Up Beet Kitchen

Vegan Maple Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Date Icing

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These vegan maple vanilla cupcakes with chocolate date icing are the ultimate vegan party dessert! As an added bonus, they’re healthier than your average cupcake, being sweetened with maple syrup and dates instead of white sugar and icing sugar.

straight on shot of one maple vanilla cupcake on a marble board with a white background

Today is a special day. It’s my mom’s birthday, it’s almost the second birthday of my blog, and it’s National Cupcake Lovers Day! It seems all too fitting to share a cupcake recipe with you all.

These vegan maple vanilla cupcakes with chocolate date icing are a revamped version of a recipe that I shared about a year ago: these vegan cupcakes with chocolate avocado frosting. I know those cupcakes were a hit, so I didn’t mess around with them. Instead, I opted to change up the frosting, and create a chocolate-date-tahini frosting that is oh so good, and a nice change from super sugary frostings. Don’t get me wrong: I love a classic buttercream as much as the next person. In fact, I get positively giddy every time a birthday rolls around and I can whip up an extravagent chocolate layer cake with buttercream frosting! But it’s fun to change things up and discover that it’s possible to enjoy icing made without any refined sweeteners whatsoever.

overhead shot of the whole batch of iced cupcakes on a wire cooling rack

ingredients you need

  • For the cupcakes: Light spelt flour (or all purpose white flour if that’s all you have), baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
  • For the icing: Soft Medjool dates, tahini, cocoa, salt, and non-dairy milk.
overhead shot of the iced cupcakes on a wire cooling rack
overhead shot of a cupcake with the paper wrapper removed to show the texture of the outside

how to make these vegan maple vanilla cupcakes

The nice thing about these cupcakes is how easy they are to make! Start by whisking together light spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan and whisk in maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Portion them out between 12 muffin tins lined with paper muffin cups, and bake for 25 minutes.

Next, make the frosting by blending dates, tahini, cocoa, salt, and non-dairy milk in a food processor.

Once cool, frost the cupcakes!

And that’s it! Because they are so easy to make, these cupcakes are the perfect dessert to whip up with kids. They’ll love sneaking a few tastes of the date frosting as you ice them. And as a bonus, you can enjoy leftover frosting as a dip for apple slices.

overhead shot of the maple vanilla cupcakes before being iced
overhead shot of the date chocolate tahini icing in a jar
close up of one of the cupcakes before being iced
straight on shot of one of the cupcakes, close up to show the texture of the icing.

can I make a cake instead of cupcakes?

Absolutely! Feel free to pour the batter into a greased 9×13-inch rectangular pan if you would prefer to make a sheet cake.

Also, depending on the size of your muffin tins, you may have a little bit of extra batter. I sometimes pour the remaining batter into a ramekin to make a mini maple vanilla cake.

Looking for more cupcake recipes? You’re in luck!

This recipe is part of Cupcakes for Cupcake Lovers Day, and here is a full list of the recipes from all the bloggers who participated!

Cupcakes for Cupcake Lovers Day!

Hosted by Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes by The Baking Fairy Bailey’s Red Velvet Cupcakes by Our Crafty Mom Buttermilk Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream by One Sweet Appetite Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes by Daily Dish Recipes Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes by The Urben Life Fiori Di Sicilia + Elderflower Cupcakes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Gingerbread Cupcakes by Karen’s Kitchen Stories Maple Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Date Icing by UpBeet Kitchen Mickey Mouse Sprinkles Cupcakes by For The Love of Food Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes by Join Us, Pull Up A Chair Poblano Cornbread Muffins with Goat Cheese Frosting by The Spiffy Cookie Sourdough Strawberry Cupcakes by Our Good Life Vanilla Bean Buttercream Cupcakes by Red Cottage Chronicles

If you make these vegan maple vanilla cupcakes, leave a comment and rating below. And be sure to tag your photos @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen on Instagram!

Enjoy! 🙂

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Vegan Maple Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Date Icing

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Allison
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Scale

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 2 1/2 cups light spelt flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil 
  • 1 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 1/4 cups non-dairy milk
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract 
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Date Icing

  • 12 large pitted soft Medjool dates 
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. 
  2. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. 
  3. Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan. Whisk in the maple syrup, milk, and and vanilla. The milk will cause the coconut oil to solidify initially; make sure to warm the mixture enough that the coconut oil liquifies again. 
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until no lumps remain. Quickly stir in the apple cider vinegar. 
  5. Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes. Let them cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 
  6. Make the icing: Place the dates, tahini, cocoa powder, salt, and non-dairy milk in a food processor and process until super smooth. This will take a couple of minutes. 
  7. Ice the cupcakes. Leftover icing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, and makes a delicious dip for fresh fruit and/or toast! 

Notes

It is important to use very soft dates for the icing. If your dates are not super soft, soak them in a dish of water for 30 minutes before making the icing. 

If you end up with some leftover batter (I often do), pour it into a lightly greased ramekin to make a mini cake. 

If you don’t have light spelt flour, all purpose flour can be used in its place. 

To make these cupcakes gluten-free, use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. 

  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake

Keywords: vegan vanilla cupcakes, vegan maple cupcakes, date chocolate icing

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pinterest image with a shot of one of the cupcakes and the title of the recipe

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Comments

  6. I’ve never thought of using dates and tahini in frosting! These look so good. I just added this to my must-make list. My best friend is vegan and her birthday is coming up! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Jesseca! Your cupcakes look delicious, too. Aww, that makes me so happy; I hope your best friend enjoys them. 🙂

      Reply

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