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.
These were fabulous! I believe it when you say these are the best vanilla cupcakes. Good texture, they all baked uniformly, and they taste delicious! I topped mine with a lavender buttercream and they were perfect. Thanks!
Love this recipe it’s the bomb my cupcakes are so lite and a consistent shape big thanks for posting
I love your post! I too have had mostly failures in the “from scratch cakes” department. I was convinced by your great photos of failures and the: ta daa… success of this recipe. Just wanted you to know that as I took them out of the oven, I heard the angels too. The only thing I changed was the process. I just put all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and added the liquids, beat one minute and poured into the papers. They came out perfect!! Thanks for your research and sharing it with us.
Just to say thank you for this recipe. When I read your blog I felt identify because I never had good results with vanilla cupcakes and I almost give up, however I was encourage with your experience and also because was your research you are sharing. Today my cupcakes are delicious thanks to you!!
I just baked these, and they were delicious! The cake flour made a huge difference; the cupcakes were lighter and fluffier than most, and the taste was less dense. These filled my kitchen with a wonderful aroma!
I love to bake with vanilla, or anything with fresh vanilla beans; for a vanilla macaroon recipe please see my blog at http://www.ThymeToBake.com for a recipe for vanilla macarons.
I made these cupcakes for a baby shower and they were absolutely delicious! I’d like to use this recipe to make my son’s birthday cake. Would this recipe make 1- 12″ layer?
Thank you,
Erinn
So glad you enjoyed them! I’ve used this recipe several times for cakes, but usually only a 6″ round or 8″ round. For the 8″ round I usually double or triple the recipe, depending on how tall I want the cake. For short 12″ cake I would say if you double it you should be good (but again, this would be just for one layer of cake).
i was not very happy with these cupcakes. Instead of being light and fluffy, they were oily and beady in texture. Not sure if anyone else experienced this or not.
So sorry the recipe wasn’t to you liking. Of course everyone’s preferences vary quite a bit. Feel free to experiment with the recipe a bit, or try a different recipe.
I just made these and feel the same. They looked good but the texture was anything but light. Oily and bready in texture.
Hi, I tried both your vanilla and chocolate cupcakes today as test runs for a wedding cupcake I have to make. Both ended up coming out in domes…any tip on what could have cause this?
Yes, both recipes should have a slight dome, for me, that’s the desired result. Do you want them to be flat?
I opted for this recipe for my first vanilla cupcake as a birthday treat to a friend, it was risky tho, but so happy with what i made. Love the fluff and the light texture the recipe promises of. I was just to taste it fresh from the oven and i find myself indulging the whole cupcake itself. It is delish! Thanks a lot for sharing your recipe. And yes, my number 1 taste tester, my hubby as well, said it was soooo good! I have yet to try your other cupcake recipes. Again, thanks!
Hi Glory,
I made these cupcakes, with a little twist. We had some fresh Mango, which I popped into the cup cakes as I was filling the patty tins. I cooked then for 1 – 2 minutes longer. They turned out perfectly. Thank you so much , again