Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes
Red velvet cake is my favorite! Before I went gluten free, I asked for one on every birthday. Now that I have cut gluten out of my diet, I set out to create the best gluten free red velvet cupcakes. And I did! They’re the perfect gluten free dessert for any occasion!
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These delicious gluten free red velvet cupcakes are moist and chocolately — the perfect combination! And they’re topped with fluffy and sweet cream cheese icing.
Just like traditional red velvet cake, these gluten free red velvet cupcakes involve a lot of steps to get them just right. Let’s start with something simple — begin making your gluten free red velvet cupcakes by creaming the butter and sugar together.
Next, you’ll add in your eggs one at a time. Be sure to mix each egg into the butter mixture thoroughly before adding the next egg.
Now it’s time for the chocolate! Mix in your unsweetened cocoa powder until all the ingredients are fully combined. After you’ve mixed in your cocoa powder, add the food coloring. I used around eight drops of gel food coloring to get a deep red color to my cupcakes. Start with six drops and add in more if you feel like you need more red.
Here’s an important step you shouldn’t skip. I know it’s tempting to just dump the flour into the batter, but you need to sift it first! Especially considering how much denser gluten free flour is compared to traditional flour. So put your gluten free flour in the sifter and sift it together with the salt.
Add your flour to the butter mixture one cup at a time. If you’ve done any gluten free baking, you know that not all gluten free flour is the same. When making these gluten free red velvet cupcakes, I suggest using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. It is by far the best gluten free flour for baking!
When mixing the batter for your gluten free red velvet cupcakes, it’s important to alternate the flour with buttermilk to ensure your batter is light and fluffy. I suggest adding one cup of flour, then one-half cut of buttermilk until all of both ingredients have been mixed in.
Don’t have buttermilk? Simply mix one cup milk with one tablespoon vinegar. Allow the mixture to rest for a few minutes. The milk will begin to sour and thicken as the vinegar soaks in.
After all the flour and buttermilk have been added, pour the vanilla in. Mix until combined.
Next, pour the baking soda into a small bowl. Add the vinegar and allow it to bubble up.
Then pour the baking soda and vinegar mixture into your batter and mix thoroughly.
I know that with traditional cupcakes, you should only fill the cups around halfway full with batter. This will result in a cupcake that’s even with the cupcake liner — perfect for icing. These gluten free red velvet cupcakes won’t rise as much as traditional ones. So I suggest filling each cupcake liner around two-thirds of the way full. You’ll end up with level cupcakes that look great with a dollop of icing on top.
Bake for around 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling, get started on the cream cheese icing. Start by beating together your cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
Then add your powdered sugar a little bit a time until the desired consistency is reached. You want to be your icing to be thick enough that it forms a peak when you remove the beater from the bowl.
The final step is to pipe the icing on the cupcakes. An easy way to pipe the icing on these gluten free red velvet cupcakes is to place the icing in a gallon size zip-top bag. Then, snip the corner off the bag. And pipe the icing in a swirl on top of each gluten free red velvet cupcakes.
I added a little Valentine’s Day decoration on top of my gluten free red velvet cupcakes. These cute pink heart sprinkles are the perfect topper to these delicious gluten free treats.
Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes
Moist and chocolaty gluten free red velvet cupcakes.
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 6 drops red gel food coloring
- 2 1/2 cups gluten free baking flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablesoon vinegar
Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- 2. Combine sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until fluffy.
- 3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition.
- 4. Add cocoa powder and mix until combined.
- 5. Add food coloring and stir, adding more coloring if needed until desired color is reached.
- 6. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt.
- 7. Add flour mixture to butter mixture one cup at a time, alternating with ½ cup buttermilk until all of both ingredients are added.
- 8. Mix in vanilla.
- 9. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar. Add mixture to batter and mix well.
- 10. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Fill each liner 2/3 of the way full with batter.
- 11. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- 12. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing Instructions:
- 1. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Beat until combined and fluffy.
- 2. Add in powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, mixing well between each addition, until desired consistency is reached.
- 3. Pipe the icing onto each cupcake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
Yummmm! These look amazing 🙂 Red velvet is my favorite!!
These look really good 🙂 I need to try the buttermilk trick! I stay away from recipes that call for it because it’s something I only have on hand at Christmastime. But we usually have milk and vinegar.
Red velvet is a favorite of my son. Like these are made from scratch and not from a box.
These are perfect for Valentine’s Day! So yummy!
These look amazing! I’m always looking for new gluten free recipes and I am adding this to the list!
Yum, these look so good and I love that they’re gluten free!
These look so yummy! Red velvet is my husband’s favorite!
Thank you I’ve been looking for a gluten free red velvet cupcake recipe
I’m currently drooling at work- thanks! 😉 These look absolutely amazing, and I love how descriptive your instructions are and love the pics! Looking forward to making these for my husband’s birthday!
i love how easy they are to make. nowadays you dont know who is allergic to gluten!
Finding a good Gluten Free Dessert is just hard…These little cupcakes look so good and festive for the holiday too! I’ve pinned for later. Thanks for the recipe.