Vegan Twinkies

♫ Listening to: We by Felix Da Housecat ♫

These vegan twinkies are a mostly organic, throwback version of the twinkies from our childhood. This copycat recipe has that same fluffy sponge and light creamy filling that you may remember.

I first posted this recipe in September 2014 when I was participating in VeganMofo. Back then, the recipe didn’t taste exactly like I remembered twinkies tasting, but I had to post something every day, so I didn’t have time to recipe test them 3-4 times like I usually do. While the cream filling came out perfectly on my first try, I’ve since tweaked the cake part of this twinkie recipe to make it a bit spongier. I hope you like it.

This recipe makes 12 twinkies.

Vegan Twinkie Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 tablespoon organic cornstarch*
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (I use non-aluminum)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup nondairy milk
• ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or substitute white vinegar)
• ⅓ cup (or 5 tablespoons) safflower oil
• ¾ cups organic, raw, or vegan sugar*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vegan Twinkie Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Coat the inside cubbies of a canoe pan using a paper towel with safflower oil on it.

Combine vinegar and nondairy milk, stir, and let sit.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder in another bowl and whisk together.

Add oil, sugar, and vanilla to the milk mixture and stir well. Add dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth.

Fill the canoe pan cubbies about half full. I used ¼ cup of batter in each, and I think it was too much. It made my twinkies look like they were wearing a dorky hat. So, don’t overfill yours accidentally! This is what too full looks like.

Bake for 15 minutes in the center rack (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean).

This is what overfilled twinkies look like when they come out of the oven with stupid hats on all of them. Grrrrr.

Vegan Twinkie Cream Filling Ingredients

• 1 can coconut cream (If you can't find this, you can use 2 cans of chilled coconut milk, but don't use the water part)
• ½ cup organic powdered sugar*
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon xantham gum

Vegan Twinkie Cream Filling Directions

Whisk the ingredients using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a handheld electric mixer) until smooth. You want it to form peaks that do not fall.

Transfer into a piping bag fitted with Ateco Decorating Tip 231 (or substitute another tip if you don’t have this one, but keep in mind that the bigger the tip, the bigger hole it will leave at the bottom of your twinkie).

Flip the twinkies onto their backs and poke them in their tummies about halfway through.

Do this in 3 or 4 places so you make sure the twinkies don’t have any part without cream filling.

FAQ

Are twinkies vegan?

Not only are hostess twinkies not vegan, but they’re not even vegetarian! You have no idea how shocked I was to learn that the cream filling had beef fat in it. I remember the exact moment I learned this, because I was skating in San Francisco with friends and we stopped in the grocery store at the end of Haight street where it meets Golden Gate Park (that grocery store that used to sell twinkies is a Whole Foods now!). So, steer clear of packaged twinkies, and make these often.

How are twinkies made?

Packaged twinkies contain eggs, high fructose corn syrup, and a bunch of other ingredients you probably don’t want to eat. This recipe is actually healthy, compared to packaged twinkies, so you can feel good about making these for friends, birthdays, or bakesales.

If you like this vegan twinkies recipe, you might also like my chocodiles and my ding dong cake.

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* I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook, but I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to purchase all organic ingredients. Therefore, I only specify organic on the ingredients that really matter - when buying the organic (or non-GMO) version is the only way to ensure that the item is vegan.