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
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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.
Loved your recipe.. thanks for sharing it!! you saved me many days and night without sleep trying to figure out the magic behind good moist cupcakes..
I love your blog..THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
I was looking for a good moist fluffy cupcake to make for my sister for her birthday (its tomorrow) and I happen to find your page! VERY GLAD I FOUND YOUR PAGE!! these cupcakes are THE MOST AMAZING VANILLA CUPCAKES I’ve ever found!!! YOU MY DEAR ARE THE VANILLA CUPCAKE QUEEN WITH THIS RECEIPE!! thank you tons for sharing this with all of us!! YOU OFFICIALLY ROCK IN MY BOOK!! 😀
Signed
One Happy Betty Crocker!! 😛
I’ve made this cupcake recipe twice and been disappointed both times. The cupcake texture is grainy and not fluffy and moist. I followed the recipe and did not over mix.
Hi JP, So sorry to hear the results were not to your liking. Of course as with any food, it can come down to personal preferences. Feel free to experiment with the recipe and adjust to your liking.
i just baked and made into single layer,,,,could tell immediately excellent recipes….used good quality Nielson Massey Bourbon Vanilla 2 tsp. .Made White Chocolate Frosting . Hubby is in for a treat is favorite
to substitute cake flour just Sife 3/4 cup all purpose Flour with 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch that equals 1 cup of cake Flour.
Glory, he hecho estos cupcakes un monton de veces ya y son sencillamente perfectos! Siempre salen bien !!
Muchas gracias por compartir tus recetas.
:))
Glory,
I am on the hunt for perfect vanilla cupcakes. I made these twice this week and both times mine came out sort of egg-y. I live near Las Vegas so the air is dry and the altitude here is about 3,000 feet. I recently replaced my baking powder and baking soda with fresh batches of each. Have you got any guess about what I am doing wrong or may need to change?
Thanks!
Jerry
Hi Jerry, As with any food, it comes down to personal preferences. Simply because there are eggs in the recipe, I suppose there will be some egg flavor. I bake at a low elevation and am not an expert on higher elevation baking. Generally, 3000 feet should not require adjustments, but again, it’s hard to say for sure without being with you in the kitchen. Feel free to experiment with the recipe. Happy baking!
I baked it exactly as instructed and it came out cloyingly sweet. It also collapsed, but that was totally my fault; first time baking and I’m not so patient, apparently.
I’m sorry the recipe was not to your liking. As with any food, it comes down to personal preferences. Feel free to reduce the sugar a bit, or adjust the recipe to your tastes. Happy baking!
I baked these cupcakes last night. Although they were very light and fluffy the flavor taste like cornbread. Can you please tell me what I may have done wrong?
As with any food, it comes down to personal preferences. There is no corn in the recipe, and when using cake flour the texture should be quite light and soft. Feel free to experiment with the recipe according to your preferences. Happy baking!
Sorry, i previously commented the wrong page :/ how clumsy of me! I made these fantastic cupcakes as well, great website with superlative recipes! 🙂