Grain-free Vanilla Cupcakes
gluten-free | grain-free | dairy-free | tree nut free
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | Jan. 14, 2025
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Making grain-free chocolate cupcakes was fairly easy. Making grain-free vanilla cupcakes… not so much. But at last, this grain-free vanilla cupcake recipe turned out just the way vanilla cupcakes should be… perfectly moist without being too dense or spongy. They are dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, and nut free without lacking any of the taste or texture that classic vanilla cupcakes should have! The recipe is amazingly simple to make and yields a dozen cupcakes that can be decorated for any occasion. You’ll be hooked after the first bite of these sweet, moist, and delicious cupcakes!

Modern Pioneer Recipe

These grain-free vanilla cupcakes are a modern pioneer recipe. The early pioneers wouldn’t have had the means to make cupcakes, but that doesn’t mean that modern pioneers can’t enjoy these delicious little desserts! Aside from cookies, I think cakes and cupcakes are probably some of my favorite desserts to make. Decorating the cake or cupcakes is my favorite part!

Simple Recipe– There’s nothing like setting out to make a recipe only to have it turn out a flop! With these cupcakes, I am confident that you can whip up a batch with no problems at all. Just check out the recipe tips I share later on in this post and follow the recipe exactly. These simple cupcakes will turn into the perfect gluten-free dessert that every modern pioneer can enjoy!

Allergy-Friendly– Being a modern pioneer recipe means I of course have to highlight the allergy-friendly features of these cupcakes. When I decided to try and create a grain-free cupcake, I wanted it to still have a sweet taste and perfect cupcake texture. This recipe fit the bill! And they are….

• grain-free
• gluten-free
• tree nut free
• corn free
• dairy-free

Vanilla cupcakes not exactly your cup of tea? Then make sure you check out these grain-free chocolate cupcakes!

Tips for Baking with Grain-free Flour

This recipe uses three grain-free flours: tapioca flour, cassava flour, and coconut flour. While it may seem inconvenient to have to get three different flours just to make one recipe, rest assured that these three flours can be the foundation for many other pioneer recipes as well. If you’re a pioneer with dietary restrictions, I strongly encourage you to keep tapioca flour, cassava flour, and coconut flour stocked in your homestead pantry.

Tapioca Flour–Tapioca flour, also called tapioca starch, comes from the same plant that cassava flour is made from. While cassava flour is made from the cassava root, tapioca flour is made from the starch of the root’s pulp. It can be used in place of cornstarch in many recipes and I always use it as a corn-free option for thickening pudding and soups. Used by itself, tapioca flour can give baked goods a stretchy texture. One recipe that I like to make that uses tapioca flour as the main flour are these grain-free cheese rolls!

Cassava Flour– If there’s one grain-free flour that mimics an all-purpose flour, it would probably be cassava flour. Cassava flour is made from the entire root of the cassava plant. It performs well as a stand-alone flour in recipes, however, it is a denser flour to bake with. Cassava flour absorbs more moisture than a standard all-purpose flour and it especially works well in dairy-free recipes that use oil instead of butter. I love using cassava flour in my grain-free cookie recipes that you can find in The Pioneer Chicks Cookie Cookbook!

Coconut Flour– Coconut flour is a very absorbent flour and has the most distinct flavor compared to cassava flour or tapioca flour. Using coconut flour alone in a recipe will give the baked product a subtly coconut flavor. Since coconut flour is so absorbent, it works well in recipes that call for a lot of eggs. I generally use coconut flour paired with tapioca flour in my recipes since the two flours blend to create a nice texture and flavor for baked goods, like these grain-free double chocolate cookies!

How to Frost & Decorate Cupcakes

You can frost and decorate grain-free cupcakes just like traditional cupcakes! Make sure you allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them. With these grain-free vanilla cupcakes, you will notice that when they come out of the oven and cool, they may seem a little dry and hard. However, once you store them in airtight container overnight, they become soft and moist.

