When I posted the recipe for these egg free vanilla cupcakes, I never thought that any other cupcake recipe can even come closer to that one. I was so ecstatic that I have found the best eggless vanilla cupcake recipe. But the only drawback was that it used Ener-G egg replacer powder and it's not easily available in all parts of the world and many of the readers were asking me for a substitute for Ener-G.
Also, people who tried it with Ener-G gave mixed reviews. I have tried it a couple of times now, and I have gotten it right each time, but I understand that not everybody is able to get it perfect.
I was working on finding another recipe for vanilla cupcakes that use easily available ingredients. I tried a couple of recipes but was not satisfied with any of them. That is when I decided to try this eggless vanilla cake recipe. Another reason for deciding to use that recipe was that some of the readers wanted a substitute for condensed milk in that recipe.
So, I used the vanilla cake recipe as a base, made a couple of variations, and baked it twice to get the right combination. I have to say that I'm completely satisfied with the results. If you love orange-scented eggless vanilla cupcakes, I'm pretty sure that you would love these orange cookies, too! Do give it a try.
Recipe
Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 and ½ cups Cake Flour
- ¾ cup White Sugar
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ tablespoon Orange Zest Zest of about 3 oranges
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup Milk See My Notes
- ¾ cup Orange Juice Freshly squeezed, See My Notes
- ½ cup Butter Melted
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar I used apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Substitutions:
- Cake Flour = 2 and ⅔ cups of all purpose flour + 5 tablespoons of cornstarch
- Milk = Evaporated Whole or 2%; non-dairy for vegans
- Melted Butter = Oil or melted margarine
- Apple cider vinegar = White vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Prepare muffin tins either by lightly greasing it with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well.
- Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry mix one by one, stirring with a whisk simultaneously. Don't be bothered by some small lumps. Do not be tempted to dissolve the lumps by mixing the batter with an electric beater. (See My Notes)
- Fill each muffin cup ¾th full, which is about 3 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake. Bake for about 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Mine was done in 14 minutes. But note that my oven usually bakes quicker than the time mentioned in a recipe by at least 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the pan/s from the oven and allow it cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Then take out the cupcakes from the pan and let it cool on the rack completely before frosting, if you decide to.
My Notes
- I have tried this recipe using cake flour only. I have not tried it using the substitution I have mentioned. All purpose flour plus some cornstarch is the general substitution for cake flour. So I'm not sure about the texture of the cupcakes using this substitution.
- So far I have tested this recipe twice. The first time I used evaporated milk (unsweetened condensed milk) and the 2nd time I used 2% milk. I personally liked the cupcakes baked using evaporated milk. It was richer and lighter than the 2% milk cupcakes.
- I have mentioned it in many of my recipes and I'm mentioning it here again; use only freshly squeezed orange juice while baking. Store bought juice in cartons lends a bitter after taste in baked goods. That's my personal observation.
- Also the first time I just used ½ a cup of sugar and felt that the sweetness was very mild. It was okay for us who usually prefer mildly sweet treats. The 2nd time I increased the quantity to ¾th cup. ½ cup sugar is perfectly okay if you are going to frost/slather it with frosting.
- My personal experience has shown me that cake flour and electric beater are not compatible. I tried the Ener-G eggless vanilla cupcakes twice using cake flour and mixing the batter with a beater and ended up with cupcakes which sunk more than the Titanic. The cupcakes looked very pitiful. So please avoid the temptation to use an electric beater while preparing the batter in these recipes, especially with cake flour.
- Update: I tried a vegan version of this vanilla cupcake recipe for my son's birthday and it came out very well. I used 1 and ¾ cups of almond milk in place of the milk and orange juice. I also substituted ½ cup melted butter with coconut oil. I did use cake flour and the cakes turned out light, fluffy and tasted awesome. I got about 3 dozen mini cupcakes for this recipe.
Taste & Texture
Nutrition
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Jackie says
Wonderful recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it. Makes me happy that I can make treats for a grand that can’t have eggs!
Madhuram says
You're welcome, Jackie.
geeta says
how to measure 2/3 in cake flour?
Madhuram says
If you have 1/3rd of a cup measuring cup it will be 2 times.
