Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes are the perfect dessert to bake up for your sweetie on Valentine's Day. The cupcakes are moist and delicious with bits of cherry inside, and they have no added fat. The frosting is soft, fluffy and luscious and it'll put a smile on any face. A vegan, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
If you love vegan chocolate cupcakes, try a little twist on them with these scrumptious vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.
They come together quite easily, and they are full of delicious, chocolate-y flavor with little pockets of cherry that add a certain je ne sais quoi. Besides, aren't they, quite simply, heart-stoppingly gorgeous?
Why you will love these cupcakes
- You can use frozen cherries for convenience. Before I added them to the batter, I cooked them in a saucepan with a soupcon of sugar to make them all runny and gooey and preserve-like. It was a breeze, but if you are absolutely, incredibly convenience-seeking, you could go and just buy some cherry preserves and add them in.
- They are free of added fats! But the cupcakes are so moist and flavorful, no one will be able to tell. Keep in mind though that the frosting is mostly vegan butter, and it is marvelous, but if you're really bent on taking the fat out of the picture, you could just skip it and serve the cupcake by itself. You'd still have a pretty darn good treat.
- They are scrumptious. These cupcakes are hands-down the best tasting cupcakes you will eat, what with the chocolate tangoing with the delicious cherries. Yum.
Helpful tips
- The batter comes together in a single bowl, and you, of course, need a muffin tin to bake your cupcakes. Use the same bowl you used to mix the batter in for the frosting, after a quick rinse.
- The cupcakes bake in the oven for just 18 minutes. Use that time to make your frosting, and wait for a few minutes until the cupcakes have cooled down before you pop them out and frost them.
More vegan chocolate desserts
- Vegan Chocolate Bread
- Vegan Chocolate Mousse Stuffed Puff Pastry Shells
- Vegan Chocolate Babka
- Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
More vegan cupcake recipes
- Vegan Mango Cupcakes with Mango Buttercream
- Vegan Orange Cupcakes with Buttercream
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Hearts
- Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
My Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes are the perfect dessert to bake up for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day. The cupcakes are moist and delicious with bits of cherry inside, and they have no added fat. The frosting is soft, fluffy and luscious and it’ll put a smile on any face. A vegan, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
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Review Recipe
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 287kcal
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 heaping cups frozen cherries (or 1 cup minus two tablespoons of cherry preserves)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup turbinado sugar or maple syrup
- ¾ cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoon strong brewed coffee
For the frosting:
- 2 vegan buttery sticks (16 tbsp), thawed to room temperature Make sure you pick up the soy-free buttery sticks if you want to keep this recipe soy-free.
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (this frosting is not cloyingly sweet, but if you like a sweeter frosting, just add more sugar)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon strong brewed coffee
Instructions
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- If using frozen cherries, place them in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of sugar from the sugar you're using to make the cupcakes, and a pinch of the salt. When the cherries have expressed their juices, turn the heat to low and let them continue cooking, stirring frequently, another 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. I got just under a cup of preserves from two cups of cherries and I made up the difference with coffee. Once the preserves are ready, set aside
- In a bowl, sift in the all purpose flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
- Add all at once the cherry preserves, sugar, almond milk, vanilla extract, and coffee. Mix.
- Divide the batter equally between 12 cups of a muffin tin lined with paper liners.
- Bake 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make the frosting:
- In a bowl, mix the room temperature butter, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and coffee. Use a handheld or stand mixer with the whisk attachment to beat the frosting until it is soft and fluffy and everything is well incorporated.
- When the cupcakes have cooled, frost them any way you like. For an extra pretty look, decorate with some chocolate chunks and cherries.
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 36.8g | Protein: 2.1g | Fat: 15.4g | Fiber: 1.9g | Sugar: 26g | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1.3mg
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!
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shannon
I am not sure what happened, but my cupcakes did not rise properly. They had a nice flavor and were moist, but they were short and dense and chewy. I went over the recipe several times to ensure that all ingredients were used in the prescribed amount. With most vegan cupcake recipes I have used, vinegar (either white or apple cider) is included in the ingredients to assist with the rise. Wondering if that would have helped.
Vaishali
Hi Shannon, the only possible reason is that the baking powder or baking soda were old or inactive. Vinegar is usually added to cupcake recipes because you need an acid to combine with the soda and give the cupcakes a lift. Here the cherry preserves, which are tart, do the same job, so you don't need vinegar.
Lynsey
The cupcakes were really good but adding coffee to the frosting made it far too runny and split 🙁 my advice is go without coffee in the frosting. I also used fresh cherries instead of frozen and it worked fine
Teri
Made these, very good flavor and easy. I made 1/2 the frosting, was plenty but not as pretty as your swirls. They stuck to the paper when warm but pulled away nicely the next morning. The instructions didn’t specify when to add the sugar. If I make them with jam next time, do I omit the sugar/syrup?
Vaishali
Hi Teri, the sugar goes in with the other wet ingredients. You can use jam, but this is not something I've tried so not sure how it would turn out. So happy you liked these cupcakes!
Valerie
MINDBLOWING pictures! I'm gonna try these.
Ashley
I like the the addition of cherries, nice Valentine’s Day treat idea. ❤️