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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Alona says
I read through the comments and saw that some people said it had a strong orange flavor. I wasn't going for orange flavor so I replaced the orange juice with additional milk.
The cake flour I have was manufactured in a facility that also processes eggs. Since we're dealing with egg allergy here I had to use the substitute.
I only have one real cupcake pan and two 6-cupcake disposable pans. The ones in the real pan cooked faster. But I think I left them in a tiny bit too long because they were a slight bit dry by the time they finished cooling. So next time I'll bake a few minutes less (I did 15 minutes this time and plan to check at 11-12 minutes next time). The disposable pans will go in the back with the real one in the front and I'll raise the oven racks a bit.
I used 3/4 cup sugar. But since we like ours really sweet I'll probably add a little more next time.
So a couple adjustments to fit what we like, but better than the other eggless cupcakes I made. lol. (The other ones tasted like corn bread).
Madhuram says
That's great Alona.
Isabella says
Everyone loves these eggless cupcakes! 🙂 🙂 They couldn't believe there was no eggs
in them, they just love them! Thanks from all my workmates!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Isabella.
Christa says
Hi Madhuram -
I have submitted a comment and an email - but don't even see my comment on here now so I will try again! My 8 year old son has a severe egg allergy and has asked for cupcakes for his birthday for the first time ever. I actually made some many years ago and he hated the sticky more muffin like texture. I have the ingredients to make the easy eggless as well as your original eggless vanilla cupcakes. Do you have a recommendation for one over the other? And - if you recommend the one with Ener-G...do you suggest using cake flour or regular flour?
Many many thanks for your recipes and help!
- christa
Madhuram says
Hi Christa, it usually takes me 24-48 hours for me to check emails/comments for me to reply. I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you as immediately as you expected. I would suggest you to bake the easy egg less cupcakes first and then when you have the time and mood for experimenting try the one with EnerG because I get mixed reviews with the latter.
Gee says
I'm not a vegan. It tasted good.
Madhuram says
Thanks Gee.
paramjeet says
Fantastic !Just finished baking this recipe,just wonderful texture and right taste .
Thanks,
Paramjeet
Madhuram says
Thanks Paramjeet.
Jill says
Finally! An eggless cupcake recipe that really works. My egg allergic son needed cupcakes for after his school play so I made these. All of the kids loved them. They are so much better than the box cupcake mix cakes that these kids are used too. And my son was so happy to be able to eat with everyone else. It was a whole evening project though, and we made two batches just to be sure we had enough. I find eggless recipes often require more batter per cupcake.
I will make these again and again!
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for the feedback Jill.
Am says
Are cooking soda and baking soda the same ?
Madhuram says
Yes Am.
Maria says
Wow! This was one awesome recipe. I had a request for my first eggless cake. I surfed the Internet for about a week before I came across this one. The image and reviews for this cake is why I decided on this one. I didn't make cupcakes I made a 6 inch cake mickey mouse cake covered in fondant. I'm pleasantly surprised! Thank you!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Maria.
Sarah A. says
So, at 9 o'clock tonight, my son reminds me that he needs a birthday treat for his classroom tomorrow, which I had forgotten about. No big deal, I think, I'll just make some cupcakes except...I only have one egg. My husband was out of the house so instead of going to the store I searched out an eggless recipe, found your site and because I had all the prerequisite ingredients I forged ahead. I just tried one and they are magnificent! Thank you so much for saving the day!!
Madhuram says
Thank you very much Sarah A. It's even more wonderful to hear it from people who usually bake with eggs.
Malaya Mohapatra says
What is the longevity of these cakes ? The cakes I prepare start to form wet layers in two days time. Any remedy so that it can last for atleat a week!
Madhuram says
It tastes better if consumed within 2 days. If you want to have it for a longer time, then once it is cool completely, tightly wrap each cupcake with plastic wrap and freeze it.
Anvita says
My cupcakes did not rise. And took around 30 min to bake. They were moist from the bottom too. I did nt have baking powder so increased the quantities of baking soda. Woll that make diff. Pl help
Madhuram says
Yes Anvita, using baking powder and baking soda interchangeably doesn't work out always. It's a hit or miss kind of thing.
jack loganbill says
The reason baking soda and baking powder are not always successful as substitutes for each other is as follows...
Baking soda requires acid to activate. Acids include vinegar, buttermilk, cocoa, etc. Without acid, baking soda will not leaven properly. Furthermore, baking soda activates almost immediately; its leavening ability diminishes significanlty if the product is not baked immediately.
Baking powder is baking soda combined with additional chemicals that provide the acidity, o that acid is not required in the recipe. Plus, most baking powder is double-acting, meaning it activates like baking soda when mixed, plus activates again with the heat of the oven during baking.
