These Vegan Banoffee Cupcakes feature a moist banana sponge filled with an easy (2-ingredient) homemade caramel sauce centre. These beautiful buttercream-topped dessert cupcakes are decadent, moreish and indulgent – perfect for a birthday or party!
Making beautifully moist vegan banoffee cupcakes doesn’t need to be complicated. The sweet, banana-filled sponge for this recipe comes together with one bowl and 3 easy steps. Baked to golden perfection in 18 minutes!
We’ve filled these vegan banoffee pie cupcakes with our 2-ingredient vegan caramel sauce, for the ultimate indulgent treat. We’re walking you through the process, giving you our top tips along the way for making a dairy free caramel sauce that is deliciously thick and creamy.
Topped off with a simple vanilla buttercream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, grated dark chocolate and banana chips, these banoffee pie cupcakes are a real crowd pleaser.
Keep reading to find out how to make these sweet and delicious banana cupcakes and our popular vegan caramel recipe!
Quick Links:
- The written recipe
- The video recipe
- Why you’ll love this recipe
- Success tips
- Step by step instructions
- FAQs
- Other incredible recipes like this one
Why is Banoffee called Banoffee?
‘Banoffee’ is a combination of the words ‘banana’ and ‘toffee’, it’s that simple! (Yet I somehow didn’t know this until I wrote this post, despite banoffee pie being one of my favourite desserts as a child!!)
P.s. If you’d like a recipe for a classic banoffee pie (made vegan), click here!
Why you’ll love these Vegan Banoffee Cupcakes
Super moist banana sponge. Using fresh, ripe banana in the sponge gives a sweet, fluffy and moist sponge similar to that of banana bread. So yummy!
Versatile caramel sauce. Our 2-ingredient caramel sauce is popular and for good reason, not only is it great for filling and topping these cupcakes, you can use any left overs for topping ice cream, fruit and cakes.
Bakery-style. These gorgeous cupcakes look like they’ve stepped straight out of a bakery window – impress your friends and family by bringing them to the next party!
Golden, sticky and delicious. If you love banoffee pie, you’ll love these! The combination of brown sugar and banana gives a rich, sweet flavour that pairs so well with the creamy frosting and sticky caramel sauce. Scrumptious!
Success Tips
- Always use a digital scale. Digital scales are a must for baking. Measuring cups are just not accurate enough and cannot guarantee the proper result.
- Make the caramel sauce first. The caramel sauce will take the longest to cool so make it first and then set it aside to come to room temperature before filling and decorating your cupcakes (otherwise it could melt the buttercream). If you prefer you can make the caramel sauce the day before and store it in the fridge.
- Follow the steps and be patient when making caramel. To make our homemade vegan caramel sauce is not complicated but it does require patience and precise steps. It’s important that you add just a dash of cream to the sugar and let that boil first for 2 minutes before adding the remainder of the cream. If you add all of the cream from the get-go, the caramel sauce will take MUCH longer to thicken or it may not even thicken at all. Provided you’ve followed the steps, it should take around 15 minutes for the caramel to thicken; trust the process and it’ll transform into a thick and delicious sauce!
- Mix the cupcake batter GENTLY. When making the cupcake batter, use a light touch when mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. This will keep the sponge light and fluffy. If you beat the cupcake batter this can cause the cupcakes to be dense.
- Serving and storing. Cupcakes are always best enjoyed the same day but these cupcakes can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Bring them back to room temperature before serving for optimal enjoyment.
How to make these Vegan Banoffee Cupcakes
Ingredients
Fresh ingredients
Banana. Use ripe bananas, ideally with brown dots on the skin, for this recipe. Don’t use a green or underripe banana as they won’t be sweet or soft enough.
Pantry ingredients
Coconut oil. You’ll want this to be melted to a clear liquid and then cooled to room temperature before using it.
