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These Small Batch Red Velvet Cupcakes are delicious. They are fluffy and moist cupcakes that you do not want to miss – and this recipe makes a perfect 4 cupcakes!

red cupcakes with frosting on top on a white plate.


Makes 4 Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love this red velvet recipe because they are small batch! If you don’t know, a small batch means that this recipe makes a smaller amount than usual. This recipe makes 4! It is so good because if you have a small group, you do not need to make an excessive amount of cupcakes!

Red velvet is always so fun because of how pretty they are. And they taste great too. They are so versatile and great for any event you have coming up! I’ve done all the math for you so you can make a small batch of cupcakes without having to divide or do fractions!

ingredients in red velvet cupcakes.

Ingredients Needed

  • Cocoa powder – Red velvet isn’t chocolate, but there is just a touch of cocoa in it.
  • Baking soda – This is how the cupcakes rise and get nice and fluffy.
  • Vegetable oil – Keeps the cupcakes super moist.
  • White Vinegar – The vinegar in red velvet cupcakes gives that signature flavor, helps activate the baking soda, and helps the red coloring pop.
  • Food coloring: Red for the amazing coloring, but this works with any color! You can use gel food coloring or regular.
  • Frosting: Cream Cheese Frosting is a classic pairing with red velvet.
process shot of red velvet cupcakes.
process shot of red velvet cupcakes.
process shot of red velvet cupcakes.
process shot of red velvet cupcakes.
process shot of red velvet cupcakes.

How to make Small Batch Cupcakes

  • Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
  • Mix together oil, vanilla, egg, and vinegar.
  • Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  • Add food coloring and stir.
  • Divide evenly 4 cupcake liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean on the side (not necessarily in the center). Cool completely before frosting.
  • To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until creamy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Frost as desired.
red cupcakes with frosting on top on a white plate.

Expert Tips

  • Cream cheese frosting is of course the classic frosting to go with small batch red velvet cupcakes, but you can use whatever frosting you’d like (vanilla buttercream is fantastic).
  • Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting so the frosting can stay on the cupcakes correctly. 
  • You can also bake these in 2 (8-ounce) wide mouth mason jars. Baking time will be 20-25 minutes.

FAQs

Can you freeze cupcakes?

Yes you can! Store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh!

Can you dye them another color? 

For sure! Just use a different food coloring–blue velvet sounds great!

red cupcakes with frosting on top on a white plate.

Small Batch Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe

5 from 2 votes
Make red velvet cupcakes – a small batch – 4 perfect cupcakes.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Yield 4 cupcakes
Serving Size 1 cupcake
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Ingredients
 

  • 6 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (52g) all-purpose flour
  • 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (66g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon (1g) cocoa powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 4 tablespoons (60ml) vegetable oil
  • ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
  • ¼ – 1 teaspoon food coloring
  • 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter , softened
  • 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese , softened
  • 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with liners.
  • Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oil, vanilla, egg, and vinegar. Add food coloring.
  • Divide evenly into muffin liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean on the side (not necessarily in the center). Cool completely before frosting.
  • To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until creamy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Frost as desired.

Recipe Notes

  • You can also make this in 2 (8-ounce) wide mouth jars. Spray two half-pint wide mouth jars with cooking spray. Set on a small cookie sheet.
  • If you’re using gel food coloring you’ll only need a few drops.
  • Use pink or red or any color you want for these cupcakes!

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 145kcal
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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40 Comments

  1. Need more small-batch dessert recipes. Thank you.
    One request…please do NOT say…
    “Red Velvet is so fun” … it makes me and others crazy.

    Reply

  2. Leave out the cocoa and tint pink. Cocoa is used in a Red Velvet Cake to interact w/ buttermilk and vinegar to give a reddish tint. It contributes nothing to the tangy flavor. These would be super delish w/ an Ermine Buttercream, the traditional frosting for Velvet Cakes, including Red Velvet Cake. That would also be cute tinted pink. An Ermine Buttercream is the most stable of the 6 classic buttercreams – American, Ermine, French, German, Swiss, and Italian. It’s also the most delish. It’s used in the south for 2 reasons – 1. It’s the closest in texture to whipped cream. 2. It holds up the best in the southern heat.

    Reply