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    You are here: Home / Desserts / Cupcakes / Easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

    Easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

    March 24, 2019 By Sam 262 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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    Vanilla Cupcakes

    This classic, easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe is soft, springy, and can be prepped and baked in under 30 minutes! My vanilla cupcakes are moist with a soft crumb and are made with all butter and no oil for the best buttery flavor. Sweet but light and crowned with a decadent, whipped chocolate buttercream frosting, I think you’ll love these! 

    Vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate frosting: The best vanilla cupcake recipe

    My Favorite Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

    My typical reaction to being offered a vanilla cupcake is to not-so-subtly glance over the dessert table to check if there are any chocolate cupcakes available before accepting.  If there aren’t, I’ll graciously (and totally gracefully, I’m sure) devour one. I’m not exactly the kind of person to turn down sugar, after all, but vanilla has never been my go-to flavor.

    But every good baker needs a good vanilla cupcake recipe, and this space was lacking one. Yeah, I have a vanilla cake that many people have successfully converted into cupcakes, but I wanted something a little different to share. But it needed to be good. Really, really, really good.

    After months of working to perfect this recipe, about 8 Google Doc pages full of notes, and multiple test runs past my taste-testers, this is it. With its light, moist crumb, its buttery, vanilla-infused flavor, this vanilla cupcake recipe is my new go-to. Like, I would actually pass up a chocolate cupcake for one of these.

    Ingredients for vanilla cupcake recipe

    Ingredients for Vanilla Cupcakes

    My vanilla cupcake recipe uses all basic ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry:

    • Butter. Often when making cupcakes I like to use oil for the best texture and a moist cake. This cupcake recipe, however, was carefully crafted to be made with all butter and still be perfectly soft and moist with a light, flavorful crumb!
    • Sugar.
    • Brown Sugar. We’re using both granulated and brown sugar. The brown sugar will make the cupcakes slightly heavier and it enriches the flavor and makes them more moist. I love the addition but if you don’t have brown sugar handy this vanilla cupcake recipe will also work if you substitute more granulated sugar for the brown sugar.
    • Eggs. Just one is all you need, actually.
    • Vanilla Extract. We’re using a generous 1 ½ teaspoons for 12 cupcakes. These cupcakes have a great vanilla flavor (but it’s not overpowering).
    • Flour. I use all-purpose flour, cake flour can be substituted.
    • Baking Powder.
    • Baking Soda.
    • Salt.
    • Buttermilk. Another key ingredient that helpsmakes these vanilla cupcakes soft and moist. If you don’t have buttermilk handy, you can make my easy buttermilk substitute instead.

    That’s literally all you need for these perfect vanilla cupcakes. They results are delicate and light but still sturdy enough to hold a heavy crown of chocolate frosting. They’re moist and sweet without being over-sweet, they’re just all around perfect, honestly.

    Using an ice cream scoop to portion vanilla cupcake batter into cupcake pan

    How to Make The Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

    My vanilla cupcakes are easy to make, and practically fool-proof.

    1. Cream together butter and sugars. These ingredients should be beaten together until well-combined and light and fluffy.
    2. Stir in egg and vanilla extract. Make sure these are well incorporated.
    3. Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
    4. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk to butter mixture, stirring by hand after each addition. Do this part by hand! Well, with a spatula, you know what I mean. Everything should be well-combined, but avoid over-mixing
    5. Portion into 12-count muffin tin and bake.

    While you’ll need to stir the ingredients by hand for the second half of the recipe, you will need a  a stand mixer or electric hand mixer for the first half. Creaming together the butter and sugars is critical for the best light and fluffy texture, and it’s not easy (possible?) to properly do this by hand.

    Freshly baked vanilla cupcakes cooling on marble slab

    Vanilla cupcakes topped off with chocolate frosting and covered in sprinkles

    What Makes a Cupcake Moist and Fluffy?

    There are actually quite a few things that go into this, but I wanted to share the top three things that help make your vanilla cupcakes moist and fluffy.

    Using Room Temperature Ingredients

    This helps your ingredients to combine properly when mixing. Ingredients of different temperatures will still combine, but they may not end up as well incorporated as you hope, leaving you with an unevenly mixed batter and a cupcake that’s dense.

    Mixing, but not over-mixing

    When we cream together our butter and sugar and beat in our egg, we’re creating air bubbles in our batter. These are key for a light moist cupcake. When we add in our flour and buttermilk, we start bursting those air bubbles. If you over-mix at this point and too many of your air bubbles collapse, your cupcakes will be dense and dry.

    Don’t under-mix either, though! This is just as bad and could leave you with cupcakes that fall apart or flour clumps in the middle of your vanilla cupcakes because the ingredients aren’t properly distributed

    Baking for the right amount of time (and not a minute longer).

    Vanilla cupcakes will take 17-18 minutes to bake completely. The top should spring back if lightly touched and a toothpick in the center should ideally come out with a few moist crumbs or clean. If you leave them in the oven for too long, a toothpick will still come out clean but the cupcakes will be dry and crumbly when you bite into them.

    Another thing worth noting: make sure your oven is actually at the right temperature. Many ovens are actually not calibrated correctly and run hotter or cooler than they indicate, and this is why I keep several inexpensive thermometers in my oven, to make sure the temperature is correct at all times. If your oven is too hot, it will bake your vanilla cupcakes too fast and dry them out!

    Soft fluffy interior of vanilla cupcake

    Whew, are you sick of hearing about vanilla cupcakes yet? Thanks for sticking with me through all that. If you try out this recipe I’d love to know what you think!