Soft light brown sugar. Can you substitute for caster sugar? For the sponge, yes, but we highly recommend using soft light brown sugar to give that rich, caramel flavour to the banana sponge. For the caramel sauce you’ll need to use brown sugar.
Self raising flour and baking powder. This recipe calls for 200g self raising flour plus 1/2 tsp baking powder for additional rise. Alternatively you can use 200g plain flour (all purpose flour) plus 2.5 tsp baking powder.
Icing sugar. Also known as powdered sugar.
Vegan dark chocolate.
Dried banana chips.
Vanilla extract.
Refrigerated ingredients
Dairy free milk. We tend to bake with almond milk and find that this gives consistent results. You can also try oat or soy milk.
Dairy free cream. We like to use soya cream and often use the brand Alpro, however, we have also made our caramel sauce using the Elmlea Plant Double Cream which is a fava bean cream. We have made our caramel sauce with coconut cream too, however this does lead to a faint coconut flavour so our recommendation is soya cream.
Dairy free butter. You want the block kind of butter, not the spreadable kind, in order to create a thick and creamy buttercream that holds it’s shape. We use the Stork block butter for buttercream.
Equipment
As well as the usual kitchen basics (spoons, bowls etc), you’ll need the following equipment to make these vegan banoffee cupcakes:
- A digital scale
- Muffin/cupcake tin (with enough holes for 9 cupcakes, along with cupcake liners or muffin cases)
- Mixer – either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or hand mixer to make the buttercream. If you’re going to try and make the buttercream by hand using a wooden spoon, let the butter soften a bit first and then beat it until soft and creamy, before adding the other ingredients.
- Piping bag and nozzle – A star nozzle works well but feel free to use whatever shape you have on hand.
Steps
Make sure to head to the recipe card below for the full recipe and instructions!
Gather together your ingredients.
To make the caramel sauce
1. First up, make your caramel sauce. Add the sugar and a dash of cream to a small saucepan and stir together over medium heat. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes.
2. Add the remainder of the cream, stir in and boil until it has thickened (around 15 minutes). Add a pinch of salt if you’d like a salted caramel centre. Set it aside to cool fully.
Tip: Don’t be tempted to add all of the cream in one hit, it’s important to add just a dash (enough to stir into the sugar) and boil it for 2 minutes before adding the rest. If you don’t do this, it will likely take much longer for the sauce to thicken (or it may not thicken at all).
To make the cupcakes
1. Next, make the moist banana cupcakes. Add the wet ingredients (milk, vanilla, mashed banana and melted coconut oil) to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add the sugar, flour and baking powder. Use a whisk or wooden spoon to stir gently to combine. Don’t over-mix as this can affect the texture of the cake. Mix just enough to bring the cake batter together so that no pockets of dry flour remain.
3. Divide the batter between 9 cupcake cases and bake in a preheated oven for around 18-20 minutes until golden on top and a knife/skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack.
To make the buttercream
To make the buttercream frosting, beat the butter in a separate large bowl until creamy. Use a mixer here (stand mixer or electric mixer) for ease. Add the icing sugar, vanilla and dairy free milk and then mix again until smooth and creamy.
To decorate the cupcakes
1. To decorate the cupcakes, first cut the centre of each cupcake out (to make a hole around 3/4cm or 1/3” in diameter). You can use a cupcake corer here if you have one. Retain the ‘lid’ of this hole (see the recipe video for an example).
2. Fill the middle of the cupcakes with a combination of banana (diced) and cooled caramel sauce. Place the lid back on, pipe buttercream on top and decorate with a drizzle of caramel sauce, grated dark chocolate and a banana chip.
Tip: Don’t refrigerate the buttercream before piping. Piping room temperature buttercream will be much easier and you can always refrigerate the cupcakes once piped in order to ‘firm up’ the frosting.
FAQs
What is banoffee cake made of?
Our vegan banoffee cupcakes are made of mashed banana, coconut oil and dairy free milk for optimal moisture and banana flavour. This is combined with vanilla extract and soft light brown sugar for sweetness and a rich, caramel flavour, as well as self raising flour and baking powder for rise.
