This classic, easy vanilla cupcake recipe is soft and moist with a distinct vanilla flavor. No complicated ingredients and less than an hour from start to finish! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why You’ll Love This Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- Basic ingredients are best: a whole egg, regular all-purpose flour, all butter, and no oil. Buttermilk is as complicated as this ingredient list gets!
- Soft and moist texture with a buttery, distinct vanilla taste. A bit of brown sugar complements the vanilla amazingly and gives these cupcakes an unparalleled flavor.
- Pairs well with any frosting, like chocolate fudge frosting, strawberry frosting, salted caramel frosting, or even fruity pebbles frosting! I include a few more ideas in the recipe notes below 🧁
- Easily doubles if you need to feed a crowd! Or, make this recipe and my chocolate cupcake recipe for a little bit of both flavors.
- Carefully researched and tested. As with all of my recipes, this one went through rigorous trials and taste-testing. Scroll down for a sneak peek of the behind the scenes of one of the recipe testing sessions.
Every good baker needs a good vanilla cupcake recipe. While many people have converted my vanilla cake into cupcakes (and it works great!), I just wanted a dedicated, standalone cupcake for this space.
It took months of working to perfect this recipe, about 8 Google Doc pages full of notes, and multiple test runs past my taste-testers, but we finally nailed it. With its light, moist crumb, a buttery, vanilla-infused flavor, this vanilla cupcake recipe holds its own as one of my favorites many years later!
Today I’m re-sharing this classic with an updated frosting (the winning core recipe remains unchanged–it was perfect as written!). My favorite chocolate frosting still pairs just as nicely, but I’m changing things up with a vanilla bean buttercream today. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Ingredients
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 crumb. This vanilla cupcake recipe, however, was carefully crafted to be made with all butter and still be perfectly soft and moist with a light, flavorful texture!
- Sugar. We’re using both granulated and brown sugar today. The brown sugar enriches the flavor and makes the cupcakes more moist. Don’t skip it!
- Flour. I use all-purpose flour and recommend you do the same. You could substitute cake flour, but I actually don’t prefer the results (more on this below!).
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk is another key ingredient that helps makes these vanilla cupcakes tender and flavorful. If you don’t have buttermilk handy, my easy buttermilk substitute can work in a pinch, but real buttermilk is best.
- Vanilla extract. These cupcakes have a great vanilla flavor (but it’s not overpowering). We’re using a generous 1 ½ teaspoons for 12 cupcakes.
SAM’S TIP: Use room temperature ingredients! This helps your ingredients to combine properly when mixing. Ingredients of different temperatures could leave you with an unevenly mixed batter and dense cupcakes. I have a trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature if you forget to set yours out ahead!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Behind the Scenes: Recipe Testing
I rigorously tested many different variations of this vanilla cupcake recipe to make sure it truly was the best it could be. Here are notes on a few of the many versions we tried. Since readers often ask me if they can make changes I thought this would be helpful for those of you interested in substituting oil or cake flour or reducing the sugar, etc.
- Winning recipe: the softest cupcakes with best structure.They maintain their buttery flavor and soft texture well into the next day (and beyond!).
- Oil instead of butter: I expected these cupcakes to be softer and to stay softer, but they weren’t. The flavor also wasn’t as good as the winning recipe. If you were refrigerating the cupcakes, perhaps it would be softer, but I still recommend the winning recipe.
- Cake flour: this version had a tighter crumb and more cottony texture than the version made with all-purpose flour. It also seemed more dry than the others, which I attribute to the way the finer crumb melts on the tongue.
- Less sugar: using 2 tablespoons less brown sugar resulted in more domed, but also more dry cupcakes. It wasn’t worth the flavor or texture sacrifice for higher cupcake tops.
- Reverse creaming method: these tasted good, but they sunk and had a tighter crumb. I was surprised at how well they didn’t do, honestly!
How to Make Vanilla Cupcakes
Make the Cupcake Batter
- Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. This step is critical for the best light and fluffy texture, so don’t be shy about it!
- Stir in the egg and vanilla, making sure both are well incorporated.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually fold in about ¼ of the dry ingredients. Do not use your mixer for this–switch to a spatula!
- Fold in ¼ of the buttermilk until just combined.
- Repeat this process until you’ve added all the flour and buttermilk and your batter is completely combined. Remember, be careful not to over-mix!
- Divide the batter into your cupcake liners, filling ⅔-¾ of the way full. Do not overfill your liners, or you will have a mess on your hands. It’s better to discard any leftover batter versus trying to cram it into the liners.
- Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs or clean.
SAM’S TIP: Over-mixing when adding the flour and buttermilk will cause your cupcakes to be dense and dry. You don’t want to under-mix (this is just as bad!), but do make sure you aren’t too overzealous either.
Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting
- Beat the butter until creamy, then stir in the salt. Gradually add the powdered sugar until completely combined.
- Stir in the vanilla bean paste until incorporated.
- Add the heavy cream as needed until you have a smooth frosting, then beat on high until fluffy.
- Pipe over your completely cooled cupcakes. I use the Ateco 848 tip for this!
SAM’S TIP: If you don’t plan to pipe your frosting as generously as I do here, you can halve the recipe. As written, it makes quite a lot of frosting!
Frequently Asked Questions
Frosted cupcakes will be fine at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days, but note that the fridge tends to dry out the cupcakes.
You can also freeze the cupcakes; just make sure to wrap them well and store in an airtight container. If you are trying to freeze frosted cupcakes, you may want to let the frosting firm up in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before wrapping and storing.
Yes! If you need 24 cupcakes instead of 12, feel free to double this recipe. You will need to double all ingredients (including the leavening agents and vanilla extract).
You could, and it’s even the basis for my birthday cake, but my personal preference for a classic layer cake is my vanilla cake recipe. It’s been one of my most popular recipes for years, so I think you will like it just as much as this one!
Note that if you do choose to make this batter into a cake, it’ll make a single 8″ or 9″ round layer, you will want to double the recipe for a two layer cake.
I shared an exclusive vanilla bean frosting recipe in the recipe card below; it’s the frosting shown in the photos and pairs beautifully with the cupcake recipe, letting the vanilla flavor really shine through the whole cupcake-eating experience. However, here are a few other great options:
Strawberry frosting
Cream cheese frosting
Chocolate frosting
Raspberry buttercream
Coffee frosting
Which frosting do you prefer on your vanilla cupcakes–chocolate or vanilla?
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup (167 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¾ cup (175 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
Vanilla Bean Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream as needed
Recommended Equipment
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 very on medium speed until well creamed and light and fluffy.6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- Add egg and vanilla extract and beat well.1 large egg, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.1 ⅓ cup (167 g) all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Use a spatula (not a mixer!) 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.¾ cup (175 ml) buttermilk
- Continue to alternate until flour mixture and buttermilk are completely combined (I add the flour in 4 parts and the buttermilk in 3) — mix until batter is combined 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 and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs or clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes before carefully removing to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Bean Frosting
- Beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Sprinkle salt over butter and stir again to combine.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon table salt
- Gradually, about ½ cup at a time, add powdered sugar, waiting until each cup is completely mixed before adding more.3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar
- Stir in vanilla bean paste.1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- With mixer on medium-low speed, add the heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time until you have a smooth consistency. Once ingredients are well incorporated, gradually increase speed to high and beat for about 30 seconds.1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Pipe or spread frosting over cooled cupcakes. Top with sprinkles, if desired. This frosting will be fine at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated in an airtight container for about a week.
Notes
Doubling the recipe
This recipe doubles well; double all ingredients.Vanilla bean paste
If you can’t get your hands on vanilla bean paste, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for a classic vanilla frosting.Frosting
This recipe makes enough frosting to generously pile the frosting on each cupcake (as shown in photos). If you want a modest amount of frosting, simply halve the recipe. Note that I previously used my favorite chocolate frosting to decorate these cupcakes instead of vanilla bean buttercream. Feel free to use that recipe if that’s what you prefer, or browse my frosting library for more options like:Nutrition
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.
I originally shared this Vanilla Cupcake Recipe 05/15/2017. Post has been updated and a video added. The recipe remains the same.
Rosalinda
Thanks for sharing this recipe, this is the first time i will make cup cakes and it will be for my Son’s b-day, therefore i would like to make a trial before, so I would like to make only 6, shall I only use half of the portion mentioned for the ingredients?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Rosalinda! Yes, you will want to cut the recipe in half for all ingredients listed. I hope that your son enjoys the vanilla cupcakes. 🙂
Ash
Another great recipe, it tasted AMAZING.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Ashlyn! I am so happy that you enjoyed the vanilla cupcakes! 🙂
Trinidad Ovalle
Hello! I was wondering if the buttermilk could be replace with just plain milk.
Where I live, we don’t have buttermilk or buttermilk extract.
Thank you!
