Patriotic Cupcakes

Celebrate the Fourth of July with delicious patriotic cupcakes! These dairy-free, egg-free cupcakes look spectacular and will make this Fourth of July one to remember. Get creative and add your personal touch to these sweet treats! Make them today and enjoy the holiday festivities.

I used to be all about the fireworks on the Fourth of July. But these days, the thrill I seek today is a burst of flavor, delighting the senses in a more savory (or sweet) manner.

We continue to gather with family each year to celebrate this time-honored tradition, but my goal for the day is usually to fix the best bowl of vegan potato salad or to create some new, spectacular dessert to dazzle with delight.

These patriotic cupcakes are a favorite because they’re easy to make and have lots of colorful pizzazz!

This year I decided to make Fourth of July Cupcakes for our family gathering. Of course, you don’t have to wait until Independence Day — these treats would also be great Memorial Day Cupcakes too!

Key Ingredients

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

• Egg replacer — Some of your party guests may have dietary requirements. Why not make your cupcakes suitable for everyone? To do that, we’ll use a powdered egg replacer (Ener-G Egg Replacer works great). You’ll need warm water to activate the egg replacer.
• Water — Just like with any cake mix, we’ll be adding water to the batter.
• Vegetable oil — Use the same vegetable oil as you would use for a cake mix, such as canola oil.
• Applesauce — I prefer to use unsweetened applesauce.
• Granulated sugar — We’ll add a bit of sugar to keep the texture just right.
• White cake mix — Select a cake mix that is dairy-free & egg-free. There are many to choose from, such as Duncan Hines and Pillsbury.
• Flour — Here, you can add all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
• Baking powder — We’ll add a bit more baking powder to make these cupcakes nice and fluffy.
• Frosting — you’ll need around 2 cups of frosting, depending on how much frosting you want on each cupcake.
• Sprinkles — You’ll need red, white, and blue Jimmies sprinkles to make these cupcakes with all the right colors.

How to Make Patriotic Cupcakes

I’ve found this process to work best for making these cupcakes. The complete steps are in the recipe card below, but here is a synopsis of the steps:

1. In a small bowl, stir the egg replacer with 6 tablespoons of warm water.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the water, vegetable oil, applesauce, sugar, and egg replacer.
3. Add the cake mix, flour, and baking powder. Mix on medium speed for one minute.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on high for another minute.
5. Fold some of the sprinkles into the batter and stir gently so the color doesn’t spread.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling to about 2/3 full.
7. Bake until a tester comes out clean.
8. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting and red, white, and blue sprinkles.

Patriotic Cupcake Ideas

You can serve these patriotic cupcakes when you’re celebrating Independence Day. But are you looking for Memorial Day Cupcake ideas, too? The same cupcakes work for whatever summer gathering you’re having.

Here are some other ways to dress up these festive cupcakes:

• Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes — Divide the batter into three bowls and add red food coloring to one and blue food coloring to another. Then add some of the three colored batters to each cupcake liner. So festive!
• Flag Cupcakes — You can buy flags on toothpicks at most hobby stores. Add these to the top of each cupcake for a simple but beautiful decoration.
• Colored Icing — Divide the frosting into three bowls and stir in red food coloring into one and blue food coloring into another. Decorate each cupcake with different colors of frosting and top with sprinkles.
• Fruity — You can go natural with your cupcakes by adding fresh raspberries and blueberries into the batter. Then add fresh fruit on top of each frosted cupcake, too.

Recipe Notes

Here are some recipe notes to help make these treats perfect every time:

• Be sure to use a timer to get the cupcakes cooked through. If you pull them out before they’re done, the tops may deflate and look a little flat. I set the timer for 20 minutes but usually don’t pull them out until around 24. Every oven is different, so I do recommend using a tester.
• If the tops of your cupcakes look flat, you can just add more frosting. (Small-town girl tip).
• You can use store-bought vanilla frosting — many of them are dairy-free. Or make homemade dairy-free vanilla frosting. You can change up the flavor by using a dairy-free cream cheese frosting.
• Dress up these cupcakes with an explosion of flavor by dropping a spoonful of raspberry jam into individual cupcake batter (the batter is in a cupcake liner waiting to be baked). The jam will sink as the cupcakes cook, creating a delicious surprise inside each baked cupcake.

Summer Dessert Favorites

If you love these vegan patriotic cupcakes, you may also love this vegan chocolate sheet cake or these easy vegan lemon bars. It’s such a favorite summer dessert here. Here are some more summer favorite desserts to try:

Vegan Blueberry Cobbler

60 mins total

Pineapple Tarts

27 mins total

Vegan Strawberry Pie

150 mins total

Vegan Mug Cake

5 mins total