Amazing Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes Made in an Air Fryer

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes

When I think of Autumn, I think of warming foods, crunchy leaves and baking. There’s something about the colder weather that makes me want to bake and eat rich foods. Gingerbread feels like autumn to me. Also, it’s an excellent excuse to stay in the warm and cook delicious soups and cakes.

Some people prefer everything pumpkin spice at this time of year. However, I’m more of a fan of ginger. So I created a gorgeous cupcake recipe combining some of my favourite spices.

These cupcakes are unique and combine many flavours including cinnamon, ginger and golden syrup.

In addition, they are fully vegan and do not use any plant-based butter so if you’re not a fan of ‘fake’ butter this is one for you.

Ingredients you will need

Firstly, I like to keep my recipes simple and use what I have in. Secondly, I wanted to give my new air fryer a road test so I kept the ingredients simple.

For this recipe you will need:

• Vegetable oil
• Brown sugar
• Ground ginger
• Fresh ginger (optional)
• Cinnamon (I used sweet cinnamon)
• Golden syrup
• Oat milk
• Flax seeds (optional)
• Self-raising flour

Baking in an air fryer

Because I wanted to test my new air fryer I designed this recipe. But it also allows me to practice baking without using the oven. As many people will be aware right now the cost of living is making everything more expensive. So to attempt to save money I’ve invested in some energy-saving appliances like my air fryer.

This has made cooking quicker whilst using less energy. I’d recommend anyone who has an air fryer to attempt a recipe like this in it. However, this will also work in a conventional oven. So you have options.

Tips and tricks for making these vegan gingerbread cupcakes

Stock up on cheap spices

Baking doesn’t need to be expensive. I found these spices in Tesco and they are labelled vegan which is perfect when you are conscious of everything you buy (like me).

Add fresh ginger to flavour your gingerbread

I added fresh ginger as optional as these cupcakes will work without it. However, if you can afford it why not add some grated, fresh ginger for a powerful punch of flavour?

Oil is a great substitute for butter

Whilst I don’t mind using vegan butter, I was making these cupcakes for someone who doesn’t eat it. So, I had to think of an alternative. Oil is a good replacement for butter. If you are using a traditional recipe you can swap approximately 3/4 of the amount of butter used for oil.

Mix oil and sugar as your base

Whilst some recipes cream butter and sugar, mine mixes the oil and sugar as the base. This allowed me to then add in the other ingredients. Think of this as your base for cakes and biscuits if you want to avoid butter.

Spice things up with ground spices and syrup for the perfect gingerbread

Vegan baking is flavoursome and packs a punch if you know what to add. I chose sweet cinnamon for added taste. Remember if you are not using butter adding spice is a great way to make it sweet.

Golden syrup is another favourite in my baking. And it also makes a great substitute for sugar.

Grated ginger is an easy addition

Whilst many might use chopped ginger, I find grating it makes it easier to use. This eliminates the uneven pieces and allows you to get more from a piece of ginger.

Oat milk as an egg substitute

As if by magic you can bake without eggs. All you need is something to bind the ingredients and turn them into a batter. Whilst there are many vegan egg substitutes I prefer to use something I already have in the fridge – oat milk. For this recipe, I combined it with flax seeds, which is a well-known egg replacer in the vegan world. However, the oat milk would work alone as you just need something to create a mixture like the one pictured below.

Alternative uses of this mixture

I wanted to try some cupcakes today but this mixture would also make a great cake.

And if you’d rather not use oil I would recommend using 3oz of vegan butter instead (something like Pure) as this is what I started out with on my recipe planning before figuring out how I could adapt it to use oil. But either oil or vegan butter will have similar results.

Be creative when you bake because there really is so much you can do with the same recipe. In addition, the size of the cupcake cases will change the outcome slightly, I chose large cases here and made 6 large cupcakes. However, smaller ones are great for snack size bites.

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 oz vegetable oil
• 3 oz brown sugar
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5 oz golden syrup
• 1-2 pieces of fresh ginger grated (optional)
• 6 oz self-raising flour
• 100ml oat milk
• 2 tsp flax seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the oil and sugar to create your base
2. Add in your spices – stir in the ginger, cinnamon and add in the golden syrup and mix
3. Grate in your fresh ginger if you have decided to use this – it will create a stronger flavour
4. Mix in the flour mixing well
5. Also, mix the flax seeds into the oat milk and stir (flax seeds optional) then add the milk to the cake mixture
6. Stir the mixture until smooth
7. Place into cupcake cases and get ready to bake Bake in either an over (Gas mark 7 for 30 minutes) or air fryer (on the baking setting – 180 degrees for 30 minutes)
8. Leave to cool and then enjoy

Notes

I have added in the fresh ginger and flax seeds as optional extras as these can be more expensive than some of the simpler ingredients. So, feel free to adapt this to your budget and taste.