These are the cupcakes I bake for almost every kids party I attend because they tick all the boxes – vanilla, gluten free, nut free, moist, fluffy and insanely delicious! Maybe that’s why we keep receiving all those party invites?
I often set up a cupcake decorating station at my kids parties and let them get creative with sprinkles, chocolate shavings and coconut chips. A messy but fun and memorable experience!
The addition of cooled white chocolate to the buttercream icing in this gluten free recipe takes this vanilla cupcake to another level. If your buttercream is too soft add more icing sugar and if too dry add a splash of milk. Your icing needs to have some firmness to hold it’s shape when piped otherwise it will be too runny.
- Cupcake
- 250g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 290g or 1⅓ cup caster sugar
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 2½ cups or 325g gluten free plain flour*
- 1 tbs baking powder
- ¾ cup milk
- Buttercream
- 380g unsalted butter softened
- 600g or 4 cups icing sugar mixture
- 150g melted white cooking chocolate
- *I use Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 plain baking flour. The packaging has a blue label.
- Preheat oven to 160c.
- Beat butter,sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Add milk and mix to combine.
- Add flour and baking powder and mix to combine.
- Spoon in muffin tray or cupcake cases and bake for 25 - 30 min or until golden.
- To make buttercream beat butter with whisk attachment for 5 min until fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar and whisk to combine. Add cooled melted chocolate and whisk to combine.
- Preheat oven to 160c.
- Mix butter,sugar and vanilla 30 sec/speed 5.
- Add eggs one at a time on speed 4 until incorporated.
- Add milk and mix 5 sec/speed 5 to combine.
- Add flour and baking powder and mix 30 sec/speed 5 scraping down sides of bowl halfway.
- Spoon in muffin tray or cupcake cases and bake for 25 - 30 min or until golden.
- To make buttercream mix butter with whisk attachment 1 min/speed 5. Slowly add the sifted icing sugar on speed 3 and mix to combine. Add cooled melted chocolate with blade running speed 3 until incorporated.
These are lovely. I don’t have a problem with gluten but my best friend can’t be near it. The photographs are terrific.
Thanks Maureen. Welcome to Hungry & Fussy! Please let your friend know where to find delicious gluten free recipes.
Thank you for this gorgeous recipe! I cant wait to make these for my husband. He so often misses out on these sorts of treats! Thank you thank you thank you! Would you consider formulating a few “sugar free” cupcake recipes??? Pretty please 🙂
Hi Helena,
Thank you for your lovely email. If you are looking to create a refined sugar free version, I would simply omit the cane sugar and add either rice malt syrup, raw honey or maple syrup once your batter is formed. This will create sweetness without any refined sugars. The quantity you add depends on your preferred sweetness levels. I would probably start with two tablespoons and go from there. You can use this technique when you want to modify any cake recipe. Happy baking!!
Hi Helen
This recipe was amazing! the cup cakes were a huge success at my daughter’s bday party and relatively easy to make. I usually make the icing with cream cheese but love the option of using white chocolate! Good work and keep the recipes coming.
Vicky
These cupcakes are beautiful and sound delicious.
thanks lucy
Without a doubt, the best gluten free cupcake recipe!
I have 2 children with Coeliac disease, the loved them. We all did 🙂
I am so happy to hear that Ann-Marie. You can’t go wrong with kids and cupcakes although I must admit sometimes mine lick all the buttercream and abandon. Kids!
I have coeliac too! Hope you are finding gluten free alright! I blog about coeliac disease too! x http://www.ellie342.wordpress.com
hope you enjoy my recipes
Hi, your cupcakes look amazing. I made the recipe and the only thing that I would perhaps change is the amount of sugar – I found the cupcakes too sweet for me especially with buttercream icing! Thank you for publishing and giving an idea on how to decorate 🙂
Feel free to make it your own and adjust sugar levels accordingly. That’s the beauty of cooking you can modify to suit your palette.
I love the sound and look of your cupcakes! Just a question, is the recipe for 16 mini cupcakes or full sized ones? Can’t wait to try it out.
Hi Kathi,
It is for full sized cupcakes but you can make mini ones if you like, just watch the cooking time because they will bake faster.
Can the chocolate be omitted from the icing?
Yes it can. If you icing is too dry just add a splash of milk.
Can you make this with an alternative milk, like rice milk? We’re dairy free but can tolerate butter.
