Vegan Biscoff Cupcakes – Moist & Fluffy

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These perfectly moist, fluffy, and indulgent vegan biscoff cupcakes are a must bake! They are so delicious with creamy and melty biscoff buttercream frosting, as well as super easy and fun to bake for weekend treats or as party gifts.

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I first discovered biscoff biscuits maybe when I was a teenager. It was accompanied by a coffee I ordered in a café and mmm I fell in love with the caramel flavour! I literally bought the largest packet of biscoff the next day in a shop called Kaldi in Tokyo. I shared it with everyone but ate most of it myself.

Biscoff is such a lovely, small treat that is loved by everyone around the world – and I’ve no doubt that this vegan biscoff cupcake recipe will be your next favourite thing to bake and loved by all your friends and families too! I used biscoff spread in both the cupcakes and the butter-cream frosting to enhance the flavour to the maximum. As a result, the cupcakes turned out quite simple yet so indulgent that they’ll satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth with just one bite. The combination of the moist and fluffy cupcakes with the creamy and melty butter-cream frosting is out of this world.

I baked them and gave them to my family and my boyfriend, and they all loved them so the taste is guaranteed! These biscoff cupcakes are great to bake at the weekend for your family or when you have your friends over. They also make a fantastic party gift for home parties or birthday parties. 

Main ingredients and substitutions

Plain flour: I used plain flour as the base of this cupcake recipe. I like to use it as I find that it gives a very nice, fluffy texture to baked goods. You can swap it with 1:1 gluten-free blend flour in place of plain flour, however, biscoff spread and biscuits are NOT gluten-free so, it’s difficult to make this recipe gluten-free, unfortunately.

Brown sugar: I used brown sugar to make the cupcakes rich and moist in texture. You can also use coconut sugar or regular white sugar too if you prefer, but brown sugar is highly recommended!

Biscoff spread: The main ingredient! If you haven’t tried biscoff spread yet, you should. It will change your breakfast game! It’s so good on toast and porridge and of course great in baking too. 

Ground almond: I ground some almonds in a food processor until they were fine and crumbly, but not quite powdery, like almond flour to use in baking. They add such a lovely aroma and flavour to baked goods so I love adding them in my recipe.

Potato starch: Potato flour works as a binder as well as improves the texture of the cupcakes. You can substitute for corn flour or tapioca flour if you want.

Soy milk: I used regular plain soy milk for this recipe. Feel free to use any other plant milk of your choice if you don’t have soy milk or prefer other plant milk!

Vegetable oil: I added some neutral vegetable oil to create a moist texture in the cupcakes. You can also substitute for other neutral oils such as refined coconut oil or sunflower oil. Melted vegan butter should work in place of vegetable oil too.

Vegan butter: One of the base ingredients for the butter-cream frosting is vegan butter. I’m enjoying using Naturli’s vegan block a lot lately in my baking! The consistency of this vegan butter is so close to conventional dairy butter and it worked perfectly in the biscoff butter-cream frosting recipe.

Icing sugar: Icing sugar is used in the butter-cream frosting to sweeten and thicken the cream. I used icing sugar from a local brand that is free from bone char.

Soy single/whipping cream: Soy single cream that whips into creamy and airy cream is my favourite thing to add to buttercream frosting. It helps create a creamier, airier, and meltier texture than when not added! You can use other plant-based whipping creams of your choice too if you can’t find soy whipping cream.

Other ingredients: apple cider vinegar, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda.

*I use bone char-free sugars for all of my recipes. I cover the topic in my article Vegan Baking 101. Go to the “Is sugar vegan?” section to learn more!

Recommended equipment for this recipe

Cupcake tin: Use a cupcake tray that fits your oven. I used a tin that can bake 9 cupcakes at a time! 

Cupcake cups: Cupcake cups/liners are a must-have when baking cupcakes! They make it so much easier to remove cupcakes from the tin as well as making it easy to wash the tin afterwards.