I am surprised that many recipes call for baking soda when no acid is present or when baking will be delayed until after a period of refrigeration (cookies for instance). These conditions kill the leavening ability, thus the baking soda would do nothing but add some flavor.
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for the brief and clear tutorial.
Yeiri C. Serrano says
Hi!
I want to give it a try to some Nutella cupcakes that I found the recipe for, but I'm allergic to eggs and I'm wondering if this recipe will be good for it. The original recipe asks for 1 cup of Nutella spread... Do you think it will change the final result?
Thanks in advance!
Madhuram says
Hi Yeiri, it would be better if you give me a link to the original recipe so that I can suggest the most appropriate egg substitute or see if you can use the Nutella in the cake recipe.
Tina Kalpesh says
Excellent recipe. After a long time one of my cakes turned out well. Just one question instead of using it for cup cakes I used it for baking a cake in a 9 inch circular pan and it turned out to be a bit small. Could u help me with the right quantity Also can we use this same recipe in a chocolate version? Thanks. Btw I love ur website! Regards tina
Madhuram says
Thanks Tina. Do you mean that the height was less? If that's the case, it's not an issue because when you bake it as two 9 layers it doesn't give enough height. You should try it either in two 8 inch pans or a 9x13 rectangular pan.
Alexis says
ok...so I have this in the oven now and can't wait for it to come out. I didn't have any oranges so I used a lemon instead and since my 4 year old has milk allergies I used vanilla soy milk...the batter tastes amazing!!!! We are actually making a blueberry upside down cake as we have sooooo many blueberries right now.(she didn't want cupcakes so hopefully it works ok)Thank you for finding and posting this...can't wait to let you know the results~i was so excited with the batter i had to comment already
!
Bob says
Used this with 4 tbsp of cocoa powder and orange flavouring 1 tbsp to get chocolate/orange version they were so good!
Madhuram says
Chocolate orange combination is one thing I have been wanting to try for a long time now. It's great to know that this recipe works out well with that variation too. Thanks Bob.
Veera M says
Do you have to reduce the flour quantity if adding cocoa powder? And by how much.. Thanks so much! Cant wait to try this!
Madhuram says
Yes Veera. I think 1/4 cup of cocoa powder should be fine, so reduce the quantity of all-purpose flour by the same.
samixa says
Hi,
I made this cupcake and came out really good. Everyone in my family loved it. Thanks for this and other eggless recipes.
Samixa
Madhuram says
You're welcome Samixa.
Leanne says
Just made these for my kids tonight as one of them suffers with an egg allergy it is very hard to find a tasty egg free recipe. These cupcakes were easy to make and really nice I didn't add the vinegar but they still turned out fantastic!! Will be making these again!!
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Leanne.
Elizabeth says
Hi there!!
I will like to thank you for this recipe. I just finished baking my first batch and is cooling, but I couldnt resist and tasted the cupcake. My goodness it was delicious!! It is unbelievably moist and good. I thought it was going to taste like flour batter with a orange scent. I was wrong. At first I thought the batter was soo liquidy and I thought I must have done something wrong. I dont pack the flour I usually just pour it into the measuring cup. I also used coconut oil instead of butter(thats what I had in hand).It is well balanced, the orangy flavor is awesome, not too much, just perfect!! Thank you. I will share this with my sister, my nephew has all kinds of food allergy, even chicken!! Thanks!!
Madhuram says
You're most welcome Elizabeth. Hope your nephew will like it too!
Muted says
Wanted to rustle up cupcakes - no eggs! Found your recipe and instead of eggs, added your suggested vinegar and butter to already prepared dry stuff: flour bicarbonate sugar lemon peel blueberry - wet stuff: milk yogurt oil. I had to add milk to wet the mixture and it was starting to bubble nicely as I placed in oven. Result: light and delicate texture - practically a brioche! Thanks for your advice - I'm going to experiment. Best wishes, Louisa
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Louisa.
Parinda says
Is cake flour, self raising flour?
Madhuram says
No, Parinda. Self-raising flour has baking powder in it. Cake or pastry flour is made very soft wheat otherwise you can use the substitute I have mentioned.
Rayna says
Hi, I tried out your recipie it was super delicious just one note,it tasted very orange-y but overall very moist and it was all gone in one day
Madhuram says
Thanks Rayna. I wanted it to taste orange-y.
Kinesias says
I used all purpose flour, I didn't alter it into cake flour. It was moist and soft and just unbelievable. I LOVED THIS!
Madhuram says
Thanks Kinesias.
Alka says
The cake flour substitution with all pupose flour given is one cup cake flour to one and 2/3 cups of allpurpose ? Can you explain that please..
Madhuram says
All-purpose flour plus some cornstarch is the substiute for cake flour. By reducing the quantity of all-purpose flour we are lowering the protein content. This is done because cake flour has less protein content. But to offset the reduced quantity of flour, we are adding some cornstarch.