Hi Alex
Yes you can. I have never made them with rice milk but they should still turn out. Please make sure you perform a skewer test to ensure cupcakes are properly cooked before you pull them out of the oven.Enjoy!
What a great cupcake recipe! Made a batch to freeze to have at school for my daughters when other kids bring cake for birthdays. I added 3 tablespoons of Dutch cocoa, thought about adjusting the moisture level, but didn’t as the batter looked great, still turned out spectacular (I’m in Australia and used Orgran gluten free all purpose plain flour)
I didn’t however try the icing recipe, that will have to wait for another day.
Thanks heaps for a great GF ‘go to’ recipe, will definitely be using in the future.
Thanks for your lovely feedback Jacqui. My preferred gluten free flour is Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 plain baking flour (packet has a blue label), it is an excellent flour. I suggest you try it you will not be disappointed. You can find it online or at health food stores.
Very elegant. What are the flowers. I imagine they are edible?
just what we need for my daughters wedding. How far in advance can they be made? For how long will the icing to stay looking lovely
Hi Anne
Thanks for your lovely comment. The flowers are purely decorative they are not edible. Sorry I don’t know the name of them. I would make them the day prior at the most to keep them nice and fresh and ice them on the morning of the wedding (or day prior). The icing is buttercream so it could melt if it is a warm day.
I just had to come here and say that these are the BEST gluten free cupcakes! Moist, light and very tasty-I made them for a picnic and they were devoured before the others made with my usual go to cupcake mix(KA). By all non gluten free people! When they found out they were GF their jaws dropped and all said the same sentence(These are gluten free!? No way!) I have also been making a white chocolate/marshmallow frosting, but I became tapioca sensitive and wanted to use the GF flour recipe I made from another site. Thank you-this is my go to cupcake mix from now on!
Hi Lee,
So glad you love my gluten free vanilla cupcake recipe. Isn’t it great when your friends are surprised they are gluten free? Have a great day. xx HT.
I accidentally bought the red leaves bob mills flour (not 1 to 1). Do you think it’ll turn out?
Hi Joanna
Yes they will still turn out but they might have a slight bean taste because that packet has bean flour in it. It is more suited to savoury recipes like tarts or fritters.
We love this recipe! Only thing I’d like to query is the amount of baking powder. I’ve never made a cake recipe with this much baking powder and we found we could taste the baking powder in the baked cupcakes. I’m wondering how the cupcakes would go with a bit less baking powder?
Hi Nadja,
To convert plain flour to self raising flour you add 2 tsp of baking powder to every cup of plain flour so 1 tbs is the correct amount. You can reduce the quantity of baking powder to 3 tsp if you like but the cupcakes may not rise as much.
I’m trying these today for the first time. I have already tried 3 other cupcake recipes and the end products all ended up in the bun. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I must be the world’s worst home baker ever! I’m making these today for my 3-year old’s birthday on Saturday. He desperately wants cupcakes that he can decorate himself. This recipe looks like it might be the winner we’ve been looking for. Holding thumbs it works!
Sounds like you have been on quite a journey Maggie. Let me know how you go. Good luck! Helen.xx
Makes 30 full size cup cakes!
I made mine in the Thermomix and having spooned out the mix into 18 patty pans as 16 felt too full, I cooked the first dozen to see how they cooked. No nice dome top due to overflow.
I divided the remaining 6 into 10 pans and the size is perfect. I have a batch of great shaped cupcakes.
I used Orgran gf plain flour.
Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed my gluten free cupcake recipe Carla.xx
Hi how far in advance can i make these. Party is on Saturday but so much else to bake!
Hi Claire,
The day prior would be fine. They are always best eaten fresh on the day but baking the cakes the day before the party is still okay. Ice the cupcakes the day of the party.Enjoy!
hi – is it possible to make this as one large cake, rather than cupcakes? i’m assuming yes, but just need to adjust the time. or is your victorian sponge cake better for making a large gf birthday cake?
Hi Jen
If you want to make a large slab cake for a birthday party may I suggest my Strawberry Swirl Slab Cake. If you want to make it plain vanilla don’t divide the batter into two and omit the strawberry from the icing. This one is great for a crowd. Enjoy!
Hi can i use gluten free self rasing instead of plain flour?
Yes just omit the baking powder
How full do you fill the cupcake liners?
3/4 of the way should be fine
These look gorgeous, can’t wait to make them! Can I use rice flour as the gluten-free flour? Thank you!