For frosting the cupcakes, you can use my simple buttercream frosting that I have included in the cupcake recipe or you can use a dairy-free frosting option. The homemade buttercream frosting recipe is grain-free, refined-sugar free, and still yields a light colored frosting that pairs well with the moist vanilla cupcakes.

If opting for a dairy-free frosting, I like to use Miss Jones Bakes vanilla frosting. It is dairy-free and gluten-free, although it does contain palm oil and cane sugar. When using Miss Jones Bakes frosting you will find that you need to soften the frosting so that it will pipe or spread nicely on the cupcakes. I scoop the frosting into a glass container and microwave the frosting in 10 second intervals until it becomes smooth, creamy, and easy to whip.

Once you have your frosting ready, you can go about decorating the cupcakes! I like to use frosting tips and decorating bags to pipe the frosting onto my cupcakes. To decorate the cupcakes, here are the supplies I try to have on hand for decorating cupcakes for any occasion:

• all-natural colored sprinkles
• all-natural white sprinkles
• organic shredded coconut
• fair-trade chocolate bars for shaving (use a mini cheese grater to get chocolate shaves)
• white chocolate for grating/shaving
• Sun Tropics cocorolls

Grain-free Cupcake Recipe Tips

Can I use any substitutes for the grain-free flours in this recipe?

This recipe performs the best when you make it with tapioca flour/starch, cassava flour, and coconut flour. I have not tried it with any other flour combinations. The blend of these three flours provides the perfect balance to ensure enough moisture is absorbed without leaving the cupcakes dry, dense, spongy, or flat. You can use arrowroot starch/flour in place of the tapioca flour.

Will this recipe work with less-refined sugar options?

This recipe has only been tested with granulated sugars, so I would not advice trying to sub in honey or maple syrup since those will alter the moisture content in the recipe. However, you can use coconut sugar or maple sugar in place of the cane sugar. Keep in mind that if you use coconut sugar you will have very dark vanilla cupcakes. Maple sugar yields a slightly lighter cupcake but the cupcakes will still have a brown-color instead of the classic light color of vanilla cupcakes.

I don’t have any dairy-free yogurt, can I use dairy-free milk instead?

I have not tested this recipe with dairy-free milk in place of the yogurt. However, if you are feeling experimental I would advise starting off 1/3 cup of dairy-free milk in place of the yogurt. If the batter seems too dry, add more milk 1 T. at a time until a smooth, moist batter forms. The batter should be thicker than traditional cupcake batter but still pourable.

Tips for baking with coconut flour:

Coconut flour is a very absorbent flour. If you let the batter rest too long between making it and scooping it into the cupcake liners you will find that the batter thickens. To avoid batter that is too thick to pour, work quickly after you have made the batter. Use a measuring cup to divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners. You will want to work quickly and efficiently so that the batter doesn’t thicken too much.

Once in the cupcake liners, you can let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes. It is okay if the batter becomes thicker that this point. The flour will absorb some of the moisture so that when the cupcakes bake they can rise nicely and still have a soft, moist texture.

These grain-free vanilla cupcakes are the perfect dairy-free dessert that everyone will enjoy, no matter if they have dietary restrictions or not! I absolutely love the taste and texture of these cupcakes, and making them is super simple!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
• Anthony’s cassava flour
• Otto’s Naturals cassava flour
• Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour
• Organic cane sugar
• A&A maple sugar
• Simply Organic vanilla extract
• Miss Jones Bakes vanilla frosting
• Otto’s Naturals baking powder
• Supplies: parchment paper muffin liners, muffin baking tins

These grain-free vanilla cupcakes are sure to be a crowd pleaser at any occasion! But you don’t need a special occasion to make a batch of these cupcakes… they are super easy to whip up and fun to decorate just for the joy of working in the homestead kitchen. Either way, the texture of these grain-free cupcakes will make you wonder if they really are grain-free after all! And the taste is perfect enough to rival traditional cupcakes any day. Allergy-friendly, super easy to make, and addictingly delicious, these cupcakes are the perfect modern pioneer dessert!

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