Kendra says
Hi Madhurima, I just made these and they turned out perfect. I followed yr recipe exactly except the oil I only used 35ml. Very delicious and I cannot tell they were eggless
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for trying the recipe and leaving your feedback, Kendra.
Karen says
Hi Ma'am , I made your date cake with success and now want to try this one:
1. if I make this to a standard loaf or 8 inch single cake, how long is the baking time, or should I cut recipe in half to put in 6inch round pan?
2. If no vanilla extract will it taste good or should I add 1 tbsp of milk powder(lockdown no vanilla)?Thanks
Madhuram says
Thanks, Karen. Yes, you will have to halve the recipe to make it a single 8-inch cake. You don't have to add milk powder to get the vanilla flavoring because it's not going to help. In case you have vanilla-flavored almond milk that might be better.
Praveena says
Thank you Madhurima. Tried your eggless easy cupcake. The best cupcake I have ever made. They were so light and fluffy. I wished I stumbled on your site earlier could have saved lot of ingredients and time.
I am always looking for eggless baking.
Madhuram says
Thank you very much, Praveena.
phebean says
Can i use pot to bake, If yes how many mins
Madhuram says
I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. What pot is it?
Jess Hopkins says
Thank you! For 2 9inch round pans, how long did you bake them?
Madhuram says
Probably 25-30 minutes. I don't remember now. Do the toothpick test around 23 minutes and take it from there.
Jess Hopkins says
Is this recipe able to be converted to a 3 tier cake using 9 inch circular pans? Thanks so much!
Madhuram says
I have made 2 9-inch rounds with this recipe. I think 3 9-inch pans will make it very thin.
Kashish says
Hi, if I don't want orange flavoured cupcakes what do I replace the orange juice with?
Madhuram says
Water or milk.
Asha says
I have tested about 7 different recipes in pursuit of a moist, fluffy vanilla cupcake that is vegan. This one WINS. It is perfect, no one would know it is vegan. It seemed like it contained a lot of liquid in comparing this recipe to others, but it works. I used avocado oil for the fat and did 1 3/4 c. of almond milk for the liquid. Amazing results- thank you! I'm sure the orange flavored cake is delicious as well, I'll have to try that sometime.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome, Asha.
acavic says
The taste was amazing! My texture was a lil dense but I forgot the b powder! Oops!
I used AP + cornstarch and lemon zest of about 1/2 lemon and juice of almost 1 lemon. Used oil vs butter. Added a bit of b. sugar and a tad more vanilla extract. For no-egg cupcakes...pretty darn good! But next time ill remember the b powder and actually try the cake flour!!!
Madhuram says
That's great to know. Yes, baking powder will make a huge difference in the texture of the cake.
Cindy Walkup says
I need to make 50 eggless cupcakes for a gathering. I want to know if I can freeze them before frosting them?
Madhuram says
I'm pretty sure that it should work, Cindy.
tasha says
How long did you bake the mini cupcakes for?
Madhuram says
Around 11-13 minutes.
Winsantdotcom says
Yummy....
mouth watering
Betsy Fenwick says
Absolutely easy, delicious and the best egg free recipe ever! Thank you SO much, Madhuram!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Betsy.
ekta says
Can I skip the orange juice?
Madhuram says
Yes you can but add plain water instead of that.
Anthony says
Used similar recipes for ages and most work well these are no exception there nice cakes wish this gluten free nightmare was as easy to solve as no matter what you do its either to much sugar added flours overpower flavours they don't keep and go to an almost powder and bread is also horrid to grrrrr either day problems gluten or egg it's never as simple as once was
Madhuram says
Gluten free and egg free is very tricky. Simply substituting gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour won't work.
fofi la says
This was super! Didn't miss the eggs at all. Thank you for this recipe!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome. 🙂
Sue says
Recipe sounds great, looking forward to trying it! You mention not to use an electric beater. Would it be ok to use a kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment on a low speed? If so, do we still add each wet ingredient one at a time? Thank you for your help!
Madhuram says
I'm thinking just a spatula should be fine.
paulo says
I also think that almond oil is very good.
Andre says
Adding almond milk and coconut oil really makes the taste better. Thanks!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Andre.
MINIBAKER101 says
Which ingredients are being used as the substitutes for eggs? Please respond ASAP! It would be very helpful.
