I have a qualm. If you’ve been following me for 2 or more years now, I’ve been going on and on about palm oil. I’m not going to go on about it now, as I’ve exhausted my words for it. And you should already now how detrimental it is to the environment, animals, and ecosystem. So what does this have to do with Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes?! Welllll, I went on the hunt for some sprinkles and found that everything available in local grocery stores – Whole Foods, Amish Market, Morton Williams to name a few – were stocked with sprinkles that all had palm oil. Turns out most sprinkles are made with palm oil. I was so annoyed that the only thing available at the regular grocery stores weren’t sustainable! But with the help of my social media food friends, I found these brands that carry vegan & palm-oil free sprinkles – Fancy Sprinkles, Super Natural, India Tree. Unfortunately, I didn’t know this in time for my baking escapade, so I below is my rendition of Funfetti Cupcake made with sprinkles that are palm oil free bought from a gourmet bake shops in Manhattan.

I loved this recipe because it actually leverages my Vegan Tahini Loaf recipe for the cupcakes and the frosting is super simple! You can have fun with this recipe – add in different citrus zests, different colored sprinkles, and you may color the frosting as you wish!

Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes: 

• Orange Tahini Loaf recipe – with adjustments, see below
• 1/4 cup sprinkles
• 3 sticks vegan butter (4oz sticks) softened – I used Earth Balance
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• splash of nut mylk – optional
• assorted sprinkles
• edible glitter – optional

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in a regular cupcake tin and set aside.

2. In the Tahini Loaf recipe, replace the almond extract with vanilla extract. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together well, add in the sprinkles and mix until incorporated. Pour in batter to each cup 3/4 of the way up. Bake for about 15-18 minutes until golden in color and an inserted toothpick comes out completely clean.

3. As the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting! In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the softened butter until very light and whipped – a couple of minutes. Whip in the vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and sift in the powdered sugar – I did about a little more than 1/2 cup at a time. Increase speed and whip in. Continue whipping until the frosting is thick and sticks up when you pull the paddle out.

4. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, pile the frosting on high one each and decorate with sprinkles and glitter. Serve!