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.
Hi! I just tried the updated recipe and found that I had to bake my cupcakes a few minutes longer which in turn resulted in a browner top. Did you have to make adjustments in the temperature or place the muffinnoans in the lower part of the oven so that wouldn’t brown on top as much but still cook thoroughly?
I too have not found a fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe so I’m excited to try these tomorrow! I am a scratch baker but must admit I love the texture (and taste-must be a childhood memory thing) of boxed cake mix!
I’m wondering if I can use half butter and half oil? Have you tried that in all of your trials? Also, does it matter if ingredients are room temp or cold? Oh, and the last thing is, I have to make 200 cupcakes for a party this weekend. I hate to bake cupcakes too far in advance so I will make them all a day ahead. The problem I find is that when I store the cupcakes in a Tupperware or whatever, the next day the tops are sticky! Is there a better way to store cupcakes so this doesn’t happen? Thank you!
Hi Juli,
A couple things… it always makes me nervous when people are trying a new-to-them recipe and planning to make it for a large party. With that said, I have made this recipe successfully many times, so you should be able to do the same.
As for half butter half oil, I have tried it that way, but it was several years ago and I went back to all oil, so to be honest I can’t remember if there was an issue or just not worth the extra step. Feel free to experiment.
As for baking the day ahead, yes, moisture will come up to the tops of the cupcakes, I have found the best way to reduce (but not eliminate) this is to keep the cupcakes loosely covered, not in a sealed container. Give them a bit of breathing room =) So if you’re putting the cupcakes in tupperware, do not seal the lid, just set the lid on top, and then skew slightly to the side so there is some air flow into the container.
Happy baking!
I would add extra vanilla! It worked for me ☺️
Also in the process of baking, tall peaks rose in the middle of the cupcake. They’re dense and heavy like a muffin, not light and fluffy like a cupcake. Not recommended for special, private, or public attraction and selling.
Same thing happened to me 🙁 Not recommended by me either
Did you guys use cake flour or all purpose flour? I’ve used cake flour in the original and updated recipe and they come out light. The updated recipe took a few minutes longer to bake though and ended up browner.
Great recipe! My cupcakes turned out wonderfully. The only tweak I had to make was that my cupcakes took 15 or so minutes to bake. Don’t know why that is, but otherwise, this recipe worked very well!
Thanks, Glory, for sharing your recipe! I have baked for many years, but was always on a quest for a good vanilla cupcake. I believe I have found it now! I was just wondering if you had tried using melted butter, in place of the oil. I do prefer the taste of butter, but I really did like the texture of the cupcake as is.
I am so happy that I stumbled upon your website after hrs and hrs of searching for the best vanilla cupcake recipe. I’ve tried so many different recipes and they were all a fail. Your recipe is so amazing. The taste and texture is perfection. I am making this recipe into a cake for my sisters birthday tomorrow. I can’t wait to try the rest of the recipes
So glad I have this recipe book marked now as I keep printing and losing the recipe. About to bake an Easter batch using this as a base recipe. It’s the only recipe I use now, Thank you once again
Thanks for the recipe,tried it today and it was very tasty. God bless you for sharing.
These cupcakes literally melt in your mouth, very moist and sweet to perfection. I cannot wait to decorate them, I only make one batch, and next time I will use a zipper bag for an easy pouring to the liners. Thank You for sharing your knowldege.