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.
The recipe that you’ve posted here, is the EXACT same recipe that was posted way back in 2012 on a blog called Natashaskitchen. Even the steps are the same with almost none to tiniest of variations, which would make no difference anyway. I have a hard time believing that you did not just use the original recipe posted on her blog….
I am SO sorry that I failed to read that it was your recipe that was used in that other blog! I just reread the recipe and found your blog credited there! I am so embarrassed right now! I made these as a test batch and truly love them.
Congratulation, you played yourself. This not only was posted in 2011, but Natasha even said in her post that the original recipe was from Glorious Treats. I hope you’re ashamed of yourself. Accusing someone like this without checking your facts.
Yes, you are correct, this exact recipe is posted on Natasha’s Kitchen, please feel free to mention to her that she could make it quite a bit more clear on her blog that the recipe is mine.
Can coconut oil but used without effecting the texture or taste too much?
I’ve been using this recipe for years. I always use coconut oil and LOVE the result. It gives it a very mild and subtle coconut flavor, but most people can’t even taste it. Good luck!
OMG! I made these cupcakes for a party and they were DELICIOUS!!!! I actually didn’t have any cake flour, so I used AP flour and they turned out perfectly yummy. Thank you for sharing.
Hiii! I was just wondering , would it make a difference if I used normal flour instead of Cake flour?
Love this recipe. Made a batch of cupcakes and they were perfect the first time… but then the second and third time they rose perfectly…. then the last minute they peaked and formed a weird peak to one side. When I cut it there’s a huge bubble there. Any idea what I did wrong?? Did I not mix enough fearing over mixing?
Thanks!
Love the recipe 🙂
Very disappointed! Followed the directions to the letter yet half if them fell horribly. Huge craters, sunken in. I would post a pic but I don’t see an option to do so.
Hi Karen,
So sorry you didn’t have success with this recipe. I’ve made this recipe many times, but without being with you in the kitchen it’s hard to know what to suggest. Do you by chance live at a high elevation? Baking results will vary greatly if baking at high elevation. Generally if the cupcakes sink after being removed from the oven they have not been fully cooked in the center, so baking another little bit may be part of the solution as well. Best of luck!
Hi Glory!
I’m not at a high altitude, so I don’t think that was a factor. I did bake them 5 more minutes than recommended. I’m thinking maybe the liners were overfilled. Still not sure why that would happen to only half of the batch, though. Oh well!
These are amazing and I hate cupcakes 🙂 any chance you have a chocolate recipe you love???
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Yes, I do have a chocolate cupcake recipe that I LOVE –> https://www.glorioustreats.com/recipe-perfectly-chocolate-cupcakes/
Happy baking!
I also heard the angels singing! I made these last night for my colleague’s birthday. I had some ground almonds that I needed to use, so I added a handful of these and replaced the vanilla essense with almond essense in both the batter and the frosting. They came out perfect. All 15 have been eaten and we are just 2 of us in the office (ok my 2 x boys and housekeeper also helped)
I have printed this recipe as a keeper. It seems easy to adapt to other flavours.
Omg ,just made this recipe as cupcakes turned out fantastic,so fluffy and moist plus they have doubled in size a biggggg cupcake sooo happy thank u so much for the lovely recipe ……
I want to make this as a 12 inch cake. Does anyone know how to modify the ingredients? Thanks!