Talk about the perfect fun little treat for parties. These mini rose pistachio cupcakes are easy to make, pretty, delicious, and best of all, they’re completely vegan & dairy-free. You can make these for parties or as a fun weekend baking activity!
(This recipe is sponsored by our wonderful friends at Setton Farms, who make the best pistachios, grown in California)
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love these Mini Rose Pistachio Cupcakes
- They’re quick & easy to make
- They’re vegan & dairy-free
- They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Birthday Parties, the Holidays, as well as Baby and Bridal Showers.
- They’re tiny! Each cupcake is about the size of 1/4 regular cupcake, making these the perfect, mess-free dessert for large gatherings
- The pistachio and rose flavor combo is heavenly!
- They’re customizable! Don’t love the green & pink color combo? No worries! You can use any other color and flavor combo of your choice.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make these Mini Rose Pistachio Cupcakes
For the Cupcakes
- Dairy alternatives: Vegan buttermilk (made with unsweetened soy milk and lemon juice)
- Condiments: Extra virgin olive oil, vanilla extract, sea salt, vegan green food coloring/dye
- Sweetener: granulated white sugar
- Flour & Leavening agents: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda
- Nuts: Setton Farms Raw Pistachio Kernels
For the Vegan Buttercream & Decorations
- For the vegan buttercream: vegan butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, food grade rose water (or vanilla extract), vegan red food coloring.
- Garnishes/Cupcake Decoration: Setton Farms Raw Pistachio Kernels, mini dried rose buds, optional (note: these are not edible and are for decoration purposes only, read the notes in the recipe card below for suggested alternatives.)
How to Make These Rose Pistachio Cupcakes
These are the step by step instructions on how to make and decorate these mini rose pistachio cupcakes. For the exact measurement, as well as a video demonstration showing you how to pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, be sure to read the recipe card below.
Preheat the oven and make the cupcake batter
Preheat the oven to 340ºF/170ºC and line two mini 24-cupcake baking forms (or 4 mini 12-cupcake baking forms) with mini cupcake liners (alternatively, you can grease the baking form, use parchment paper, or use a silicone baking form.)
Next, add the soy milk and lemon juice to a medium mixing bowl and mix the two using a whisk (this will form a vegan substitute for butter milk.) Add the olive oil, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt, and mix again. Now, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix again until you get a smooth batter.
Start by adding a few green food coloring drops and mix again. You can now add more food coloring to your liking, depending on the shade of green you prefer (using about 5 drops will give you a light pastel green.) Lastly, fold the chopped pistachio kernels into the batter using a whisk or spatula.
Fill the cupcake forms & Bake the Cupcakes
Fill your mini cupcake form(s) about halfway. Once the oven is preheated to the desired temperature, place the cupcake forms on the lower middle rack (use the middle rack if using silicone baking forms.)
Bake at 340ºF for 12 1/2 minutes, then lower the temperature to 320ºF/160ºC and bake for another 12 1/2 minutes. This will help prevent the cupcakes from rising too much, while still being fluffy.
Make the Buttercream Frosting
While the cupcakes are in the oven, prepare the buttercream: cut the vegan butter into small cubes (see notes), then use an electric whisk to cream the butter while adding the powdered sugar a little at a time.
Once it’s crumbly, add the lemon juice and rose water and mix again until you get a smooth buttercream consistency.
Tip: resist the urge to add more liquid than needed. The cream will get smooth after about a minute, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first.
Lastly, mix in the red food coloring. Start with just a few drops and then add more to your liking, depending on the desired color intensity (using the amount indicated will result in a light pastel pink.)
Decorate the Mini Rose Pistachio Cupcakes
Once the cupcakes are fully baked, remove them from the oven and (if you used cupcake liners) remove them from the baking form to allow them to cool down faster. Let them cool on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes (otherwise, the buttercream will melt.)
Add your nozzle to the piping bag and fill it with the buttercream. To decorate each cupcake, place the tip of the nozzle in the middle of the cupcake and then pipe the buttercream onto the cupcake in a circular motion (as detailed in the video below.)
Finally, sprinkle each cupcake with chopped pistachios and, optionally, add a dried rose bud (see notes.)
Serve & Enjoy the Cupcakes!
Last but not least, enjoy your mini rose pistachio cupcakes!
Vegan Mini Rose Pistachio Cupcakes – RECIPE CARD
Use this recipe card to save and print this recipe. For additional step by step photos of the mini rose pistachio cupcakes, be sure to read the full article above.
Vegan Mini Rose Cupcakes
Ingredients
Pistachio Cupcakes
- 3/4 cup soy milk - unsweetened
- 1 tbsp lemon juice - the juice of about 1/2 small lemon
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - (spooned into the cup, not packed)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 10 drops vegan green food dye - or more, to taste
- 1/2 cup Setton Farms Raw Pistachio Kernels - chopped
Buttercream Frosting
- 2 cups vegan butter
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp food grade rose water
- 10 drops vegan red food dye - or more, to taste
Garnishes/Cupcake Decoration
- 1/2 cup Setton Farms Raw Pistachio Kernels - chopped
- 48 mini dried rose buds - optional (see notes)
Instructions
Make the Mini Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 340ºF/170ºC and line two mini 24-cupcake baking forms with mini cupcake liners (alternatively, you can grease the baking form, use parchment paper, or use a silicone baking form.)
