Learn how to make quick and easy vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch with vanilla buttercream frosting. Classic, rich, soft, moist, light, fluffy, perfect vanilla cupcakes made with simple ingredients.
This recipe never fails and is absolutely dummy-proof! They are a hit at birthday parties and weddings, just like my White Wedding Cupcakes.
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How to make best homemade vanilla cupcakes from scratch?
- Whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- Separately, mix together butter, sugar, egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract.
- Dump dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combined.
- Pour batter in cupcake liners.
- Bake.
- Let them cool.
- Frost them and you are done.
Can you freeze cupcakes?
Yes. Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored in an air-tight, sealed freezer bag or container for up to 1 month. Let them thaw in the fridge or at room temperature and then ice them with frosting.
How can I make my cupcakes moist?
Moisture comes from rich ingredients that are high in fat. So, use full fat sour cream or Greek yogurt. Use whole milk instead of fat free or low fat milk. Use butter instead of oil.
What makes a cupcake fluffy?
That's a result of the air bubbles that you whip into the batter in that end up expanding in the oven during baking. However, if the batter is over-mixed, those bubbles end up collapsing and the cupcakes don't fully rise and can sink too. That's why you should only mix the cake batter until just combined.
Also, measure ingredients properly because baking is science and those measurements and ingredients combine together to create the best fluffy texture.
Easy vanilla cupcake frosting
The classic frosting choice is vanilla buttercream frosting. However, here are some other frosting flavor choices:
- Maraschino Cherry Frosting
- Marshmallow Frosting
- Orange Frosting
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Mango Frosting
Tips and Techniques
All ingredients must be at room temperature- Because this allows them to blend together smoothly and evenly.
Use unsalted butter- Because this prevents these cupcakes from becoming too salty.
Don't replace all-purpose flour with any other flour- Because it does not yield the same good results.
Use whole milk and full fat Greek yogurt- For maximum richness and moisture.
If you don't have Greek yogurt- a good substitute is full fat sour cream.
Don't over-mix this batter- Because that will yield tough cupcakes.
Butter should be melted but not super hot- Because that would end up cooking the eggs when you mix it in the batter.
Allow the cupcakes to fully cool down before frosting them- Because that prevents the frosting from melting all over the cupcakes and making a mess.
Recipe can easily be doubled- To serve a larger crowd.
You can tint the cupcake batter- This makes them fun for kids birthday parties but use gel colors instead of liquid food coloring to prevent the cake batter from becoming too runny.
Don't replace butter with oil- Because butter adds a nice rich flavor.
You can use this recipe to make 24 mini vanilla cupcakes- Just use a mini muffin pan and mini cupcake liners.
Vanilla bean cupcakes- Instead of vanilla extract, you can use vanilla beans, which have a stronger flavor and aroma but that will add little black specks in your cupcakes. You can also use a combination of both for a better flavor profile.
More Cupcake Recipes
Recipe
Best Vanilla Cupcakes
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Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups All-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ cup Butter Unsalted, Melted
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg Large
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt Or sour cream
- ¾ cup Milk Whole
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 2 cups American buttercream frosting
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Keep aside.
- In another mixing bowl, mix together melted butter and sugar until combined.
- Add egg, Greek yogurt, milk, vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Dumpy the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combined.
- Pour batter in cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in teh center comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool down and then, frost each of them in a swirl of buttercream. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Allison
These look perfect! There's nothing like a good vanilla cupcake. Mmmmmm!
Abeer Rizvi
I agree! Cupcakes make everything better!
Aarika
Holy Moly! These cupcakes look soooooo scrumptious. Your pictures are gorgeous. I am definitely saving this recipe. Thanks!
Abeer Rizvi
Thank you so much! Let me know how your cupcakes turn out
irma
I just wanted to let you know that I signed up on twitter by two different ones. Mine and my blog, sorry I could go back and change it. I started on my phone then went on my computer to finished it. But I did all of them. Thanks for the opportunity to win. Need to try the vegan chocolate cupcakes
Abeer Rizvi
Thanks for letting me know. I have a made a note of that.
I wish everyone could win...lol.
GQ
Hope I win and Thanks for the chance.
Abeer Rizvi
Crossing my fingers for u too
shelby
i baked these cupcakes for 25 minutes on 350 degrees F. They seemed to be a little undercooked and dense. Any ideas what i could have done differently?
Abeer Rizvi
Hey Shelby, I am not sure what happened. The only thing I can think of that might have caused problems is the oven temperature. Have you ever checked the temperature of your oven? Sometimes, the temperature reading of the oven is totally off and the only way to check it is with an oven thermometer. I had that issue at my last apartment! Sheesh
shelby
That may be the problem! Ill have to get it checked out! Thank you.
Virginia bogan
Can you used splenda in any your recipe and instead of regular sugar.
Abeer Rizvi
You cannot use Splenda in this recipe. But I have a sugar free chocolate cupcake recipe that uses Splenda: cakewhiz.com/sugar-free-chocolate-cupcakes/
I am also testing more sugar free recipes and will share them soon.
Pauline Leippi
I made these today for my birthday. Only difference is I served with whipping cream and strawberries......I received lots of complements. I will certainly make these again.
Abeer Rizvi
That sounds delicious! I am happy to hear you guys enjoyed these cupcakes.
Kiki
How many calories is this?
Abeer Rizvi
I don't really know. I have never calculated that before...Sorry!
Preeti
Is there any alternative for eggs ?
Abeer Rizvi
I am sorry but I haven't tried this recipe without eggs and I am not sure how omitting it would affect the texture.
Allison
Nothing beats a classic vanilla cupcake. So tasty! Thanks for sharing.
Mahy Elamin
These cupcakes are genius! I use them every time and people rave about them. Love all your recipes.
Steph
Made a batch of these the other day and they were gone in 10 minutes! Needless to say, we loved them!
Jacque Hastert
Nothing beats a good cupcake! It would be hard for me to not eat the frosting as a full meal.
Allyson Zea
Oh I am going to make these with my kids over the weekend- YUM!
Erin
This cupcake looks absolutely delicious! Yummy!