Bake a Batch of Vegan Cupcakes!

What can we use if we don't have vegan butter, plant-based milk, or cupcake liners?

If you can't find cupcake liners, vegan butter, or your chosen plant-based milk from the recipe, grease the muffin tin with a little vegetable oil instead of liners, substitute 1/2 cup solid coconut oil or vegan margarine for the half cup vegan butter in the frosting, and use any neutral plant milk (soy, oat, or almond) for the 1 cup plant-based milk used to make the vegan buttermilk.

My cupcakes came out dense or full of tunnels—what step should I fix?

Dense cupcakes or tunnels usually mean you overmixed after pouring the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, so follow the instruction to stir gently only until there are no big lumps and stop mixing, then bake to the toothpick test for 18–22 minutes to avoid under- or overbaking.

How can I adapt this recipe for different age groups?

For toddlers and preschoolers let them pour sprinkles and stir the apple cider vinegar into the 1 cup plant-based milk while an adult measures and handles the oven, elementary kids can measure dry ingredients and scoop batter into liners with supervision, and teens can follow the full recipe, tweak flavors, and bake with minimal adult help.

How can we extend or personalize the cupcakes beyond the basic recipe?

Personalize the cupcakes by folding 2–3 tablespoons cocoa powder or a teaspoon of lemon zest into the dry ingredients before whisking, piping the frosting made from half cup vegan butter and two cups powdered sugar with a bag for prettier tops, or hollowing cooled cupcakes and adding jam or vegan chocolate as a filling before spreading frosting and adding sprinkles to share on DIY.org.