These chocolate and beetroot cupcakes are vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and dreamily rich. By using grated raw beetroot alongside a base of buckwheat flour and sunflower seed meal, this recipe creates a naturally moist, fudgy, brownie-like texture without the need for eggs, nuts, dairy, or gluten. They're great as a school-safe, nut-free lunchbox treat. Top with my vegan chocolate buttercream or a decadent chocolate avocado frosting.
Originally posted June 11, 2017. Updated 22 July, 2023.
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Why This Chocolate Beetroot Cake Recipe Works
Reader review: This is honestly the best cupcake I've ever had. Only change was I used date sugar and added a bit more soy milk due to the fiber in the date sugar. Also, I didn't frost it but sprinkled the tops with cacao nibs and chopped almonds. AMAZING RECIPE. Thank you so much, Amanda! (Brenda)
Besides being moist, moorish and deliciously rich, these chocolate beetroot cakes are on the healthy side.
Nutritionist's note: I love hidden vegetables in my baking and beetroots are a great option. They are a good source of fibre, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin C and antioxidants. Combine beetroot with cocoa which is rich in polyphenols - naturally occurring antioxidants.
While I am not one to run from a full-fledged chocolate binge - I'm looking at you vegan chocolate brownies - it does the mind good knowing these vegan chocolate beetroot cakes at least try to be healthy. They contain simple, whole ingredients.
Key Ingredients & How to Swap Them
Raw beetroot. Loaded with antioxidants, red beetroot are little nutritional powerhouses.
Sunflower seeds. To make this a nut-free cake, we are using sunflower seeds and grinding them into a meal. If you happy to include nuts, use almond meal instead.
Buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is made from ground buckwheat groats. I get mine from the supermarket but you could also make your own buckwheat flour with this recipe from Lindsay at Cotter Crunch.
Apple sauce works as a natural sweetener and through its natural pectin, helps to bind cakes.
Cocoa. You can use Dutch process or regular cocoa powder here because are only using baking powder to leaven the cakes.
Oil. I use olive oil here but you can substitute it for a more neutral flavoured oil like sunflower or vegetable oil.
I paired our cakes with an inspired chocolate avocado frosting but if you wanted a sweeter topping, the chocolate ganache from my loved up raw chocolate cake would work a treat. Or you could try my basic vegan chocolate frosting recipe. A vegan cream cheese topping would also be heavenly; note to self.
How Does Beetroot Affect Baking?
Beetroot adds natural sugars, moisture and colour to baking. It works much like zucchini in baked recipes - like in my zucchini chocolate chip muffin recipe. In gluten-free recipes, its intense moisture helps create a fudgy texture in cakes.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes
You'll find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1.
Flick your oven on and warm it to 170°C (340℉) or 150℃ fan (302℉) and grease or line a 12-pan muffin or cupcake pan. I usually get 10-11 cakes from this recipe.
Step 2.
Peel and grate the beetroot into a large bowl.
Note: I peel and weigh my beetroot and then grate it, leaving a small nub at the end to protect my fingers (I am not ashamed to admit I am more than a little scared of my box grater). Around 175g of beetroot goes into the cake.
Add the remaining wet ingredients to the beetroot and stir well to combine.
Step 3.
To make the sunflower meal, pop the seeds into a blender or a small food processor. Blitz until you have the even texture of almond meal. I think the blender works better, but use what you have. If you are not aiming for a nut-free cake, you can also use almond meal.
Transfer the meal to a medium-large mixing bowl and add the buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir or whisk to combine.
Step 5.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until combined.
Step 6.
Divide the batter amongst the cupcake moulds filling each around two-thirds of the way up. Pop them in the oven and bake for 21-24 minutes.
Note. Bake until the sides of the cakes are pulling away from their mould and the top is slightly (just) domed. You should be able to gently push the top of the cake and have it given you a little resistance. If it feels too soft on the top, pop the cakes in for another minute or two and check again.
Step 7.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-minutes before gently removing each cake out of the moulds to cool completely.
