Pot o' Gold Cupcakes Recipe (Dairy-Free & Vegan)

Even though my kids are getting older, I still enjoy making something fun to celebrate holidays throughout the year. They make the calendar go around, as my mom says. I saw a St. Patrick’s Day filled cupcake recipe in Better Homes and Gardens and decided to rework it so it would be dairy and alcohol free. These cheerful Dairy-Free Pot o’ Gold Cupcakes are the result. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Vegan Pot o’ Gold Cupcakes are a Sweet St. Patrick’s Day Surprise

These dairy-free Pot o’ Gold Cupcakes are a fun family project. Kids can help mix and bake the cupcakes, make the frosting, and decorate the cupcakes. If you choose to use gold cake dust as we did, know that it is very messy and is a job for adults or older teens. Gold or yellow sprinkles are a good substitution if young children are decorating the tops of the cupcakes.

We used rainbow sprinkles for the filling, to keep with the Leprechaun theme. But gold sprinkles would be a fun alternative. We also used black cupcake liners to accentuate the pot of gold resemblance, but any color is fine. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Special Diet Notes: Pot o’ Gold Cupcakes

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. And you can certainly use gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, if needed.

Dairy-Free Pot o' Gold Cupcakes

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

45 mins

The Prep and Cook times on this recipe include making your own cupcakes. The decorating time is just 10 to 15 minutes.

Author: Katherine and Sarah Hatfield

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

12 dairy-free chocolate cupcakes (we used this recipe)
Dairy-free vanilla frosting (we used this recipe)
12 teaspoons rainbow sprinkles (we used Betty Crocker Rainbow Jimmies)
Gold cake dust or gold or yellow colored sprinkles (we used Luxe Cake Gold Highlighter Luxury Cake Dust)

Instructions

Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe directions, and let them cool completely. Prepare the frosting while the cupcakes cool.
Use the wide end of a pastry tip to remove a "core" from a cupcake. Cut only about halfway down so the sprinkles don't come out the bottom of the cupcake. Fill the resulting hole with 1 teaspoon sprinkles. Replace the piece of cupcake on top of the sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
Frost the cupcakes.
Using a small, clean brush, gently dust the tops of the cupcakes with the gold cake dust, or sprinkle with gold or yellow sprinkles.