Gingerbread Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream (Vegan)
These delightful seasonal cupcakes combine cozy gingerbread spices with a creamy banana buttercream. Not only are these cupcakes simple to prepare, but they are also entirely dairy and egg-free.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cupcakes
- 270 grams / 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp ground ginger
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground all spice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup muscovado sugar - store bought or homemade (see recipe for homemade on the website)
- 56 grams / 4 tbsp plant based butter - room temperature
- 60 grams / 4 tbsp oil - I used light olive oil
- 180 ml / ¾ cup plant based milk - room temperature
- 120 grams / ½ cup plant based yogurt - room temperature
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Banana Buttercream
- 360 grams / 3 cups powdered sugar
- 168 grams / 12 tbsp plant based butter with salt - room temperature
- 3 tbsp plant based heavy cream - cold
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 70 grams green banana - sliced and quartered
- decoration - candied cranberries and fresh rosemary
Instructions
Gingerbread Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare two cupcake pans by placing liners in 16 cups.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ginger, all spice, nutmeg, and cloves. Whisk everything together and set the bowl aside.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, yogurt, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar. Whisk everything together, then set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the butter, oil, and muscovado sugar. Using a handheld mixer, blend them together on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined, about 1 minute.
- Mix half of the wet ingredients into the sugar mixture and blend on medium speed for about 15 seconds. Then, add half of the dry ingredients and blend again on medium speed for another 15 seconds. Next, pour in the remaining wet ingredients and blend for 15 seconds. Finally, add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend for 15 to 30 seconds, or until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Evenly distribute the batter into 16 lined cupcake cups. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Banana Buttercream
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and banana. Cream the butter and banana on high with a balloon whisk attachment for 2 minutes.*** A greener banana works better for the buttercream; it has less moisture. The riper the banana the looser the buttercream will be.
- Add the powdered sugar and continue blending on high for another 30 seconds to one minute. Add the heavy cream and continue blending at high speed for 3 minutes. Add the ground cinnamon and vanilla and blend at medium speed long enough to incorporate the vanilla and cinnamon.***If the buttercream seems a little too loose to, place it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes to firm up before frosting the cupcakes.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled to room temperature, they can be frosted. Add equal amounts of buttercream to the top of each cupcake using a knife, spoon or icing spatula (or pipe the buttercream on). Decorate each cupcake with a few candied cranberries and a little fresh rosemary.
- Store the cupcakes at room temperature in an airtight container