Madhuram says
Baking powder and vinegar.
MINIBAKER101 says
Thank you!
Madhuram says
You're welcome.
MINIBAKER101 says
How many eggs were supposed to be in this recipe?
Madhuram says
The recipe was egg free to begin with. Maybe 2 eggs probably.
Jacky says
Hello, to convert Cake flour to All purpose flour you would remove 2 Tablespoons of AP flour per cup and then add 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch. This recipe calls for 2 1/2 Cups of Cake Flour. The CORRECT substitution to All Purpose Flour would be: 1 & 2/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour + 5 Tablespoons of Corn Starch.
Madhuram says
Thanks Jacky.
Alessa says
I tried this recipe using the cake flour substitute and it turned out hard, dry and a bit bitter. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T. I recommend using cake flour only for this recipe.
Madhuram says
Hmm..I'm not sure if that would be the reason.
Brandy Jordan says
I had to try these 2x. First time I attempted the AP flour and cornstarch to no avail. They weighed 1 lb each LOL. I got some cake flour, used 1 3/4 cups of almond vanilla milk (no OJ) and almond extract instead of vanilla. They were light and fluffy and DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe.
Madhuram says
That's great Brandy.
Sonya says
My toddler son has an egg allergy so I plan to make he and his twin brother 2 small mini cakes for their birthday and use the remaining batter to make cupcakes for guests. I was looking at both the vanilla cupcake and cake recipes that don't use ener-G egg replacer. I have some but think it adds a strange, slightly chemical flavor to recipes. Would you suggest I make the cupcake recipe or the cake recipe for this purpose?
Madhuram says
Both are similar Sonya. I have used sweetened condensed milk in the cake recipe and some readers wanted to have an alternative for it and I came up with the cupcake recipe using milk and sugar instead of condensed milk.
Shweta says
Can I use something else for vinegar?
Madhuram says
Lemon juice can be used.
Danielle says
Can I make these without the orange flavor? Would I just leave out the orange juice and orange zest or is there something I should substitute?
Madhuram says
Yes you can. Either use milk or water, preferably milk instead of the orange juice and omit the zest.
Shiba maharaj says
This recipe is amazing just made a batch
Madhuram says
Thanks Shiba.
Amitha says
Hi there
Can you include calories in your recipes . Thanks
Madhuram says
Hmm..will try Amitha. I do it on and off.
Vidhi says
Hi,
Please let me know the volume of your cups. Are they of 240ml or 200ml. Thanks
Madhuram says
Hmm...I don't use metric measurements. But have a baking measurements chart here. Probably this will help you.
Seethalaxmi says
Just tried this recipe. I used lemons instead of oranges. I only used 1/4 cup of lemon juice and added 1/2 cup of milk to the recipe. I also used plain flour and cornstarch instead of cake flour. Mine baked for 20mins. Turned out light, fluffy and tasty. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Madhuram says
You're welcome Seethalaxmi.
Danielle says
Hi. I would like to use lemons instead of oranges, too. Did you squeeze the lemon juice? Did you use lemon zest?
Madhuram says
I used only orange juice and zest. But if you use lemon you should not be using 3/4th cups of juice. It will be too sour. Maybe 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and lemon zest should be fine.
Anuradha says
Actually I made them with whole wheat atta and the taste and texture were awesome.. soft and moist!
Madhuram says
Oh really!? That's great to know Anuradha.
Anuradha says
The muffins are a super hit! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Hetvi Revawala says
I made vanilla cup cakes but it's very hard.i don't why can u help me...
Madhuram says
This recipe is a fail proof recipe Hetvi. I'm not sure what went wrong. Did you bake it for too long?
Maxx Gianni says
Just made these and came out fab! I used vegan butter and almond coconut milk, light brown sugar instead of white and non freshly squeezed Simply Orange, orange juice with pulp and yum. I also added some extras like dried cranberries and walnuts for a crunch. Thanks for this recipe. The cake is just sweet enough.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Maxx.
Angharad Haveland says
Made these for a party this weekend with gluten free flour and even left the batter over night due to time constraints. As expected due to leaving it to sit as a batter overnight I had to add an extra tsp of baking powder. But other than that they were amazing. Best gluten and egg free cupcakes I've ever eaten let alone baked myself!