Hi Sarah
I would not recommend a single gluten free. Flour you should use a blend. Bobs Red Mill and White Wings are both good
Best cupcakes ever according to my 7 yr old daughter with coeliac. I halved the recipe as I only had 125gram of butter, reduced the sugar added choc chips and replaced 25gram of the white wings SR GF flour with green banana flour.
Andrea so happy your daughter loved my gluten free cupcake recipe. Love the addition of choc chips!!
Made these cupcakes for the first time and was quite surprised by them. Soft and fluffy, not to sweet and love the butter cream icing. Got a different taste but it’s probably due to the gluten free flour. But still delicious. Will definitely be making these again. Wonderfully recipe and easy to follow
Thank you, glad you enjoyed my gluten free cupcake recipe.
These cupcakes were my first gluten free baking attempt after being diagnosed with coeliac disease. I am over the moon that they’ve turned out just as perfectly as my regular cupcakes.
I reduced the sugar to 1 cup and used the only gluten free flour I had on hand, Community Co gluten free plain flour (from my local IGA). I’ll be using this recipe for family birthday parties so that everyone can enjoy a delicious and fluffy birthday cake, including me.
Thanks for your website and Facebook page, Helen. I discovered your recipes in my first week after being diagnosed with coeliac disease. I’m so pleased to have your delicious recipes to try with my new dietary restrictions. Thank you!
Hi Emma,
I’m so glad you loved my gluten free cupcake recipe. You should try the Triple Chocolate Cookies you won’t be disappointed! Enjoy xxx
Could this be made into cake layers for a semi named cake?
yes it can
Absolutely fantastic! These taste even better than any normal cupcake I’ve ever made! This page is bookmarked and will be used regularly! Thanks!
Great to hear you loved my gluten free cupcake recipe Sophie. Enjoy.HT.
Hi I made these for a friend who can’t eat gluten and they were delicious. Could I make it with normal flour. Would it be the same amount as the gluten free flour? Thanks
Hi Rebecca yes you can replace the gluten free flour with regular flour if you wish, just use the same weight. Enjoy the vanilla cupcakes!
Hi there, do the iced cupcakes need to be chilled straight away or can they be left out?
I prefer to keep them at room temperature I find the fridge impacts the texture.
Hi Helen – Going to try this recipe for my friends baby shower next weekend. Very excited to cater for the GF crown. Quick question, I have a Kitchenaid, should I follow the thermomix method or conventional? I was also thinking of making the cupcake the day before, but I saw your comment about best eaten on the day so I may need to get up for an early start 🙂
Hi Sanchia
If you have a Kitchen Aid then use the conventional method. You can make the gluten free cupcakes the day before they are just always fluffiest on the day they are baked as per any cake. Enjoy!
Hi Helen,
Just wanted to ask for your recipes do you use the Australian measurements (cups and spoons)? Or the American measurements. Just want to make sure I am using the right amount of baking powder and also other ingredients that I’m not weighing. Your recipe looks really good btw, can’t wait to try it!
AUSTRALIAN MEASUREMENTS
So I tried the recipe yesterday and the cupcakes turned out AMAZING!! Honestly the best that I’ve tried after trying multiple recipes in the past few weeks. I have one question in terms of the recipe. How can I change the cupcake to also have a white cake version? Would omitting the egg yolks affect the amazing texture/ outcome of the cupcakes? Thanks in advance
That’s great Enass. Yes omitting the egg will impact the texture, they will not be as moist or fluffy.
I’d like to make these for my son’s school to have in the freezer for him to have when they have cakes for Birthdays. Would they freeze well with the icing?
I would freeze without the icing and then ice them fresh.
These are scrumptious!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I am GF & decided I want to make GF cupcakes for my daughters birthday tomorrow so I can at least enjoy them too! Well let me tell you I have enjoyed about 4 of them already since baking the second batch 😳 The first batch I cooked for slightly too long. In my oven, even 20min was too long. The next batch I let bake for about 15min – they came out perfect. They are so fluffy, moist, no awful cracking on top so can be easily iced, no deflating either. I tried 2 different recipes yesterday, both cracked the tops & deflated as soon as they were out of the oven. These are amazing & terribly moreish!!! Thank you – my new go-to for GF cupcakes!
Awesome Jasmin!!
Hello!
Can i change the cane sugar for another one like soft brown sugar or other?
Yes you can it will change the taste profile slightly. Brown sugar has more caramel notes.