A truly perfect Vanilla Cupcake recipe! These Vanilla Cupcakes are easy to make, moist, and bake up beautifully every time! Light, fluffy and flavorful! Got the baking bug? Try my Lemon Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes too!
Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe
This week I’ve made 6 batches of vanilla cupcakes and a vanilla cake. I feel like my oven has been on for 42 hours straight! =) What are all these cupcakes for, you might ask. Well, for me… and for science, and for you too. Confused yet? I’ll explain…
I have been on a search for a perfect vanilla cupcake recipe for several years. I have tried Martha’s, Magnolia’s, Billy’s and Amy Sedaris’. I’ve read the Cake Bible from cover to cover (really!). I’ve googled until I can’t google anymore! Some of the recipes were good, just not perfect. I’ve considered just giving up… maybe my expectations were to high. I wanted a vanilla cupcake recipe that was as light and fluffy as a box mix, but without all the funny chemicals. I wanted a cupcake that was flavorful and moist. And I wanted it to be almost as easy to make from scratch as from a box.
The BEST Vanilla Cupcakes
This week, I wasn’t going to stop until I found what I was looking for. So I baked and baked… then went to the store for more butter and sugar, and baked some more! I tried recipes with butter, oil, or some of both… recipes with milk, buttermilk, or sour cream… 1 egg, 2 eggs, 5 eggs… baking powder, baking soda… bake at 350*, bake at 325*…
I made cupcakes that were lopsided, over-flowing, over-baked, and just plain ugly…
And then I made these…
They looked beautiful and tasted perfect, so I double checked all my notes to make sure I could remember what I put in them… then I made another batch to make sure it was THE ONE.
They were just as perfect!! I think I heard angels singing….
I am SO happy to share the results of my many experiments! These cupcakes were absolutely delicious and I look forward to making them again and again. Now certainly, peoples tastes and preferences vary greatly. I love these, my husband (my #1 taste tester) loves them, and I hope many of you will too. As with any recipe, it is very important to use the best quality ingredients you can.
Ingredients Needed
You will notice the recipe calls for cake flour, which is a bit more expensive than all-purpose flour, but I have found it is essential to produce the light and fluffy texture I was looking for. Also, the recipe uses oil instead of butter. I realized most cupcake recipes (from scratch) call for butter, and yet box mixes (which have the texture I was looking for) are baked using oil.
I was concerned that using only oil would leave the cupcakes without adequate flavor, but I found that with good quality vanilla, these cupcakes are delicious and flavorful.
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)
- 1/3 cup milk (whole or low fat, but avoid fat free)
- 1/3 cup sour cream (full fat or light, but avoid fat free)
How To Make Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add the milk, then the rest of the flour and the sour cream. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.
- The batter will be thin. Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners. Fill liners about 2/3 full.
- Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
- Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Frost as desired when fully cool. I love to use my favorite Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.
- Feel free to use this recipe for a cake as well. The recipe above will work for a 6″ cake. Double the recipe for an 8″ or 9″ cake.
* A note about Cake Flour- Cake Flour has a lower protein content than traditional all-purpose flour, which results in a more tender, delicate crumb in the finished product. If you can not find or access cake flour, feel free to substitute as necessary, but your results will vary from the original recipe.
RECIPE UPDATES
I have made this recipe many times with success, but in an effort to always be improving (even great recipes) I’ve made a couple small updates to this recipe (which are now listed in the recipe card).
My original recipe included 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder (now reduced to 3/4), 3/4 cup sugar (now increased to 1 cup) and 1/2 cup buttermilk (now updated to 1/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup sour cream).
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More Cupcake Recipes
How To Make Vanilla Cupcakes
Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup oil vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil
- 1/3 cup milk whole or low fat, but avoid fat free
- 1/3 cup sour cream full fat or light, but avoid fat free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add the milk, then the rest of the flour and the sour cream. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.
- The batter will be thin. Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners. Fill liners about 2/3 full.
- Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
- Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Frost as desired when fully cool. I love to use my favorite cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting with these cupcakes.
I have these in the oven right now! My sister makes your cupcakes and she shared the recipe with me. They are awesome! Thank you so much!! I’m making them for my sister’s baby shower.
So wish I found this recipe sooner. It is wonderful! Definitely the taste of perfection! I used it twice the second time using the milk and lemon juice (b/c thats all I had) and still was wonderful. One batch I used a chocolate buttercream frosting and for the second I used a vanilla lemon cream cheese frosting both were winners. Thanks so much for taking the time to come up with this recipe & then passing it on…much appreciated!
I never find great vanilla cupcakes recipe, it was always good..
but I just tried this recipe couple hours ago, and it turned out GREAT! so fluffy, light but moist and sweet! no need frosting on top, it’s so DELICIOUS alreadyyy..
will be my favorite vanilla cupcakes!
thank you..
EXCELLENT RECIPE – THANKS FOR SHARING!!! MADE THESE LAST NIGHT. MY CUPCAKES (NO FROSTING) TURNED OUT GREAT – FLAVORFUL, MOIST, NICE CRUMB, NOT TOO SWEET. AT FIRST, I WAS ALARMED B/C THE CAKES ROSE BUT THE CENTER WAS SUNKEN IN. HOWEVER WHEN DONE, THEY ENDED UP WITH A BEAUTIFUL DOME ON TOP. COOKED THEM FOR 14 MINS. I HAD NO CAKE FLOUR SO I USED THE APF/CORNSTARCH SUB FOR THE 1 CUP AND USE APF FOR THE REST (1/4 c). BE SURE TO SIFT FLOUR WELL. BEST TO USE STORE BOUGHT BUTTERMILK BUT IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY, HERE’S A SIMPLE SUB: MEASURE 1 CUP MILK, TAKE OUT 1 Tbs AND REPLACE WITH 1 Tbs WHITE VINEGAR OR LEMON JUICE (LEMON JUICE WORKS BEST) AND LET SIT FOR 5-10 MINS BEFORE USING. THIS IS MY GO TO VANILLA CUPCAKE RECIPE NOW.
Well, I’m sorry to say that these didn’t work out for me. I had to bake them longer and never really got the perfect dome. I’m sure that it’s my oven for that part. I’m sure there are hot spots and even though I have an oven thermometer, there’s nothing that will fix that…except a new oven someday! I followed the recipe to the letter and for whatever reason, the taste reminded me of pancakes…and not in a good way. I’m not a vanilla fan but I know what vanilla cupcakes taste like. Glad that others have had good results! It just won’t be the one for me.
I am making both the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes as we speak. My chocolate ones are cooling now. They baked for 22 minutes (as per the recipe) and came out perfect. The vanilla muffins are liquid inside after 12 minutes. Why such different cook times between the two? Is that a typo? Thanks for these recipes though! This is the FIRST time I have made something chocolate from scratch that didn't taste chalky and yuck!
I have searched for a vanilla cupcake recipe and this is perfect!!!! I tried it this weekend and had great results.
Thanks for sharing!!!
I did not like the way these cupcakes turned out. They were too oily, and very chewy. I am pretty sure I did everything according to the directions, as I checked and double checked before doing them. They fell in the middle, very deeply, and they just didn't turn out like yours did in the picture. Glad so many other people like them, but I will go back to my regular recipe. =0(
I just made these last night – they turned out exactly like the picture; gorgeous! I used AP flour and the lemon juice/milk combo.
I ate one without frosting and the taste is very good. I used the vanilla cream cheese frosting also – love it! Thanks for posting!!
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