Gluten-free vegan red velvet cupcakes with a natural red hue, a tangy frosting, and a secret chocolate center. Delicious, healthy, and with no oil or sugar!
Will you be my valentine Healthy Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes? Oh who am I kidding, that’s over a week away you will be long since devoured by then.
Everybody knows there’s beets in the red velvet, it’s not a secret or a trick anymore. What makes this vegan red velvet cupcake recipe different is all the stuff that’s not in the them: oil, sugar, or gluten. So while this might look like a Valentine’s Day dessert recipe, it could easily be Valentine’s Day breakfast. It’s Chocolate Valentine’s Day, you gotta start early with the sweet stuff!
Strawberries are supposed to be bright red. Red delicious apples are supposed to be bright red. Bell peppers are supposed to be bright red (well the red ones anyways). Pomegranates are supposed to be bright red. Cupcakes are not supposed to be bright red. A deep chocolate-tinted burgundy? Sure! I for one am glad that these vegan red velvet cupcakes didn’t come out of the oven the color of Elmo.
The batch in the video were a little too not-red even for me though, so I made a new batch, tweaked the recipe, and got a much brighter color. A little more beet, a little less cacao. I suggest an entire small beet or half of a larger one. I know that sounds vague, but a little less or a little more isn’t going to matter.
Many beet red velvet recipes used cooked beets, but I opted for raw beet blended in because 1) it’s easier and 2) raw beet has a less pronounced beet flavor. We want them to taste like decadent cupcakes, not salad after all. And with the raw beet and the cacao, vanilla, and sweet dates, the beet is undetectable.
One bite in and you won’t care if the cupcake is red or blue or black or periwinkle. Color doesn’t matter once someone mentions CHOCOLATE FILLING! Yep they’re filled. Yep that means two creamy components in one bite. Nope, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t share.
The frosting. For the frosting on these vegan red velvet cupcakes I used coconut yogurt because it’s easy, healthy, and has that slight tang reminiscent of cream cheese frosting. If you want it sweeter, then you could whisk in some powdered sugar and a little bit of non-dairy milk. If you want it lighter, then you could use coconut whipped cream. If you want it more chocolatey, then you can just use the filling on top too.
And they were supposed to have strawberry hearts on top of them but I forgot. So the hearts ended up here and the cupcakes ended up devoured. But not before I made a video…
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Healthy Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 cupcakes 1x
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup [pitted Medjool dates (about 12)
- 1 cup water
- 1 small beet (about 1.5 inch diameter, peeled)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsps cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup oat flour
Chocolate Filling
- 8 pitted Medjool dates
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk or water
- 2 tbsps cacao powder
Frosting
- 6 oz . coconut yogurt (I used So Delicious Plain Greek Cultured Coconutmilk)
Instructions
- Cupcakes: Blend the water, dates, vanilla, and beet on high till there are no chunks.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Blend till combined.
- Spoon into a cupcake pan that is lightly oiled or use paper liners.
- Bake for 22-24 minutes at 350F.
- Cool completely.
- Chocolate Filling: Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Remove the center of the cupcakes with a cupcake corer or a small cooke cutter. Spoon in the filling.
- Frosting: If the yogurt is lumpy, whisk first, then pipe or spread onto cooled and filled cupcakes. Serve immediately.
“deep chocolate-tinted burgundy”. I like that 😉 Great color description, hahahaha! I think red “beet” velvet is fantastic! My mom doesn’t like red velvet…she thinks it’s weird ….but I think SHEs weird so 😛
But these are some lovely decadent cupcakes All sweet and perfect for making (forcing with cupcakes) anyone to be your valentine 😉 xoxoxo <33333
I think that one should be added to the color wheel 😉 Beet velvet, I like that. Although then it makes me question the ‘velvet’ part?? I mean who wants to eat velvet? Mouthful of fuzz, no thanks. These classic names are weird when you start to think about them haha! Oh well, I’ll just eat my cupcakes and quit asking questions! Thanks girl <3 <3 <3
These red velvet cupcakes are gorgeous Natalie! I love that you made the red colour using beetroot – such a brilliant and healthy idea! It’s so fun to sneak vegetables into cakes!! The chocolate filling sounds sooo heavenly, especially with the creamy coconut topping. Mmmmmm! So delicious and perfect for valentines day! <3
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Thank you Harriet! I love sneaking in veggies too, especially the sweeter ones. Hence my deep love of carrot cake <3 Any time I can get in some veggies with chocolate all in one bite I'm a happy camper 🙂
Swoon! These look fantabulous! Love that you used the beet raw…who has time to roast it when there are cupcakes to be eaten?! DE-licious!