Madhuram says
That's great to know! I too am going to try baking the gluten-free version. Thanks Angharad. 🙂
Veda says
Hi,what gluten free flour did you use and did you substitute it 1-1? Thanks!
SM says
I made these cupcakes for my son's birthday party since we had vegetarian guests and guests with allergies. They turned out amazing! I made a simple vanilla icing to top them off and some colored sprinkles to match our theme. Everyone loved them and I followed the recipe with no substitutions from the original. Thank you for this recipe!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome SM 🙂
Anonymous says
What does the Orange Zest do for the cupcakes? Also, what can I use to substitute it?
Madhuram says
It's just for flavour and is completely optional. You may choose to omit it. But I personally like the vanilla orange combo very much.
Vidhya Narayanan says
Hi I tried this recipe today.I could make only six cupcakes since my cupcake tray is a small one
So I baked the remaining batter in cake mould
I would like to ask u whether I can keep the leftover batter in the fridge and make the cup cakes in 2 or 3 batches. Byt thee way cup cakes came out very well they were fluffy and tasty. I am the first time baker at age of 62 at my son's place in USA
Madhuram says
Wow! Thanks for the feedback Vidhya ji 🙂 I think storing the batter for a day or two might affect the texture of the cake. It might not rise as good as the ones that are baked immediately. This is again my guess because I haven't tried it.
Swaroopa says
Hello,
Its a great recipe and very easy to learn.i tried it the same way with the same ingredients however the plumness in the cake was entirely missing.the cake was not spongy at all i did not miss on adding the baking powder too.what could have been done to get the spongyness in this case.
Madhuram says
Did you use the vinegar?
Gayathri says
Hi, Thanks for this wonderful recipe. It came out light and airy - just like a bakery cupcake. I didn't have cake flour and so used all purpose flour plus cornstarch. Also I used all milk instead of orange juice and zest as we are fond of orange flavored cakes. I also sifted the dry ingredients a couple of times to mix them well.
Just one thing about the measurements though- you have said 2 and 1/2 cups cake flour but the substitution is given as "2 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour + 5 tablespoons of cornstarch" - this comes around 3 cups total. I wasn't sure if this was right, so I just measured out 2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, removed 5 tablespoons and then added 5 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Madhuram says
Thank you very much Gayathri. Will check the measurements. Maybe it should have been 2 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour.
Ellie says
Hello there! I am from England. What is the difference between "CAKE FLOUR" and "ALL PURPOSE FLOUR" ?
I am presuming the English equivalent would be "SELF RAISING FLOUR" for "CAKE FLOUR"
and "PLAIN FLOUR" for "ALL PURPOSE" ?
Thanks! x
Madhuram says
All-purpose flour, white flour and plain flour are all one and the same. Cake flour is also called as pastry flour it has lesser gluten content. For more information check this page: http://www.egglesscooking.com/recipes/all-purpose-flour/
Jan says
Hi great recipe why does the vinegar need to be added? Can I substitute the vinegar with anything else?
Madhuram says
It gives that airy texture. You can use lemon juice instead.
Jan Rose says
Thank toy for recipe. Do U still need to add vinegar if I substitute the milk for orange juice and use oil?
Madhuram says
Yes. Vinegar gives the light and airy texture.
Kanimozhi Sampath says
Awsome recipe, I substituted lemon extract instead of vinegar and came out excellent. Thank you
Madhuram says
You're welcome Kanimozhi.
Rekha Madhusudhanan says
I tried this cupcake and the cake didnot raise and it had a well right in the middle of the cupcake. the taste was the best.I had the measurement checked twice since there was one mention about runny batter and cup cake not rising. I got 15 cupcakes.Not sure what was wrong
Madhuram says
Hmm..not sure what went wrong because this is one of the recipes that I have baked quite a lot.
Mandi says
So I've tried it with any orange zest or juice and I used all purpose flour 3 cups. I also tweaked the milk adding 1/2 cup extra and the extract using 1 tablespoon extra. It came out great! Thanks so much!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Mandi.
Emily says
What wouldn't You use to replace the orange zest? What would be the measure of that ingredient?
Madhuram says
Lemon zest maybe.