What is the secret to moist cupcakes?
Using oil in the cake batter tends to lead to a moist cupcake sponge. We also use mashed banana and soft light brown sugar in this recipe which ups the moisture even more. These vegan banoffee cupcakes are so tender and moist!
How should I store these cupcakes?
Cupcakes are always best enjoyed the same day but these cupcakes can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Bring them back to room temperature before serving for optimal enjoyment.
Loved these Vegan Banoffee Cupcakes? Here are some more delicious vegan cupcakes to try:
I hope you LOVE this recipe for vegan banoffee pie cupcakes! Please share this recipe with someone you think will enjoy it because it’s our goal to encourage as many people as possible to try plant based eating.
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The Video Recipe:
The Written Recipe:
EASY Vegan Banoffee Cupcakes with a Caramel Centre
Ingredients
To make the caramel:
- 60 g soft light brown sugar
- 260 g dairy free cream (*see note)
- 1 pinch salt (optional)
To make the cupcakes:
- 75 g coconut oil (melted, then cooled to room temperature)
- 150 g dairy free milk (at room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g ripe banana (mashed)
- 100 g soft light brown sugar
- 200 g self raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
To make the buttercream:
- 140 g dairy free butter (the block kind, not spreadable (*see note))
- 400 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp dairy free milk
Other ingredients:
- ½ ripe banana (finely diced)
- dairy free dark chocolate (grated)
- dried banana chips
Instructions
To make the caramel sauce:
- Add the brown sugar and a dash of the cream to a heavy bottomed saucepan (just enough cream to stir the sugar into). Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for 2 minutes.60 g soft light brown sugar
- Add the rest of the cream, stir in and boil for 15 minutes until it has thickened and is a good consistency for drizzling. Set it aside to cool.260 g dairy free cream, 1 pinch salt
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C conventional / 400°F / gas mark 6) and line a cupcake tin with 9 cupcake cases.
- Melt the coconut oil and set it aside to cool to room temperature.75 g coconut oil
- In a large mixing bowl add the dairy free milk, vanilla, mashed banana and melted coconut oil. Stir to combine.150 g dairy free milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 100 g ripe banana
- Add the brown sugar, flour and baking powder.100 g soft light brown sugar, 200 g self raising flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Mix briefly with a whisk to combine. Don’t over-mix as this can affect the texture of the cake, just whisk enough to bring the mixture together.
- Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases, so that the cases are around 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a knife/skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Set the cupcakes aside on a cooling rack (still in their paper cases) until cool.
To make the buttercream:
- Add the butter to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attached. Beat until creamy.Note: You can use an electric hand-held whisk instead.140 g dairy free butter, 400 g icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp dairy free milk
- Add the icing sugar, vanilla and dairy free milk and mix again for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the bowl as necessary.
Decorate your cupcakes:
- Once your cupcakes are fully cool, cut out the centre of each cupcake to leave a fillable core. Keep the ‘lid’ section of the core you have removed. See the recipe video for an example.
- Add 1/2 a diced banana to a small bowl and pour over some of the cooled caramel sauce (around 1/2). Stir together.1/2 ripe banana
- Fill each core with the banana and caramel sauce filling and place the lid back on to seal it.
- Add the buttercream to a piping bag with a star nozzle fitted. Pipe buttercream on top.Tip: Don't refrigerate the buttercream before piping. Piping room temperature buttercream will be much easier and you can always refrigerate the cupcakes once piped in order to 'firm up' the frosting.
- Drizzle the remaining caramel sauce over the top of the buttercream. To make it neat use a piping bag and small nozzle.
- Sprinkle grated dark chocolate over the top and add a dried banana chip for decoration.dairy free dark chocolate, dried banana chips
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I’m Tara! I’m taking you on a trip around the world in vegan cuisine and bringing the world’s most delicious dishes to your kitchen.