Thanks Jenn! The time saving lazy side of me is the main reason I didn’t cook the beet. If it works in nicecream then it will work in here. Plus I’m already blending 🙂
Oh these are so perfect for Valentine’s Day! I love the red color! I’m not a beet fan, but I love, love the color (my favorite!) so I love to use the dried beet root powder for icing! These are just so pretty and I would definitely add some sugar to the frosting, haha, I’m one of those people who like my frosting pretty sweet on cupcakes. I know, not healthy, but man, so yummy!
Our tastes are so different if fruits/veggies it’s almost comical, because I love beets hahaha! At least we agree on potatoes. I thought about using the beet powder because it’s easier and might be brighter, but I knew people would not want to have to buy that so I just went with actual beet. Coconut yogurt has some natural sweetness, so it was pretty tasty but I never say no to more sugar! I was raised on buttercream with buckets of powdered sugar, so I know what you mean 😀 Thanks Brandi!
Haha, I know, I’m very strange. I’m not a fan of fruit, but I do love nearly every veggie out there, all the green ones! We have that in common and potatoes and carbs in common…oh, and chocolate! 🙂
I’m strange too, I take the fruit love a little further than most haha! But anyone who isn’t a fan of chocolate and carbs is the real strange one 😀
My weekend just got so much better. Pinned, shared and making these today! Thanks for posting. They look delicious!
Oh wow you waste no time with cupcakes! Thanks Jess, I hope they turn out great!
Still so in love with these!! So cute!
Hehe thanks dear!
What a great idea to use beets to get the beautiful red color! Love this!
Thanks Sharon! That part is not my idea, it’s been done, but it works so amazingly well!
I am a HUGE fan of red velvet! I love using beets instead of artificial dye for the coloring as well! I totally could polish off all of these cupcakes in one sitting NBD
Since you said you were a red velvet fan I had to go search ‘red velvet’ on your site and I just found something spectacular 😮 Red velvet COOKIE BUTTER!?! Omg I need that in my life! I need that in the middle of these cupcakes! How amazing would that be. The things you turn into spreadable butters is amazing <3
I loved this post a lot, especially because there were some great one liners. You are funny!!
I agree that I definitely want cupcakes that I eat to look natural (and Elmo color is definitely not ahah) and NOT to taste like salad. I mean, I’d be cool with salad cupcakes with salad ingredients in them (like spinach), but they’d have to TASTE like chocolate. There’s a recipe idea for you. 🙂
Believe it or not, I’ve never made red velvet cupcakes OR baked goods with beets in them! I’m excited to try these out, especially since they’re sugar free (cupcakes for breakfast!!!) and not made with crazy-obscure ingredients! I have golden beets on hand…. I wonder how those would taste/ look in these? No more red velvet obviously, so I think I’ll go get some regular beets so I can cross off “red velvet cupcakes” from my to-bake list.
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Haha thanks girl! I’m really not funny in real life at all, but sometimes a good line comes to me 😀 And I love Elmo, but not for eating (side note: he was always my favorite sesame street character) Spinach chocolate cupcakes, yes I love that idea! How many veggies can we stuff into a cupcake and still make it taste like chocolate? lol There’s a challenge! You’ve never made red velvet!? With all the cupcaking you do, I’m surprised. And now you’ve given me another idea–golden beet cupcakes! Maybe add some turmeric to golden it up…or it might just end up an ugly brown hahah! You have so many good ideas 🙂 Can’t wait to hear how they go!
