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.
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The best! I have been using this as my go-to recipe for the past year, although I generally make them with kefir instead of buttermilk because that is what I have on hand. I recently blogged about them on my healthy eating website: http://www.cooksaid.com/blog/go-to-vanilla-cupcakes/. Thank you!
I’ve been looking for the perfect vanilla cupcake in preparation for my goddaughter’s 1st birthday celebration in July. I tried your recipe exactly as it is but I think it was still a bit dry. Granted, I’ve tried 4 different recipes and yours is the best so far. I’ve seen some recipes that called for sour cream. Have you tried adding that and do you think it’ll help make the cupcakes moist-er?
Hi Glory,
I wanted to thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. I came across it when I googled an oil-based cupcake as opposed to a butter-based one, as I know from experience that oil works better in certain baked goods. I followed your recipe to the letter and found that he cupcakes are the best I’ve ever baked (this from someone who has been baking for 20 years). I am always striving to find the best version of anything I bake or cook , but as far as cupcakes are concerned, my search for the best version has ended with this recipe. Made a batch this afternoon and they’re nearly all gone by the evening. Love, love, love these, so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Hello,
I’m about to make these for my sisters Birthday, and I have to make my own cake flour.
I have found how to make the cake flour, online, but not sure how much cake flour I would take out and how much cornflour to replace it with, for 1/4 cup.
Would someone please help me out here.
Thank You
Like so many others, I’d been looking for a recipe where the cupcakes would turn out like cake and not a muffin. This recipe is great and easy (best of all)! I wanted a spiced cupcake so I added a little nutmeg and cinnamon to the recipe and I got just what I was looking for in a cupcake. This is my new go-to recipe.
This may help with some of the questions people are asking on here.
If your cakes are ‘ugly’ bubbling through the top of the dome etc, your oven may be too hot, try reducing the temperature by 5 to 10 degrees (more if you’re using fahrenheit. Oven temperatures can vary by +/- 20 degrees from what it says on the dial/display. It’s worth investing in an oven thermometer!
Your cupcakes may be slightly oily if you do not thoroughly mix the oil into the mix when you add it. I know many people are wary of over mixing cake batter but this only applies once the flour is added. Before the flour you can mix thoroughly.
If your cupcakes are sinking you may be over mixing the batter once you add the flour. I normally remove my mixer bowl from the mixer and use a hand whisk to carefully combine the flour. When you over mix the flour releases it’s gluten which causes the cake to sink or not rise.
Here is the recipe in grams. (There are however a million websites that can convert for you!)
170g caster sugar
142g cake flour
2 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
125ml vegetable oil
125ml buttermilk
Hope this helps. This recipe has always worked really well for me although I have tweaked it a little for my own taste. Never had a complaint yet 🙂
Wonderful recipe – I tried it out and my cupcakes turned out perfectly. The sponge was soft, moist and springy – just what I look for in a cupcake. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe!!
I have made this recipe several times now over the past few months since I found it on Pinterest. It really is perfect – every single time. The most recent batch was made with all-purpose flour because that was all I had. And I also realized a little too late that I was out of white vinegar to sour the milk (we rarely have buttermilk on hand) so I used apple cider vinegar instead. I knew as far as the science goes it would work but I was not sure if it would affect the flavor of the cupcakes. It didn’t! At least, not that I could tell. I figured even if it did a slight apple flavor would not be a bad thing. Good to know for in the future though that if I am in a pinch again the apple cider vinegar will do the trick. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe – it’s definitely my go-to for vanilla cupcakes (and cakes for that matter!) now, and again, truly PERFECT every single time! =)
I just tried these and they look lovely! I do have a question though – they had a faint metallic taste, so I was wondering if you think that might have come from the baking powder or the soda? I’m considering reducing them, but not sure if i should reduce one of them or both of them by a little bit. Also, is your baking powder double acting baking powder, or single acting baking powder?
Thanks so much! This was my second batch of cupcakes in two days. DEFINITELY better than the last. 🙂