Polkadotlady says
Hi, just wanted to say thanks for "saving the day". I had been promising my daughter an "activity time with Mom" that did not include paper and scissors (I scrapbook!) I thought about cupcakes....told her about it and she was very excited for "real baking". I forgot the need for eggs required in a store bought cake mix so.....to the internet I went and found your blog. Every one in the family loved them. I wanted to pass on that I used your recipe in a "mini cupcake maker" with pretty good results. My mini cupcakes came out over browned at the bottom but an unexpected plus was how crispy they were. That made up for the over browned part. Again, thank you.
Polkadotlady and daughters
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback Polkadotlady. Mini cupcakes always need less time to bake than the regular size cupcakes. Around 12-14 minutes should be enough for mini cupcakes.
Sarah Abbott says
I just made these cupcakes and they are fabulous!! Such an easy recipe using ingredients you can find in the cupboard. Thank you for sharing this recipe-I will definitely be making these again!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Sarah.
jack L says
Putting together eggless cupcake/cake recipes for our church youth group. I was wondering about the statement regarding cake flour and electic beater? Are you suggesting to mix/beat by hand only, no electric mixer?
Thanks
JackL
Madhuram says
Just using a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients. I tried beating the batter with electric beater and ended up having very flat cupcakes. I guess we tend to overbeat using an electric beater.
Fanta Jackson says
I just used the Easy eggless vanilla cupcake recipe and I have to say that I am greatly pleased with the results. The taste is great. My mom who is not allergic to eggs said that they taste good. My son loved them and he is the one with the egg allergy. Thanks for this great recipe, can't wait to try some more recipes.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Fanta.
Avni says
hey madhuram, thanks a lot for sharing such a great recipe i would definitely like to try it out, I would like to know the purpose of adding vineagr to cupcakes and can i make them without vinegar?
Madhuram says
Vinegar gives a lighter cake. You can try using lemon juice instead of it.
1mummy says
The recipe is great. The cake turned out great. These are the first cupcakes we have made since I found out that my daughter cannot eat eggs. So thank you so much!
Madhuram says
You're welcome.
jas says
Excellent receipe!!! Thrilled with my baking and the results, definately looking forward to try all your receipe. Thanks for sharing and be great resource and motivate people like me.
Madhuram says
You're welome Jas.
Elizabeth says
Great texture. I noticed a slight chalkiness from the cornstarch, and I also found the flavour a bit on the bland side. But I figure kids won't notice either once I've iced them! 🙂 Next time, I'll know to dress the flavour up a bit more. This is a recipe that goes a long way. I made mine into small cupcakes, and got 28. Great for catering on the cheap. Thanks for all the notes - took a lot of guesswork out of the process. And thanks also for taking the time to get the recipe right.
Madhuram says
Thanks Elizabeth. Did you use cornstarch and all purpose flour combo to substitute for cake flour? Try it with orange juice and zest, the falvor is amazing. I tried it in this Easy Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes recipe.
sonal shekhawat says
Hey! I just stumbled upon your blog while searching for some eggless baking recipes and I must say I'm nt at all disappointed. I made this vanilla cupcakes and they turned out awesomeee. Just one thing, it was a little bitter. Maybe because I used vinegar which has a whole chilli inside the bottle or maybe my baking soda or vanilla essence was old. I used plain flour insted of cake flour and cornstarch. I did'nt have any orange juice so didn't add any but it turned out really soft and spongy! But why the bitter taste? Thanx a ton! I'll be trying more recipes soon.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback Sonal. There should have been some problem with the baking soda you have used.
Janet says
Nope.. i just used a whisk and whisk with my hand. More like stiring it around only. And do you stir till the batter is smooth? I just leave the lumps as it is and did not stir more on the batter.
Madhuram says
I stirred the batter until it was smooth. I leave the lumps for muffin recipes though. I did leave the lumps in the other eggless cupcake recipe and it didn't disappear like how it does in muffins. Uncooked lumps did show up in the cupcakes. From then on I have been mixing the batter until smooth for cupcakes. I'm not able to guess where it went wrong in your case because I recently tried a vegan version of these cupcakes and it turned out great too. Actually the texture was light and fluffy just after 10 minutes out of the oven.
Janet says
Yes, the texture is still chewy the next day. It's kind of like chewy and texture is quite rough (not sure is it because of the lumps in the batter. Do you mix the batter till it's smooth? The texture in your picture looks perfect!
Madhuram says
I'm guessing that you over mixed the batter. Did you use an electric beater or did you just whisked it with your hand? From my experience cake flour and electric beaters don't work out as expected. I think I have mentioned this in my other eggless vanilla cupcake recipe using Ener-G. It messes up the taste and texture of the cupcakes.