Troubleshooting & Baking Tips
Note on Texture: One of my readers has asked about preventing a stodgy texture. To ensure a light, domed rise, check that your baking powder is fresh (baking powder has around a 3-month life) and be sure to grate the beetroot on the large holes of your box grater so it doesn't turn into a heavy purée.
These little vegan chocolate beetroot cakes are a gorgeously chocolatey treat made better by wholesome ingredients and a wonderful balance of flavours.
FAQs
You can. If you are not looking for a nut-free cake, you can swap the sunflower meal for almond meal.
These cake do freeze. Allow them to cool completely before transferring them to a freezer-safe container to freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before adding frosting.
You can taste the beetroot a little but the heavy earthy tones mostly melt away during baking blending with the cocoa to create a rich chocolate-y flavour.
No, this recipe is specifically optimised for grated raw beetroot. Canned or pre-boiled beetroot contains too much trapped water and will make the gluten-free batter wet and heavy.
More Heathy-ish Treats
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Make This Recipe
Healthier Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes
Equipment
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
Beetroot and Chocolate Cakes
Wet Ingredients
- 180 grams raw beetroot weighed after peeling, grated on the larger hole side of a box grater.
- ½ cup dairy-free milk (125ml) I like soy milk for baking.
- ½ cup apple sauce (125ml)
- ¾ cup raw sugar (130g)
- ¼ cup olive oil (60ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup sunflower seeds (75g) ground in to a meal like almond meal or just use almond meal if you are not nut-free
- ½ cup buckwheat flour (65g) sifted
- ½ cup cacao or cocoa powder (45g) sifted
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Avocado Frosting
- 2 ripe avocados
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp cacao or cocoa around 45 - 50 grams
- 2-3 tablespoon maple syrup to taste
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
For the Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340℉) or 150℃ fan (302℉) and grease or line a 12-pan muffin or cupcake pan. I usually get 10-11 cakes from this recipe. You can make it into a small 6-inch cake, just line and grease the tin. The baking time is around the same.
- Peel and grate the beetroot into a large bowl. I peel and weigh my beetroot and then grate it leaving a small nub at the end to protect my fingers (I have a healthy fear of my box grater). Don't worry too much about it - I would say about 175g goes into the cake.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients to the beetroot and mix well to combine.
- To make the sunflower meal, pop the seeds in a blender or a small food processor. Blitz until you have the texture of almond meal.
- In a separate bowl, combine the sunflower seed meal (or almond meal), buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry.
- Mix until combined and spoon evenly among the lined cake moulds - fill each around two-thirds of the way up.
- Bake in the oven for 21 -24 minutes or until the sides of the cakes are pulling away and the top is domed. You should be able to gently push the top of the cake and have it given you resistance. If it feels too soft on the top, pop the cake in for another minute or two and check again.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before gently removing each cake out of the moulds to cook completely.
For the Avocado Chocolate Frosting
- To make the avocado frosting, place the avocados in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the cacao or cocoa, two tablespoons of maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt.
- Process until smooth and taste. If the avocado is still coming through add the third tablespoon of maple and a tiny bit more cocoa. Process to combine.
- Fill a piping bag with the frosting and pipe on to each cake before serving.
Notes
- I peel and weigh my beetroot and then grate it leaving a small nub at the end to protect my fingers - I have a healthy fear of my box grater and don't get me started on my mandoline slicer. Don't worry too much about it - just get most of the beetroot in. No cake is worth your finger tips.
- I prefer making these cake as cupcakes and line my pans rather than grease them. While greasing is fine if you are confident of the non-sticky-ness of your muffin tray, lining your moulds takes out the guess work. I use washable silicone liners.
- Wear gloves! Beetroot stains. Trust me - I've been there.
- Oven temperatures vary (up to 20 degrees!) so I have set the temp at around 170 degrees C. These cakes are delicate so we are going a little more gently with the heat. I recommend buying an oven thermometer if you're not sure. They are only around 15 or 20 bucks and they are well worth the investment.