    More of My Favorite Cupcake Recipes

    • Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
    • Pumpkin Cupcakes
    • Funfetti Cupcakes
    • Carrot Cake Cupcakes
    • Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
    • Piñata Cupcakes

    Vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting

    Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

    An easy, perfect vanilla cupcake recipe! Soft, springy, and buttery, these cupcakes can be whipped up in under 30 minutes.
    Don't forget to check out my new recipe VIDEO at the bottom of the post! 
    4.92 from 62 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: cupcakes, Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Cook Time: 18 minutes
    Total Time: 43 minutes
    Servings: 12 cupcakes
    Calories: 493kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    Cupcakes

    • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened (85g)
    • ¾ cup sugar (150g)
    • ¼ cup light brown sugar (50g)
    • 1 large egg room temperature preferred
    • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (150g)
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature preferred (175ml)

    Chocolate Buttercream Frosting¹

    • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (170g)
    • 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (226g)
    • 2 cups powdered sugar (320g)
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 Tablespoons heavy cream (30ml)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners.  Set aside.
    • Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl -- and use an electric hand mixer) and beat on medium speed until well combined and light and fluffy.
    • Add egg and vanilla extract and beat well.
    • In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  
    • Remove butter/sugar mixture from stand mixer and use a spatula to gradually fold in about ¼ of the flour mixture until just combined.  
    • Add about ¼ cup of the buttermilk and use spatula to fold in until just combined.
    • Continue to alternate until flour mixture and buttermilk are completely combined -- mix thoroughly but be sure not to over-mix or your cupcakes could end up dense and dry.
    • Fill cupcake liners ⅔-¾ of the way full with batter (do not over-fill, if you have any leftover batter discard it) and bake on 350F (175C) for 17-18 minutes or until tops spring back when gently touched (the tops will be fairly flat, these do not puff up in the oven like muffins) and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs or clean.
    • Allow cupcakes to cool completely in pans before frosting.

    Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

    • In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips at 15 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until chips are completely melted. Set aside and allow to cool slightly (about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally).
    • Cream room temperature butter with an electric mixer. Stir in slightly cooled chocolate and beat well.
    • Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.
    • Sprinkle in salt and vanilla extract, stir well.
    • Gradually add heavy cream, increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides of bowl.
    • Spoon frosting into a piping bag fitted with tip of choice (I used a large French tip) and pipe on cooled cupcakes.  

    Notes

    ¹If you don't want to use the chocolate frosting listed, try one of my other frosting recipes:
    • Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Vanilla Frosting
    • Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Peanut Butter Frosting

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1vanilla cupcake | Calories: 493kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 159mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 739IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

    I originally shared this Vanilla Cupcake Recipe 05/15/2017. Post has been updated and a video added 03/25/2019. The recipe remains the same; even though I tried to improve upon it I found it was pretty much perfect as written! 

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Naz

      October 02, 2022 at 3:36 am

      Hi
      Can we use yoghurt as a substitute for the egg? And if so how much?
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        October 03, 2022 at 9:05 am

        Hi Naz! We haven’t tried this, so we can’t say for sure how it would work 🙁

        Reply
    2. Mehjabeen

      September 01, 2022 at 10:11 am

      Hi i was thinking something your chocolate cupcakes u dont use creaming method so its possible to dp same here as well?

      Reply
      • Sam

        September 02, 2022 at 9:57 pm

        Creaming is really the best way to make these cupcakes.

        Reply
    3. Julia

      July 06, 2022 at 10:30 am

      5 stars
      This recipe was WONDERFUL as cupcakes! I made over 200 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for my grad party using your recipes and everyone LOVED them!! My grandma especially liked the vanilla cupcakes, so I was wondering if this recipe could be baked into a cake for her birthday? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        July 06, 2022 at 12:45 pm

        Wow, that’s a lot of cupcakes!! We’re so happy they were a hit for you, Julia! You can make our vanilla cake for your grandma 🥰

        Reply
    4. Dana

      June 05, 2022 at 11:34 pm

      Love all your recipes. Can this recipe be doubled?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        June 06, 2022 at 11:09 am

        Thanks so much, Dana! It sure can 😊

        Reply
    5. Jada

      May 30, 2022 at 3:44 pm

      5 stars
      Hi, Do You Have An Link Or Know The Exact Brand/Type Of Cupcake Pan You Purchased For This Recipe?

      Thanks

      Reply
      • Sam

        June 14, 2022 at 10:04 am

        Hi Jada! This is the cupcake pan that I used in this recipe.

        Reply
    6. Grace

      May 28, 2022 at 4:38 pm

      5 stars
      I love your recipes and this one is no exception! Delicious! My only qualm is the instruction to, if I have any leftover batter, discard it. I’m a thrifty gal, so I made an extra two cupcakes, and they didn’t go to waste! To waist, maybe, but that’s another story… 😀

      Please keep up the wonderful recipes! 💕

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        June 01, 2022 at 1:47 pm

        😂 Too true, Grace! We’re so happy you’re such a fan ❤ Enjoy the cupcakes!

        Reply
    7. Tracie

      May 22, 2022 at 9:43 am

      5 stars
      I made your chocolate buttercream for the first time. It was amazing and everyone loved it!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        May 23, 2022 at 10:02 am

        Wonderful! We’re so glad it was a hit for you, Tracie!

        Reply
        • Elaine

          January 14, 2023 at 8:18 pm

          If I wanted to use this as a base for key lime flavor, can I use key lime juice and zest instead of vanilla?

        • Sam

          January 16, 2023 at 9:03 pm

          Hi Elaine! I would probably use my lemon cupcakes and modify that with lime vs the lemon. 🙂

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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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