Janet says
May i know how many grams are there in 2.5 cups of cake flour? I did it 2 times with 320gm and 340gms but the texture still feels wet n chewy after baking for 18 mins at 170 degrees as my oven is slightly hotter. Please advise.
Madhuram says
I guess it should be 320gms based on this conversion here: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/. Was it still wet and chewy after it cooled down completely or only when it was warm?
Kate says
I made these cupcakes using vanilla soya milk, white vinegar, orange + pomegranate juice from the carton (sorry didn't have fresh oranges)and cornflour replacements. They taste fantastic, light and fluffy, way better than the eggy lot that I made for other children who are not allergic. Now I regret as should have done all of them eggless! Next time I will know better.
Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Madhuram says
Kate, that's so kind of you to tell that these cakes were better than the ones with eggs. Thanks for the feedback.
DP says
Have you tried this recipe using water instead of orange juice and zest. I'm making this for a 1st birthday party where the birthday boy has a lot of allergies and his parents are not yet sure of his tolerance of orange juice.
Madhuram says
Eggless Vanilla Cake recipe is the cake version of this cupcake with plain water. It does taste good. You will have to increase the quantity of vanilla extract to 2 tablespoons instead of 1 tablespoon.
Nakita says
I'm not usually a good cook, but when I am, I bake these muffins.
Yes, they were absolutely fantastic! So glad I stumbled across this recipe due to lack of eggs and cocoa powder.
Will definitely bake again.
Slight variation:
- Only 2 oranges were used. Zest and juice.
- Added about 3/4 a cup of large chocolate chips.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the comment Nakita.
Miranda Insell says
I have tried this recipe as well as the energ recipe. Both times I had a problem with the cupcake liners sticking to the cupcakes. Any suggestions on how to prevent this?? I also added some orange juice to my cream cheese frosting and it was yummy!
Madhuram says
Did you try peeling the cupcakes off the liner as soon as it came out of the oven? You could do that but you will have to spray the insides of the liner with non stick cooking spray. If you don't grease the paper liners, you would have to wait for at least an hour or so (depending upon the recipe) to pull off the cupcakes without sticking to the liner.
Kesavan says
I tried this recipe using corn flour + self raising flour instead of cake flour and replacing orange zest+juice with lemon zest+juice and it came out soft and great.
I have a feeling that using orange would have made it tastier. Will try with that next time.
Thanks for the recipe.
Sandy says
Can this be made into a cake or will it not bake properly?
Madhuram says
As mentioned in this post, that's a cake recipe originally and I have baked it as cupcakes. So it will work either way. This is the original recipe for Eggless Vanilla Cake.
Jodie says
Hi Madhuram,
Could I use buttermilk, instead of the milk and vinegar?
If I test the recipe with All Purpose flour and corn flour I will let you know my results.
Thank you
Jodie
Madhuram says
I guess it will work Jodie.
Darrel Norris says
I love your site and use your recipies a lot! I'm trying to make a cake for my daughter's party. She has friends who can't have eggs. I tried just omitting the eggs and the cake crumbled as I tried to take it out of the pan. I want to try the vinegar and baking soda. I was wondering, is the amounts of vinegar and baking soda given a substitute for 1 egg? The recipe I'm using calls for 3 eggs.
Thank you for posting these great recipies!
Madhuram says
Thanks Darrel. Sometimes eggs take the role of a binder in recipes and that could be one of the reason why the cake crumbled when you omitted it. Vinegar and baking soda combination works only if you have to replace just 1 egg. The best substitute would be silken tofu. Actually a combination of silken tofu and yogurt will give you amazing results. You could try 1/2 cup pureed tofu and 1/4 cup plain yogurt in place or 3 eggs.
Ithaca says
Darrell and Madhuram,
Check out this list of other egg substitutes, depending on the purpose of use
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7678.0
Mina says
Do you have to add orange zest and juice? If you do not have fresh oranges handy, would you just add extra milk? Thanks.
Madhuram says
Yes both, Mina. It gives an amazing orange flavor to the cupcakes. You could use milk instead of the juice but increase the quantity of vanilla extract to 2 tablespoons.
Hema says
Its wonderful recipe. Let me try it out soon.
Hema's Adugemane
rani says
Thanks for this recipe. Wondering if it would work with 1/2 whole wheat flour as well?
Madhuram says
It would work, but I doubt if it would be as light and fluffy as the one with cake flour.
sridevi says
Is all purpose flour maida and is cornstarch the same as cornflour. I live in India.
thanx
Madhuram says
Yes it's the same Sridevi. I have written about all purpose flour in detail here: http://www.egglesscooking.com/recipes/all-purpose-flour/ Cornflour and cornstarch is the same too.
Hari Chandana says
Woww.. looks so delicious and tempting.. thanks for the wonderful recipe Madhu 🙂
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