The nostalgic cupcake classic made healthier! Vegan Hostess Cupcakes with a grain-free cake, easy cream filling, and rich chocolate ganache!
My inner child really stole the recipe development reins and ran with this nostalgic recreation, but I could not be happier with her copycat cupcake work. These homemade hostesses (it’s a word now) are childhood joy and dreams all come true in one little wonderful handful of cake. We were not a pre-packaged, individually wrapped cake kind of household. I do remember a zebra cake from time to time and maybe a cosmic brownie or two, but these were not a key player in my childhood dessert life. I do remember lots of lunchbox envy though when some lucky kid would roll up with a lunchable AND a hostess cupcake. Not fair. Anyways! Many of you excitedly reminisced when I posted this recipe on Instagram, so I thought it only right they made it to the blog too.
Homemade Healthier Hostess Cupcakes
I promise you the chocolate cake is properly moist and fluffy, and the cream filling is properly light and vanilla-y, and the chocolate ganache is properly fudgy – all the necessary hostess qualities are HERE. But there are a few healthier swaps and tweaks in the mix too!
Vegan Grain-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
The chocolate cupcake itself is not only vegan, but grain-free and oil-free too. Even if you don’t want to go full out HOSTESS, this cupcake recipe is a favorite of mine and delicious on its own. You will need…
- Applesauce. Unsweetened is best, you can sub pumpkin puree or non-dairy yogurt as well.
- Nut or seed butter. I used SunButter, but peanut butter or almond would work too.
- Maple syrup. Or agave or honey (if not vegan).
- Dark chocolate. Just a little bit of melted chocolate in the batter makes them SO much richer, trust me it’s worth it. But since we are using melted chocolate, make sure all the other ingredients are at room temperature otherwise the batter will thicken up too much while you’re trying to mix.
- Coconut flour. Part one of this fluffy grain-free flour story.
- Arrowroot starch. And part 2. This combo together is MAGIC. You can swap in tapioca or cornstarch here as well.
- Cocoa powder. Because one kind of chocolatey isn’t enough, of course.
- Vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
Dairy-Free Cream Filling
After your cupcakes bake, you probably sacrifice one to a still-warm taste test, and hollow out the rest, its vanilla cream filling time. Although it works best to actually prep this part the day before so it has plenty of time to chill and thicken to a pipe-able frosting consistency. You will need…
- Raw cashews. Soaked overnight (ideal) or at least 3 hours (just fine) or if you have a high speed blender and not much time and use boiling water, 30 minutes (me most of the time).
- Coconut milk. Full fat from the can, or better yet coconut cream (just the solid part after you chill the can).
- Agave. Or maple syrup is fine, but agave will keep the color a brighter white.
- Coconut oil. This helps the frosting thicken when you chill it.
- Vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
This cashew cream works deliciously for the filling, but I will say its a bit imperfect for piping the swirls on top. A vegan buttercream would be neater, so if perfect presentation is important to you go that route instead.
Easy Vegan Chocolate Ganache
The easiest chocolate topping recipe you NEED in your life: semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips + full-fat coconut milk melted together for the dreamiest dairy-free chocolate ganache topping. It’s smooth, it’s rich, it’s decadent, it’s hostess topping perfect.
More Cupcake Recipes You’ll Love
- Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- Neapolitan Cupcakes
- The BEST Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
- Cassava Flour Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Chai Cupcakes
Copycat Vegan Hostess Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 cupcakes 1x
- Category: cupcakes
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
The nostalgic cupcake classic made healthier! Vegan Hostess Cupcakes with a grain-free cake, easy cream filling, and rich chocolate ganache!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup (240g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup (125g) nut/seed butter of choice
- 1/3 cup (105g) maple syrup or agave
- 2oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (25g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (30g) arrowroot starch (or corn/tapioca starch)
- 2 tbsp (10g) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cream Filling*
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) raw cashews, soaked at least 3 hours
- 1/4 cup (60g) full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup (80g) maple syrup or agave
- ¼ cup (25g) coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/2 cup (80g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup (60g) full-fat coconut milk
Instructions
Soak the cashews in warm water for at least 3 hours.
Drain and rinse the cashews. Blend all the ingredients for the filling until very smooth. Chill to thicken at least 3-4 hours (or make it the day before!)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, melt the dark chocolate for the cupcake batter.
Whisk in applesauce, nut/seed butter, maple syrup, and vanilla (make sure all are at room temperature).
Add coconut flour, arrowroot starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
Grease 8 cavities of a cupcake pan. Scoop the batter into the pan, filling each ¾ of the way.