- Next, add the soy milk and lemon juice to a medium mixing bowl and mix the two using a whisk (this will form a vegan substitute for butter milk.) Add the olive oil, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt, and mix again. Now, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix again until you get a smooth batter.
- Start by adding a few green food coloring drops and mix again. You can now add more food coloring to your liking, depending on the shade of green you prefer (using about 5 drops will give you a light pastel green.)
- Lastly, fold the chopped pistachio kernels into the batter using a whisk or spatula and fill your mini cupcake form(s) about halfway.
- Once the oven is preheated to the desired temperature, place the cupcake forms on the lower middle rack (use the middle rack if using silicone baking forms.) Bake at 340ºF/170ºC for 12 1/2 minutes, then lower the temperature to 320ºF/160ºC and bake for another 12 1/2 minutes. This will help prevent the cupcakes from rising too much, while still being fluffy.
Make the Buttercream Frosting
- While the cupcakes are in the oven, prepare the buttercream: cut the vegan butter into small cubes (see notes), then use an electric whisk to cream the butter while adding the powdered sugar a little at a time. Once it’s crumbly, add the lemon juice and rose water and mix again until you get a smooth buttercream consistency.
- Tip: resist the urge to add more liquid than needed. The cream will get smooth after about a minute, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first. Lastly, mix in the red food coloring. Start with just a few drops and then add more to your liking, depending on the desired color intensity (using the amount indicated will result in a light pastel pink.)
Decorate the Mini Cupcakes
- Once the cupcakes are fully baked, remove them from the oven and (if you used cupcake remove them from the baking form to allow them to cool down faster. Let them cool on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes (otherwise, the buttercream will melt.)
- Add your nozzle to the piping bag and fill it with the buttercream. To decorate each cupcake, place the tip of the nozzle in the middle of the cupcake and then pipe the buttercream onto the cupcake in a circular motion (as detailed in the recipe video included in the article above.)
- Finally, sprinkle each cupcake with chopped pistachios and, optionally, add a dried rose bud (see notes.)
Equipment
Notes
- This recipe makes 48 mini cupcakes, but you can cut the ingredients in half to make 24 cupcakes as shown in the pictures above.
- Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Letting the butter soften a bit will make the frosting easier to mix.
- Dried rose buds are for decorative purposes only, they’re not meant to be eaten. They can, however, be repurposed to make rose tea. You can either omit them or replace them with an edible decorative element of your choice.
- Instead of rose water, you can also use vanilla extract, or more lemon juice.
SAVE/PIN/SHARE THIS RECIPE
More Vegan Recipes You Might Like
- Easy Rainbow Tahini Cookies (Vegan + Gluten-Free): looking for fun mini treat idea that’s gluten-free and made without refined sugar? You’ll love these cookies!
- Vegan Double Chocolate Raspberry Muffins: these are decadent, moist, and simply the best!
- Vegan Carrot Pistachio Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting: love pistachios? So do we! This cake includes pistachios both in the batter and as topping. Tip: you can combine these two recipes by making mini carrot pistachio cupcakes.
- Vegan Puff Pastry Milk Tart: This recipe is pure comfort and so easy to make!
- Easy No Bake Dessert: Vegan Peanut Butter Tarts: not in the mood for baking, but still want a sweet treat? These peanut butter tarts are delectable and can be made without an oven!
Thank you to Setton Farms for sponsoring this recipe. Please note that this site contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through those links at no extra cost to you.
Did you love this recipe? Please consider leaving a comment and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating below. Thank you!
I made these for a family get together and they ‘Wowed’ the crowd!!
They were easy to make (thankyou for great, simple instructions!), they looked beautiful and most importantly they tasted delicious!
(The Rose water I had smelt amazing but had very little taste so I had to adjust my buttercream a lot … but I know if I find a good flavouring option then I’ll be spot on with this recipe!)
It’s already been added to my recipe book and I can’t wait to make them again!
Thankyou for a great recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it:)
More of a question. I don’t like nuts in my pastries but I want the pistachio flavoring. Should I use pistachio extract and how much or could I ground the pistachios into a powder and how much? Thank you
Hi Evelyn! Yes, you could use pistachio extract. You can start with 1/2 – 1 teaspoon, taste test the batter and then add more to taste. Otherwise, if you wanted use ground pistachios, we’d recommend using 1 1/2 cups flour instead of 2 cups and then grinding 1/2 cup of pistachios. This is what we did for this pistachio cake to give you an idea: https://bestofvegan.com/vegan-pistachio-cake-with-buttercream/. That recipe also includes a pistachio buttercream recipes with ground pistachios. Hope this helps:)
Hi! Do you think I could substitute oat milk for the soy milk?
Hi! Yes, oat milk should work too! Happy baking:)