Vegan gluten-free pear cupcakes with white chocolate frosting is a dreamy and delicious treat. With a soft cardamom spiced crumb and creamy sweet frosting, these cupcakes are perfect for fall and winter when craving something cozy.

The original recipe is from my talented friend Anni, @anninuunissa who just began her TV host career with her own cooking show! My son chose this dreamy cupcake recipe from Anni’s baking book which is full of amazing treats and also savory baked goods.

Vegan gluten-free cupcakes

My mom and I tested the recipe 4 times to get the perfect gluten-free and vegan version. Veganizing recipes is usually quite easy when the recipe calls for one egg like Anni’s does. On most occasions you can make the recipe as it is without the egg or perhaps add a little more liquid like yogurt or plant-based milk.

Making a cupcake recipe vegan AND gluten-free is a whole other game. We had to make a few adjustments to Anni’s recipe but making sure not to lose the essence:

Dry ingredients

We used Viljatuote all-purpose gluten-free flour mix for best baking results. This flour mix is perfect for any kind of baking and especially good in cakes.
Gluten-free flour mix alone isn’t enough. I also recommend adding more white rice flour although there’s already some in the flour mix. Adding more ensures a more fluffy light crumb. White rice flour is very light, almost powdery, and I find it a good substitute for wheat flour.
We also adjusted the amount of baking powder, because gluten-free vegan baking usually calls for more rising agent. But not too much, because then it affects the flavor and does more harm than good.

Liquid ingredients

Because the gluten-free flour mix contains psyllium it absorbs quite a lot of liquid in the batter. That’s why we added extra liquid: plant-based milk.
We also added apple cider vinegar to the milk to make a vegan “buttermilk” type of liquid. Apple cider vinegar is what I suggest adding to cupcake and cake recipes, because it enhances the rising by helping activate the baking powder (or baking soda).
In Anni’s recipe the butter and sugar are first whisked together until fluffy. We tried this method with these gluten-free vegan cupcakes but the cupcakes became too dense to our liking. So we used a method which always works in vegan baking: mixing sugar together with all other dry ingredients and adding liquid vegan butter (oil would work too) to the dry ingredients together with other liquids.
One of the reasons I love this recipe so much is the pear puree added to the batter. When baking vegan I often use apple sauce, but pear puree is even better! The pear flavor is quite subtle, and it is very sweet. Together with ground cardamom and vanilla powder, these cupcakes taste heavenly!

I hope you will love this recipe as much as we do. Now let’s start baking! ♥