Nutritional Disclaimer
The nutritional information is an estimate only and is automatically calculated using online tools. For accurate results, we recommend calculating the nutritional information based on the ingredients and brands you use.
R says
Do you store these in the fridge after ? Thanks
Amanda says
You can store them in the fridge for a longer life, but I store mine in a sealed container for up to 3 days on the kitchen counter. Having said that, only in cooler weather. If it's hot where you are, pop them in the fridge. 🙂
Brenda says
This is honestly the best cupcake I've ever had. Only change was I used date sugar and added a bit more soy milk due to the fiber in the date sugar. Also, I didn't frost it but sprinkled the tops with cacao nibs and chopped almonds. AMAZING RECIPE. Thank you so much, Amanda!
Amanda says
Oh Brenda, that's so lovely of you. You've made my day. I am so happy you enjoyed the cakes - I love them too. I am always amazed how well they come together without wheat flour or eggs. Thank you for commenting - I appreciate it. x
Gillian Blacklee says
Hi Amanda, I have recently become vegan, as well gluten free. I love baking but unfortunately am having a really tough time.
I followed your chocolate & beetroot cup cake & they looked lovely going in but they came out half the size & stodgy. Do you think it could be my oven ?? Thanks geaps
Amanda says
Hey Gillian,
No-one likes stodgy! I don't think it would be your oven - your baking powder freshness or maybe a tad too much mixing might be the culprit. I haven't made this recipe in a long time, so if you're OK with it, I might try and whip a batch up this week and troubleshoot the recipe. It's been while.
In the meantime, check out https://pureella.com for some gluten-free vegan recipes. She specialises in gluten-free and plant based cooking. 🙂
Gillian Blacklee says
Thanks heaps Amanda,
Yours look so yummy.
It did spring to mind later that I had substituted the apple sauce as directed in one of the comments & also cooked & pureed the beetroot. Could it have been too wet??
The baking powered is a new tube.
The taste was still good lol & I will definitely have another try
Amanda says
Hey Gillian, how are you? I re-made the cakes today and they turned out the way they have before. Having said that, I did troubleshoot the recipe to make it more user-friendly for every oven...I have re-written it and separated the wet ingredients from the dry. Because the cakes are GF, we aren't developing gluten when mixing, but I think mixing them separately and then combining them will make for a lighter cake. I've also reduced the oven temperature - I have a new oven since I made these cakes - and I am thinking baking the cakes a little slower and lower gives you more control over their "done-ness". If your oven runs a bit hot - like most do - it may certainly have contributed to the shrinkage and stodginess. They may have over-baked a touch. Or a tonne, depending on your oven. I haven't had the chance to shoot step-by-step images but I will as soon as I can so you can check out the batter etc. Ummmm...I think that's it. Oh, I've also included some detailed notes in the recipe card and also the blog post above. 🙂 I hope that helps and please reach out anytime. x
Julie says
Hi Amanda, I love this recipe and have just made it in a loaf tin but it took for EVER to cook - can you tell me of the oven temperature you recommend is for a fan forced oven? TIA
Amanda says
Hi Julie,
Good question! I use an oven thermometer and set my fan oven to 170. I generally bake loaves for around an hour but as a loaf, this cake would take longer I suspect. It is denser without any flour in it. How long did it take you? I must admit, I've never baked it as a loaf before. 🙂
Julie says
Thanks everyone below for answering my question before I even asked it: will it work as one big cake? I am planning a cake for hubby's 70th - he is not vegan but vegetarian - and I just found out that one can make chocolate mousse simply from 70% chocolate and hot water! (Google it) So now I'm toying with the idea of making a totally vegan, gluten free and low sugar mud and mousse cake that EVERYONE can eat.