Bake 30-35 minutes at 350°F.
Cool 15 minutes in the pan, then gently remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
When the cupcakes are cool, use a cupcake corer or teaspoon to create a cavity in the middle of each.
With a piping bag or spoon, fill each cupcake with cream filling.
Melt the ganache ingredients together, whisk until smooth. Cool 10 minutes or so.
Cover the top of each cupcake with a layer of chocolate ganache and refrigerate until ganache is set.
Use a piping bag with a small round tip to pipe the classic swirl design on top
And eat!
Notes
*You will have some leftover, but if you try to make a smaller batch it will not work in the blender. This cream works wonderfully for the filling but is a little tricky to pipe for the swirls on top, so if you want to use a vegan buttercream instead try this recipe: https://feastingonfruit.com/mint-chocolate-brownie-cookies/ (without the matcha and mint extract, sub 1 tsp vanilla)
Keywords: gluten free, grain free, kids, childhood, copycat, chocolate, cream, ganache, dairy free, healthy, dessert
CLICK BELOW TO PIN
Looks delicious and so healthy!! I have to admit I have never had a Hostess Cupcake, but I have to make these! One of my family members is avoiding coconut oil–how would you recommend I substitute it?–would olive oil or maybe coconut milk work?
Thanks so much!
Well I am honored this will be your first🤗 The coconut oil in the frosting helps it to thicken since coconut oil solidifies when you chill it, so unfortunately another oil won’t work the same. You could try coconut cream (just the solid part from the coconut milk can) or I would opt for the buttercream filling option instead. Hope that helps!
Shortening worked well for me! The filling is amazing!
Hi Natalie, you’re my hero for posting this recipe.
Haha so so happy you are excited about them too! Enjoy happy baking😋
so creative, and I’m not even talking about how perfectly they look like the junk food version, I’m talking about the ingredients, really nice use of each and together, including the filling, thank you!
★★★★★
It was a fun and delicious copycat challenge haha! Appreciate the lovely feedback Sabrina😊
The cupcake was not my favorite. Something is off (can’t put my finger on it though) maybe if just wasn’t “chocolatey” enough. The cupcake had good texture but did not rise much so if you are wanting a big size cupcake fill to just almost the top of the muffin pan cavity. I ended up making my go to paleo chocolate cupcake tool use for the filling instead because the filling is AMAZING. Just amazing. I subbed shortening instead of coconut oil with perfect results in the filling. I would not recommend butter. The ganache too is just incredible. Highly recommend the filling and ganache/frosting!
★★★★
Thanks for sharing Leanne, I’m glad you tried them!
Do you think I can sub the coconut flour with almond flour?
Almond flour will be too moist here, the cupcakes will turn out mushy unfortunately. Sorry!
Well these came out amazing! I had quite a bit of the cream filling leftover but this just means I can make more cupcakes again.
Next time I’ll just hollow out more of the inside since I don’t have a cupcake corer.
Natalie, your recipes are perfect for me because I love sweets with all my heart, but I compromise by making my own to have them be healthier and more natural. Keep up the great work!
★★★★★
YAY!!! Oh I am so happy you loved them🤗 Yes you can totally just hollow them out with a dull knife if you don’t have a corer. And its hard to blend much less filling than called for so you will have some extra…or just double the cupcake batch! Appreciate your wonderful feedback and very kind words❤️
Any tips for the frosting and piping bag? I struggle with piping vegan frosting I’ve made in the past. I’m not sure if it’s not cold enough when I place it in the bag. I also feel like it gets everywhere. Any tips? 😊 Looking forward to trying these!
Hi Jennifer! Temperature definitely matters, especially with healthier (cashew or coconut based) frostings. I like to blend, put it in the piping bag, and then put the bag in the fridge for a couple hours before piping. Also I am not sure what sort of vegan frostings you have tried but a vegan buttercream frosting will always be MUCH easier to pipe and stay put much better than cashew based. Hope that helps!
Thank you!! Ok yes I definitely didn’t refrigerate after making the frosting in the past! In the past I made coconut or cashew cream and I think I just piped it immediately. I tried to make frosted cupcakes and well… they lost all spiral. I never piped before so it’s a learning process. 😜
Yes chilling will totally help! Also depending on which recipes you’ve tried, a recipe with some coconut oil in it will help it firm up when chilled as well. It is definitely a learning process, I’ve been piping since I was like 3 with my mom and I still make some pretty ugly swirls sometimes😆 Good luck, keep me updated!