Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, Cake, or Loaf: One Easy Recipe

A vanilla bake that changes shape to suit the occasion

The useful idea here is flexibility: one vegan vanilla batter can become 16 cupcakes, a round cake or a loaf. That makes this a practical recipe to keep around when you need a straightforward dessert but haven’t settled on how to serve it. Cupcakes suit individual portions; a round cake gives you a familiar centerpiece, while a loaf is easy to slice and store. Each version can be dressed up with buttercream or rainbow sprinkles. It’s adapted from Jillian Glenn’s Light & Easy Vegan Baking.

The ingredients are familiar: almond milk, cane sugar, melted vegan butter, vanilla, flour, baking powder and baking soda. The method keeps the work simple, asking you to whisk the wet ingredients and leaveners together before adding the flour and mixing until smooth. That last step matters: mixing only until the batter comes together helps avoid overworking it. The cupcake and round cake versions bake at 350°F (175°C); a loaf uses a hotter 375°F (190°C) oven. Expect about 25 to 30 minutes in the oven, with a full cake sometimes needing another five to 10 minutes. Check the center with a toothpick, since pan shape affects how quickly the middle sets.

Both versions allow regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour. Glenn recommends King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure for the gluten-free option, giving readers a named product to follow rather than leaving the substitution entirely open-ended. As with many gluten-free bakes, the result can depend on the blend used, so the recommended flour is the clearest route to the recipe as written. Fold rainbow sprinkles into the batter for a funfetti variation, or keep the crumb plain and add vegan vanilla buttercream after the bake has cooled. The cupcakes are also served without frosting in the recipe; a loaf needs only half the listed frosting, and the extra can be frozen.

Simple choices shape the finished dessert

The recipe’s appeal is less about elaborate technique than about giving a basic vanilla bake a few useful directions. Sprinkles add color throughout the crumb, while frosting changes the texture and sweetness at the finish. You can also leave both out and let the vanilla flavor carry the dessert. That’s a practical choice when the bake will be served alongside other food or when a less decorated result fits the occasion.

Pan size and shape affect more than presentation. A deeper loaf or cake may need longer for its center to bake through, which is why the instructions allow extra time for a full cake and recommend checking doneness with a toothpick. If you're working in this space, the useful takeaway is that adaptable recipes still need clear guidance for each format. Here's the thing: the oven temperature changes for the loaf, so switching pans isn’t simply a matter of pouring the same batter into a different container.

This is more significant than it looks for a home baker planning ahead. A recipe that can become several forms of dessert makes it easier to match the bake to the number of servings and the way it’ll be presented. And yet, the instructions don’t claim that every format is identical in texture or timing; they give separate pan preparations and temperatures, then leave doneness to a practical check. A flexible recipe with boundaries.

Serving and storing the frosting

The buttercream uses confectioners’ sugar, softened vegan butter, almond milk and vanilla, beaten together with an electric hand mixer. Cooling the cupcakes or cake completely before frosting gives the topping a more stable surface and avoids melting it against a warm bake. For the loaf, the recipe calls for half the frosting ingredients, with the remainder suitable for freezing. That keeps the topping from dictating how much cake you need to make or serve at once (and this is the part most people overlook).

For another cake idea, see Lemon And Coconut Cake.

What the recipe offers

There’s no complicated promise here: it’s a plain vanilla base that can be served in a few familiar ways, with a gluten-free flour option and optional decorations. That makes it useful as a repeat recipe, particularly for readers who want to decide on the format after choosing the occasion. The method is direct, but the temperature and timing details still deserve attention when you change the pan.

Reprinted with permission from Light & Easy Vegan Baking by Jillian Glenn. Page Street Publishing. 2022. Photo credit: Jillian Glenn.

Bake these any occasion cupcakes and cake

A single vegan vanilla recipe yields 16 cupcakes or can be baked as a round cake or loaf. Add optional sprinkles to the batter and finish with vegan vanilla buttercream if you like.

Servings16 cupcakes

Ingredients

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1¼ cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup cane sugar
• ¼ cup melted vegan butter
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour For gluten-free baking, Glenn recommends King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure.
• ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles, optional

Perfect Vanilla Cake

• Nonstick spray, for the pan
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ¾ cup cane sugar
• ⅓ cup melted vegan butter
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour For gluten-free baking, Glenn recommends King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure.
• ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles, optional

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tbsp softened vegan butter
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. For cupcakes or a round cake, heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 16 muffin wells, or coat an 8- to 10-inch (20- to 25-cm) round pan with nonstick spray. For a loaf, heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and spray a 9 x 5-inch (23 x 13-cm) loaf pan.
2. Whisk or fork together the almond milk, sugar, melted vegan butter, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix only until smooth. Stir in the sprinkles if you want a funfetti-style bake.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin wells or pour it into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly golden. A full cake may take five to 10 minutes longer. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
4. Make the frosting with an electric hand mixer, beating the confectioners’ sugar, softened vegan butter, almond milk and vanilla together in a medium bowl. For a loaf, use half the frosting ingredients, or freeze the remaining frosting for later.
5. Cool the cupcakes or cake completely on a wire rack before frosting. The cupcakes can also be served plain.

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This article was written by Jillian Glenn on the PBN Website.