Amanda says
Oh, my gosh Julie, that mousse sounds awesome (is that the one you whisk and whisk?) Please come back and tell us how it goes. x
Rae says
Based on what I had in the cupboards, I swapped out the oil for extra milk and the sunflower seeds to quinoa flour. I also baked it as a big square brownie tin. Turned out fab and oil free this way too. Thanks
Amanda says
I love this, Rae! I am so glad the recipe worked anyway and we now have an oil-free version. Nice! x
Lesh Karan says
Thanks for this recipe, Amanda - I made these and they were divine! I iced them with a ganache made with 70% dark chocolate, coconut cream and a dash of maple syrup. So delicious and so moist.
Amanda says
Oh, that's fantastic Lesh. Thanks so much for letting me know. I am so happy you enjoyed them.x
DANIELA WOGNUM says
I just made this this morning and was in heaven, it's fantastic ! I was lazy and made one big cake instead of individual ones and no icing. I love it as is Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I have just discovered your website with all the mouthwatering recipes and pictures, have saved it in my favourites. I will certainly be trying lots of your other tempting treats, looking at the red lentil dahl ...
Have a wonderful day, thanks again
Amanda says
Oh, thanks so much for telling me Daniela and I'm so happy you loved the recipe. I love these little cakes and I'm so glad to hear it worked as a larger cake for you. Perfect! Thanks again and have a wonderful day. x
Deanna Smith says
Hello
Could you please convert the amount of Buckwheat flour to grams please?
Many thanks
Amanda says
Hi Deanna,
I've weighed the half cup (AUS) and it's 65 grams. I also doubled checked the other measures. I hope that helps. Have a great weekend.
Rochelle says
Hello! This looks divine, I NEED to make these today, please tell me, I’m not a fan of the flavour of raw beets in food, I’ve tried in cake as well. I prefer cooked beets and I have some, I’m wondering, can I use cooked beets in your lovely recipe please or not?
Amanda says
Hi Rochelle,
I have only used the raw beets in this recipe but it should work. If you boiled the beets I would blend them up to a textured puree. If you roasted the beets add a touch more liquid to the recipe - say another tbsp or two of the dairy-free milk - to make up for the loss in moisture. I would mash the roasted beets before popping them in the batter. I hope you enjoy them! I would love to know how it goes. A.
Kim Andryc says
I made these last night, and I didn't like the texture of the raw beets. I'm going to try again today with roasted beets. I'll let you know how it goes! The avocado frosting was divine.
Amanda says
Oh, such a shame about the beets - I hope you like the texture better after cooking them. How good is that avocado frosting, right? One of my favourites. Let mw know how you go Kim 🙂 and thanks for writing. A.
Alba says
Hi" Could we change the apple sauce for another ingredient? I don't have it at home but I want to try these cupcakes!
Amanda says
Hi Alba,
You could try swapping it for a 1/2 cup of vegan buttermilk (put a 1/2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in a half-cup measure and fill the rest with dairy-free milk). I would then add another 2-3 tbsp of sugar to the recipe to sweeten it. I haven't tried it but it should work. Let me know how it goes! Cheers. A
Jansen Andre says
Can you make this in cake form? Instead of cupcake
Amanda says
Hi Jansen,
I have only made these as cupcakes but you should be able to transfer it to a cake recipe. I would try baking it in a 20cm pan for around 23 - 26 minutes at the same temperature (or until cooked through). Maybe add another 1/2 tsp of baking powder for good luck.
Let me know how you go! Cheers. A.
Valentina says
Hi, have you tried making them in cake form? Did you use the ingredients for the 12 cup cakes or more than that? Any tips and suggestions? I need to make a birthday cake.
Thank you
Amanda says
Hi Valentina,
I haven't made this in cake form but I remember one of my lovely readers did. The rule of thumb for converting cupcake recipes to cake recipes is 2 batches will make an 8-inch cake. Divide the mixture between 20cm layer cake tins and bake for approximately 22-25 minutes at the same temperature indicated by the recipe.
Good luck, Valentina! x
Nancy says
OMG! This has become my no.1 preffered way of eating beetroot! I’ve made this 3 times now and they always gone so quickly! Thank you for the recipe!
Amanda says
Nancy, you've made my day. Thank you! Big cyber hug coming your way.