I am a big fan of “Nailed It!” I love that it shows regular home bakers like me attempting to make baked goods that only the most seasoned pastry chefs can make perfectly.

Don’t worry, I am not going to do that to you this week. I’m calling these “Nailable Cupcakes” in honor of the show and because they are super easy to make.

The recipe is vegan, gluten-free and makes about 9-10 “servings.” (The specific batch I made in these photos yielded 12 mini cupcakes and 3 big cupcakes.)

Ingredients
1 package gluten-free chocolate cake mix
other ingredients as indicated by the mix package (including a vegan, gluten-free egg replacer)
1 10-ounce tub of vegan, gluten-free vanilla frosting
rainbow sprinkles (optional)

Instructions
Grease your cupcake pans or prepare your liners on a tray.

Prepare the cake batter per your cake mix packaging instructions. With ours, we started by preheating the oven to 350°F.

For the egg replacer, I recommend using a powder-based one, as a lot of the liquid ones have savory ingredients like garlic powder.

After assembling the egg replacer, we mixed the wet ingredients first in our stand mixer. Our mix package called for vegetable oil, and I decided to experiment by using half lemon-infused olive oil and half regular olive oil. Our lemon oil also had bits of lemon zest in it, which gave our cake a wonderfully tangy burst of flavor with the sweetness of the cupcakes.

Then we added in our cake mix to the wet ingredients and let our stand mixer do the work.

Pour the batter into your cupcake pans and bake. Times may vary based on the size of your cupcakes.

Our mini cupcakes only took 30 minutes, while our bigger cupcakes took 35 minutes.

Let your cupcakes cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan. Then let them cool for another 10 minutes on a cooling rack.

One of the main things I’ve learned from “Nailed It” is the perils of frosting your cakes before they’re properly cooled. Once yours are cooled, frost them.

If you decide to add some sprinkles, I recommend putting them in a small, flat bowl to dunk the cupcakes into after you frost them.

Enjoy your cupcakes with a big glass of almond milk or your dairy-free beverage of choice!

The Easy Route
This is one of the easiest routes if you want to make them in your oven. Of course, you can always get some tasty cupcakes from a local bakery.

This Veganuary, I feel super lucky to have some amazing bakeries in the Twin Cities that make vegan and gluten-free treats. Share where you get your premade vegan and gluten-free treats in the comments.

The Pairing
I got into “Nailed It” early on, it quickly became a way for me to feel better about any baking or cooking failures I experienced, the perfect counterpart to two of my favorite foodie shows: “Top Chef” and “Great British Bake-Off.”

Plus I just fell in love with Nicole Byer, the host and one of the judges. Since starting to watch “Nailed It,” I have followed her on Instagram and made sure not to miss anything she’s in, from her Netflix comedy special “BBW” to the sitcom “Grand Crew” (the star of an upcoming blog pairing).

I also follow her fellow judge, Jacques Torres, who is in fact a seasoned pastry chef. On the show, he is a perfect straight man to her hilarious antics.

The format of the show has Nicole, Jacques and a guest judge — often a comedian (Maya Rudolph, Adam Scott, Ron Funches, Jason Mantzoukas, etc.) — watch as contestants make two rounds of baked goods for them to judge.

In addition to the judges and contestants, there is also Wes: a production assistant who comes out in a costume related to the episode’s theme to deliver the trophy to the winner. Nicole gets some of the biggest laughs of the show out of her commentary on Wes’s wardrobe.

If you’re looking for something quick and fun to watch on a lunch break or a snack break, “Nailed It” is the show for you.

If you decide to make cupcakes and/or watch “Nailed It,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes