These vegan chocolate banana cupcakes are the perfect Valentine's Day dessert! They're fluffy, moist, and topped with a rich and creamy vegan chocolate buttercream!
Your Valentine will love this whether they're vegan or not!
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
These are the chocolate version of my banana cupcakes. If you love moist banana bread (or gluten-free banana bread) but you're also in the mood for chocolate cupcakes, this has got you covered! Pair them with vegan chocolate buttercream for the best vegan chocolate cupcake!
How to make vegan chocolate cupcakes
First, preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C) and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, mashed bananas, olive oil, almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until you no longer see the flour. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, bake for about 18 minutes, and let them cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream frosting. In a bowl, beat the vegan butter until it turns light and fluffy.
Add the cocoa powder and continue to beat. Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time and continue to beat until creamy.
Beat in a teaspoon of almond milk and see if the texture is to your liking. If you want it a little thinner, just add another teaspoon of almond milk. Put the frosting into a piping bag and swirl it onto the cooled chocolate banana cupcakes.
If you can't find vegan butter in your local store, you can make your own vegan butter at home! I've made homemade vegan butter using this recipe and it worked perfectly.
Tips to make the BEST vegan chocolate banana cupcakes
- Weigh your ingredients. Using a kitchen scale is the most accurate way to measure the ingredients. Your cupcakes will come out the same every time!
- Use overripe bananas. Overripe bananas are sweeter and have a stronger banana flavor than unripe bananas. Make sure you use bananas that have brown or spotty peels!
- Don't overmix your batter. You want to avoid overmixing the batter to prevent the cupcakes from turning dense! We love soft and fluffy cupcakes here!
- Use a jumbo-sized piping tip. Regular-sized piping tips don't work well if you're adding a big swirl of frosting. If you don't want to pipe your frosting on the cupcakes, you can always smear it on with a knife. I used the Ateco 855 closed star piping tip (the Wilton 2D looks similar).
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The cupcakes will be a little denser but you can substitute at a 1 to 1 ratio.
You can use natural cocoa powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder for this recipe. Just make sure it's pure cocoa powder and not hot chocolate mix.
Yes! You can use cashew milk, soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk that comes in a carton.
Yes! I like using light olive oil (not extra virgin), but refined coconut oil works as well.
No, you can't skip the vinegar. You can use a different type of vinegar, but the acidity of vinegar is necessary to activate the baking soda.
You can store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Other Chocolate Desserts
- Can't get enough chocolate cake? My chocolate pretzel cake and gluten-free German chocolate cake are both easy to make and super delicious!
- If you love cupcakes, make my chocolate peanut butter cupcakes or my moist chocolate cupcake recipe. Sooooo good.
- This chocolate banana bread is great if you love the combination of chocolate and banana!
- Are you more of a cookie person? These double chocolate chip cookies and chocolate marshmallow cookies are so yummy! Crisp edges and soft chewy centers, of course.
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup cake flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup mashed ripe bananas
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- ½ cup vegan butter softened at room temperature
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1-2 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C) and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, mashed bananas, olive oil, almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- In a bowl, beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and beat again.
- Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time and continue to beat until creamy.
- Add 1 teaspoon of almond milk and beat. If you like your frosting thinner, add another teaspoon of almond milk.
- Frost each cooled cupcake using a piping bag or a knife. Garnish with fresh berries or sprinkles.
Petra says
This is so creative and these cupcakes looks adorable! Perfect for valentines day. I have never thought of vegan frosting but it looks delicious 🙂 Thank you for co hosting with me this week, what a party! Have a great week ahead! 🙂
Ai says
Thank you, Petra! I had so much fun co-hosting with you this week! Happy FF!!