This post made me laugh so much! Hahaha! Especially when you mentioned Elmo…our first batch of red velvet donuts came out looking quite a bit like that color, but thank goodness as they cooled, they got darker! These cupcakes look incredibly delicious – and how simple (yet beautiful) to use coconut yogurt for the frosting! We’ve been going through beets more than ever lately so I’m sure we’ll be trying these at some point! Love that you added a chocolate-y center…and I need to find one of those cool gadgets – it would definitely make life a little easier 😉
I was searching red velvet recipes before making this and there are definitely some Elmo-esque ones out there! Actually I think my cupcakes and your donuts match quite well 🙂 Plus they both have a whole in the middle…sort of haha! But your pink frosting is amazing! I should’ve put some of that inside, it would’ve been a pop of pink surprise! I’ve been traveling so MIA on IG, but I just popped over there and saw lots of beautiful pink on your page. I’m addicted to that bright pink too, beets are so fun! Looking forward to your donuts 🙂
These look delicious Natalie! Love cupcakes…it’s been awhile since I’ve made red velvet ones. BTW…I still do not receive email updates from your site! can you add [email protected]? Thanks!!
I just tried to add you and it said you were already subscribed…weird. Have you checked to see if it was going to your spam folder? I can try unsubscribing you and then you can resubscribe, but I’m not sure that will help or not. Ugh, mailchimp what are you doing??
Woah natalie! I used to love red velvet cake but have never come across a vegan recipe for it – thank you for this! These cupcakes look incredible. Also, loving your blog!
Thank you Lucie! I am so happy you left this comment because I just clicked over to your blog and I can’t get over how amazing it is <3 I just followed you everywhere and pinned everything in sight! You are super talented, so glad to have found you!
They’re chocolate filled?! As if they weren’t perfect enough already! These look amazing! So cute and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Haha you are so sweet Cailee! I really just wanted an excuse to use that cupcake corer hahaha 😀
Those sound delicious! And I’m not even a cupcake fan… 😉
Perhaps you are joining the cupcake dark side with me 😀 haha!
Haha. Perhaps. 😉 I’d love for you to stop by my gluten-free linky party and share these, Natalie. The party is live until Monday. 🙂
http://raiasrecipes.com/2016/02/mini-gluten-free-valentines-day-shortbread-cookies.html
Just added them, thanks for the invite Raia!
Thank you so much for sharing them with us!
I saw the video for this and think it’s so cute! I’m addicted to beets at the moment anyway!:) Perfect way to put them to good use!:)
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Thanks for watching the video Heather! I’m really into them too, I’ve been having so many pink smoothies lately 🙂
I watch them all, sure thing! You’re good at YouTube! 🙂 Oh, I love beets in smoothies too. I especially like them with cacao and goji berries!:) YUM! <3
You had me at red velvet, then you filled them with chocolate ? These look perfect! The bright red Elmo color so typical of red velvet frightens me, but these are just the right hue. And it’s perfect timing because I’m on a major beet kick at the moment!
We were really thinking alike for Valentines Day with the beet and chocolate treats! I’m on a beet kick too, and I rarely buy them until now. Pink foods are fun though, I need to buy another bunch and try your donuts!
Aw, now I want a periwinkle cupcake 😀
These are so cute and I love both the chocolate inside and the genius yogurt top. I actually made something red velvet today too — though not a cupcake. Tasty, but don’t think it’ll make it to the blog — not feeling up for tweaking. I think I’ll just make a batch of these instead and call it a day <3
Aww I’m gonna miss your red velvet now 🙁 Perfect or not, I’m sure it is still delicious. But perhaps you should devote your time to inventing periwinkle velvet 😉
Haha, I won’t lie, my mind’s been having all kinds of odd thoughts about periwinkle cupcakes since I left your page earlier 😉
These Red Velvet Cupcakes look perfect! I’m still amazed after all that time, that you can make anything gluten-free and fruit-sweetened! I think I’ve never said that.. but I love the whole concept of your blog <3
Aww thanks girl! The fact that these cupcakes work still kind of amazes me too tbh. But once I have one cupcake recipe that works it’s easy to alter and expand 😉
These look so yummy. Love that dip rich color and the icing looks perfect. Beets are such an awesome food. I love to make beet loaf and beet juice is the bomb. I really should incorporate them into my baking soon. 🙂
Thanks you Casey! Beets are amazing, I’ve been throwing them in lots of smoothies lately just to drink that vibrancy <3 Beet juice is awesome, I love beet and berry juice its one of my favorites. And beet loaf? Are you talking sweet or savory? Now I'm intrigued…
These look delicious! Would all purpose white flour or whole wheat flour work just as well?