Having said that, if you don’t have cupcake cups you can bake directly in a tin as well. Make sure to grease the inside of the tin before pouring in the cupcake batter so that they won’t stick to the tin!

Ice cream scoop: If the amount of batter in each cup is different, this will lead to unevenly baked cupcakes throughout the batch, so to prevent this from happening an ice cream scoop comes in handy. With an ice cream scoop, you can pour the batter into each cup with an equal amount. This way all cupcakes are the same size and they will be baked evenly!

Piping bag and star tip: I have a set of star tips in different sizes and shapes and piping bags for frosting cupcakes. I like to use a fairly big piping bag and tip because they give me more control over small ones. I used a tip with a standard star shape for this recipe but feel free to choose your favourite shape!

*The ingredient list and measurement for this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom.

How to make delicious biscoff cupcakes

As preparation for making butter-cream frosting, take the vegan butter out of the fridge to soften it a little so it will be easier to whip later with an electric mixer. Also, place the soy whipping cream and biscoff spread for the vegan buttercream frosting in the fridge to keep them cold. If you use warm cream or biscoff spread, the buttercream can go too runny and not fluffy.

Step 1: Make vegan buttermilk, then mix the dry ingredients

Preheat the oven to ​​180°C(350°F). First, let’s make vegan buttermilk! To make it, simply mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together and let it sit for a few minutes to curdle. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, potato starch, brown sugar, ground almond, baking powder, and baking soda with a whisk until well combined. The ground almond might get lumpy in the mixture, if that happens break the lumps with your fingers and mix again.

Step 2: Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture

Melt the biscoff spread in a small saucepan over low heat or melt in a microwave. Add the vegan buttermilk, vegetable oil, melted biscoff spread, and vanilla to the dry mixture and mix gently with a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula until just combined. Try not to over mix here! Over mixing will cause the cupcakes to be tough and rubbery in the worst-case scenario. Gentle mixing is the key!

Step 3: Pour the batter into cupcake cups and bake

Using an ice cream scoop, pour the batter into each cup until they are halfway full. Be careful not to pour too much in! If you pour more than half of the cup, the cupcakes can raise too much and become more of a muffin shape when they come out of the oven. Not that it’s a bad thing but I find that filling just half of the cup is a perfect amount for cupcakes! Bake them for 23-25 mins, until the top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. If not, bake for another 2-3 mins.

Step 4: Make the vegan buttercream frosting while the cupcakes are cooling down

After taking the cupcakes out of the oven, let them cool down in the tin until they are not too hot then carefully transfer them onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely while making the buttercream frosting!

To make the butter-cream frosting, first whip the vegan butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer until they are pale, soft, and creamy, about 3-4 mins. Add in the biscoff spread and beat again until they are fully combined. It should look creamy and silky at this point. 

Add 1 tbsp soy whipping cream and beat again for 2-3 mins, then add another tbsp of soy cream and beat for another 3 mins. Make sure that both the soy cream and biscoff spread are cold! Otherwise, the mixture can go too runny as it can melt the butter. The mixture should become fluffy and airy, thanks to soy whipping cream, and also paler as it has more air in it.

Add half of the icing sugar then mix again until fully incorporated. Add the remaining icing sugar and mix again. At this point, the mixture will start to firm up a lot. If it needs more soy cream, add 1 tbsp at a time and check the consistency each time. Stop when it is smooth and fluffy.

Step 5: Frost the cupcakes

Check if the cupcakes are completely cooled down, if not, let them cool further. If they are cool already when you finish making the butter-cream frosting, that’s perfect! Let’s frost them.

Carefully fit the piping bag with a tip, then stuff it with the vegan buttercream frosting. Holding the opening of the piping bag to make sure the cream won’t leak, frost the cupcakes in a circular motion. Repeat for all cupcakes.

If I’m being honest with you, I’m not the best at making perfectly beautiful frosting shapes, but honestly, the shape doesn’t matter and you will get better at it as you keep practising. So don’t stress if you think you are bad at it, you’ll get better in time! 

