or even chocolate cake.
I'm excited that this gluten-free chocolate cupcak I'm excited that this gluten-free chocolate cupcake recipe was perfected just in time for Valentines Day. It's simple to make, dairy-free too and the recipe is linked in my profile @chefjanetk
🧁🍫🧁
Top it with just one or all 3 frostings for a neapolitan cupcake. The strawberry buttercream is flavored & colored with freeze dried strawberries. That chocolate cream cheese frosting is vegan and so creamy dreamy! The cream cheese frosting is just sweet enough for a chocolate, red velvet or carrot cake. My previous post links to these frosting recipes.
🧁🍫🧁
This post is my contribution to #youbakemecrazy hosted by the wonderful @prettydeliciouslife @peaches.and.company @jackelinnepastry @the.magic.whisk  and @marilynfoodie
Huge thanks to them for hosting and putting in the work!

#glutenfreecupcakes #chocolatefrosting #veganfrosting #dairyfreecupcakes #creamcheesefrosting #chocolatecupcake #glutenfreedairyfree #glutenfreedessert #strawberryfrosting #featuremyfood #bakefromscratch #glutenfreetreat #glutenfreebaking #foodphotographyΒ  #glutenfreerecipe #glutenfreechocolate #neapolitan
Two kinds of frosting on one gluten-free chocolate Two kinds of frosting on one gluten-free chocolate cupcake. Vegan chocolate cream cheese frosting and cream cheese frosting (with dairy). Both recipes are linked in my profile @chefjanetk
🧁🍫🧁
These frostings are just the right consistency for piping onto cupcakes or decorating a cake. I tried making vegan cream cheese frosting without the chocolate and it's yummy, but more like a runny icing. The gf, df cupcake recipe is coming very soon!
🧁🍫🧁
#frosting #cupcakefrosting
#veganfrosting #glutenfreerecipes #frostingrecipe #chocolatefrosting #creamcheesefrosting #chocolateandvanilla #foodphotography #featuremyfood
Just one more pic of the gluten-free pizza I worke Just one more pic of the gluten-free pizza I worked on this week. Broccoli, grape tomatoes, vegan pesto and a healthy drizzle of balsamic glaze.  I highly recommend the balsamic for a sweet tangy accent to pizza. Link to the vegan crust recipe in my profile.
πŸ•πŸ₯¦πŸ…
I just perfected this recipe for thin crispy glute I just perfected this recipe for thin crispy gluten-free pizza crust using this @myorodemark cast iron pan. Link to the gluten-free and vegan recipe in my profile. 
πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•
The key to a crispy pizza crust is high, DIRECT heat on your crust, just like the pizza ovens at your fav pizza place. This cast iron pan allows you to get that direct heat in your home oven. It's a little tricky with delicate gluten-free dough,  but I worked out a method to make it easy.
πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•
I simplified my old recipe by using @kingarthurbaking Measure-for-measure flour. All you need is 6 ingredients!
Are you a pizza traditionalist?Are you a cheese pi Are you a pizza traditionalist?Are you a cheese pizza person or are you creative with your toppings? 
πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•
This gluten-free pizza is topped with pesto, butternut squash, vegan feta & mozzarella, fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. It's a perfect way to use whatever you have in the fridge. Regardless of the toppings this gluten-free pizza crust recipe is linked in my profile!
Are you ready? These are the two favorite game-tim Are you ready? These are the two favorite game-time snacks in my house, and always gluten-free! Whether you're watching for the fun ads or cheering for a team,  you gotta have snacks. Link to the recipes in my profile. 
🌽🌭🌽
Those little corn dog bites are stuffed with organic hot dogs and nitrate-free Italian sausage. Use veggie hot dogs if you please for a perfect sweet and salty snack.
🏈🏈🏈
Those crispy chicken wings are roasted, not fried, and have the most wonderful paper thin skin!

Copyright © 2021 Chef Janet · Theme by 17th Avenue · Privacy Policy