Absolutely, either will work perfectly! 🙂
Excellent! Can’t wait!
Hi. Can I use stevia instead of dates ?
If yes … do I have to add more of any of the ingredients to compensate the volume ?
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I would not recommend stevia here unfortunately. The dates make up a large bulk of the batter and are what keep the cupcakes really moist while still being low-fat, without them they will turn out very dry and crumbly. Sorry!
Oh ok. Thanks 😊 I just made them using California dates and came out really good
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Yay! I am so happy to hear it. Thanks for the feedback Chana and I hope you enjoy the rest of the batch 🙂
Any idea if quinoa or coconut flour would work? Lots of allergies over here :/
Haven’t tested either personally but I have had multiple readers say they made them with quinoa flour successfully. Coconut flour will definitely not work, so I’d try quinoa for sure! Good luck 🙂
Hi, this looks great!
I have a lot of spelt flour, so do you think I could sub that for the oat flour? Thanks in advance.
Hi Molly! Yep, spelt flour will be fine 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Found your recipe when someone asked for cupcake Recipe- I didnt have any beets or desperate need for a red cake, but tried a crunchy carrot for the veg content. Used apple juice in place of water for the liquid. Tasty, chewy more like a muffin but still very good experiment! I see other nice cupcake recipes, hope my friend finds them too!
I am so happy you improvised and made it work, Ruth! Yes, with the dates as a base these are more like a muffin. I have some lighter more cake-like cupcakes I posted recently that aren’t date sweetened if you want to try those too. Thanks for the feedback and enjoy the rest😊😊
I’m not sure what I did wrong but these didn’t turn out right they had a heavy sponge texture had a dirt aftertaste and beetroot flavour, also wasn’t very sweet. I didn’t put in the gooey center but had it served on top. I also used plain flour instead of oat.
Not sure what went wrong but with so many positive reviews I doubt it’s the recipe.
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Oh no, that doesn’t sound right! Hmm so you followed the recipe exactly besides the flour swap? Perhaps they needed to bake longer and/or could your baking powder be old? That can affect the rise if it’s been open and sitting around for a while. Maybe try using less beet next time to avoid the flavor, or even beet powder instead (more potent color with less of it needed). Its hard for me to say for sure what the issue is without having been there, but sorry they didn’t turn out well🙈
I did follow it exactly but I do know our powder is old, I’m pretty new to baking so I probably forgot something, also first time baking with beetroot so I could just be sensitive to the flavour.
No that’s okay, Thanks for replying 🙂
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I am Smita from India.I put 1tsp baking powder. I thought 1Tbs woukd be by mistake.The Muffings are little hard.Is it 1Tbs only?
Unstead of Coconut frosting any other vegan icing option?
Nope not a mistake, it’s supposed to be one tablespoon! And lots of other frosting/topping options here: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/category/frostings-sauces-spreads/
I’d really like to make a whole cake, or even double the recipe and make 2 cakes to make a layer cake for a friends daughters first birthday. Do you think the recipe will work for a whole cake, rather than cupcakes?
Thanks!!!
I have baked this batter in a 9″ round cake pan before and it does work although not AS fluffy as a traditional cake due to the dates and more unconventional ingredients. If you want to do two layers I recommend baking them in separate pans and then stacking as opposed to baking as one and slicing. And for a cake you will need to probably bake for about 35 minutes. Good luck!
I made this today – they tasted AMAZING although I’m quite disappointed they didn’t turn out as red as your cupcakes. But I still enjoyed the taste, the coconut yogurt lends such a complimentary taste to the chocolate-filled cupcake. The cupcake itself actually isn’t sweet and is pretty dense, but the chocolate filling makes up for it!
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I am so happy you enjoyed them Danielle! You could try adding some beet powder to boost the color more, but without food coloring they won’t be as bright as a conventional red velvet. Appreciate your feedback!
Hi Natalie, I just tried your recipe and they turned out so delicious. So happy that there are recipes out there that are healthy and tasty at the same time. The best thing is that my 4yr old girls enjoyed it and their looking forward for more. Thank you so much keep up the good work.
YAY!! I am so happy you guys enjoyed these, appreciate your lovely feedback and support Judith❤️