Step 6: Decorate them with biscoff biscuits and spreads

Drizzle some melted biscoff spread and sprinkle with some biscoff biscuit crumbs. Finish decorating them with half a biscoff biscuit on each cupcake. Enjoy!

Expert tips and tricks

Prepare the vegan butter and biscoff spread in advance for making the frosting

As I mentioned in the previous section, prepare the vegan butter and biscoff spread before starting to make the cupcake batter so that the buttercream making process will go smoothly. All you need to do is take the vegan butter out of the fridge to soften it up a little and put the biscoff spread in the fridge to make it cold.

By just doing this step you are making sure that the vegan butter is soft enough to beat with an electric mixer and the biscoff spread is cool enough to incorporate well with the butter.

Core the cupcakes and fill more biscoff spread!

I skipped this in this recipe because the cupcakes are already quite sweet but if you want to make them even more flavourful with biscoff flavour, you can core the cupcakes with a small knife or cupcake corer, and stuff them with biscoff spread. Follow the frosting instructions as per the recipe.

Don’t over mix the batter

When mixing the cupcake batter, be careful not to over mix the batter! Over-mixing can cause the cupcakes to become tough and rubbery, so if your cupcakes turn out like that, chances are you might have mixed the batter too much. I usually use a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula to mix batters rather than using a whisk as it’s easy to over mix with a whisk.

How to store

The cupcakes last in very good condition for up to 3 days. To store them assembled, prepare a fairly big airtight container that is taller than the cupcakes so that they won’t touch the lid. Put them in the airtight container and keep them at room temperature or in the fridge.

If keeping them at room temperature, make sure that the room or kitchen is not too warm. If the room temperature is high, the buttercream will start melting. For this reason, if you are storing them for more than 1 day I recommend you store them in a fridge.

The butter-cream frosting will firm up a little in the fridge as the butter in it becomes solid, so when you are serving the cupcakes after storing them in the fridge, let them sit at room temperature for 15-20 mins so that the butter-cream will be soft, creamy and melty again.

You can also freeze the cupcake for longer storage. There are 2 ways you can store in the freezer. One is to put the cupcakes unfrosted in a freezer-friendly airtight container and store them in the freezer separately from the frosting for up to 2-3 months. Defrost them before frosting them when serving. You can also freeze the buttercream the same way, put it in an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. When using it for cupcakes or cakes, defrost until they are soft but still cold, then whip it again with an electric mixer.

To freeze assembled cupcakes, carefully place them in a fairly big airtight container that is taller than the cupcakes, place the container on a flat shelf in the freezer to make sure that the cupcakes keep their shape. Store for up to 2-3 months. Defrost them in the fridge completely then let them sit at room temperature for about 15-20 mins before serving. 

Q & A

Can I make this recipe gluten-free?

Unfortunately, biscoff spread is not gluten-free so making this recipe gluten-free is not achievable. If they ever release a gluten-free biscoff spread, I will make sure to announce it here!

Can I make them nut-free?

If you want to make these cupcakes nut-free, simply omit the ground almond.

What is biscoff spread??

Biscoff spread is a spread made with biscoff biscuits by a company called Lotus! They are little thin caramel biscuits with a hint of gingerbread that commonly accompany coffee. It’s quite popular in the UK and Japan, and I’m sure they are everywhere else in the world! There are 2 types on the market, smooth and crunchy. I love both and I used the smooth for this recipe but you can also use crunchy! If you can’t find it in your local supermarket, try looking online. I usually buy them on Amazon!

Want to master the basics of vegan baking?
Check out Vegan Baking 101 – the beginner’s guide to vegan baking for you to become an excellent vegan baker and familiar with the basics of vegan baking, ingredients, and techniques with useful tips!

You will LOVE this vegan biscoff cupcake recipe because it’s:

• moist, soft, and fluffy
• packed with biscoff flavour
• vegan
• with creamy and melty biscoff butter-cream frosting
• super delicious
• perfect to bring to parties
• great with tea in the afternoon
  

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe in the comment section below if you like this recipe! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe, friends!

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