I love your blog!!!!
Sam
Hi Trinidad! I really recommend using buttermilk in these vanilla cupcakes. I actually have a buttermilk substitute that uses regular milk if you don’t have access to buttermilk. 🙂
Trinidad Ovalle
Thank you so much!
Kim H.
Hi Sam!
Do you have any suggestion on how to make these dairy free? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Kim! Potentially you could substitute the butter for oil and the buttermilk for a non-dairy milk, but you would still want to add lemon juice per my buttermilk substitute. I’m not sure how they will turn out, but I’d love to know how it does if you try it. 🙂
Courtney
I made this with gluten free flour as well as oat milk and lemon juice in place of the buttermilk. I used butter as that doesnt bother me the same as milk, but otherwise I substituted things. They came out a but denser than maybe usual but tasted delicious, like cookie dough almost! Thank you
Sam
Thank you so much for the feedback, Courtney! I am so glad you enjoyed the vanilla cupcakes. 🙂
Tammy
I am dying to make these for my granddaughter’s birthday but I only have almond milk. Do you think that would work? I hate to buy milk as the remainder would go to waste…
I’ve tried a couple of your other recipes and loved them so I’m confident this one will be awesome too!
Sam
Hi Tammy! I have not tried it with almond milk. If you use it, I would still recommend using my buttermilk substitute. I’m also worried about the cupcakes being a little more dry than they should be if using almond milk. If you do try it, I would love to know how they turn out. 🙂
Lynette
I loved this recipe! I’ve used it several times and everyone loves them!
Is it possible to use the recipe for a cake?
Sam
Hi Lynette! You can double the recipe and that will make a 2 layer cake or a 9 x 13, or you can use my Vanilla Cake recipe. 🙂
Hillary
Okay, your blog has ruined me for good now. This is the second recipe of yours I’ve tried, and is also one of the absolute best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten–and I hate vanilla cupcakes! Thank you for putting the science behind everything in your posts too, I never would have thought about butters melting sugars and the effects it has, but it seems so obvious now.
I can’t wait to try more and continue to spam your blog with comments about how fat my loved ones and I are getting!
Sam
Thank you so much, Hillary! I am so glad you’ve enjoyed the 2 recipes you tried. I hope you continue enjoying everything and I will always love hearing from you. 🙂
Larry D Akins
Young Lady, these cup cakes are so delicious and moist. They are so light, they are about to fly off the plate !!! . My family just love them. Great recipe . 😀
Sam
I am thrilled to hear this, Larry! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how everyone enjoyed them, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Larry D Akins
I was wondering can I double the recipe or do I make 2 batches to get 24 cups cake
Sam
Hi Larry! Either will work fine, whichever is easier for you. 🙂
Eleni
Hello.can i prepare them and put the frosting a day before the party? Or the frosting must be put on the same day.?
Sam
Hi Eleni! You can put the frosting on a day before the party, that will be totally fine. Enjoy! 🙂
Sherry
I’m hoping to make these for my daughter’s birthday party. How many days ahead of time can they be made and should I refrigerate them? Thanks in advance.
Sam
Hi Sherry! They can last about a week at room temperature in an air tight container. 🙂
Frances
I am looking to make mini cupcakes. Do you have a suggestion for the bake times for mini cupcakes? I am not a baker, do you think I should start checking them at 10 mins? Thanks My daughter and I can’t wait to try out this recipe. We made your vanilla cake and it was fabulous!
Sam
Hi Frances! I am not sure, I haven’t made them as mini cupcakes. I’m sorry. 🙁 If you try it out, let me know how it goes! 🙂
Frances
I split the recipe between mini and regular sized cupcakes. For my oven the regular size took 18 mins. For the mini ones, they took 12 mins. So I would recommend checking starting at 10 mins depending on the oven.
Sam
Thanks Frances!!
Britt
These cupcakes sound amazing, Sam! I love that frosting!
Sam
I hope you love them, Britt! 🙂
Debbie K
These cupcakes look beautiful! I am a cake fan, not a frosting fan, but even the frosting looks good. What size scoop do you use to fill your cupcake tins?
Sam
Hi Debbie! I typically use an ice cream scoop. It’s between 1/3 and 1/4 cup. 🙂
Tiffany Griffin
I would like to make this recipe gluten free and have gluten free flour. Any other recommendations to insure they come out moist?
Sam
Hi Tiffany! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with baking with gluten free flour so I can’t provide any advice here. I’m sorry. 🙁 If you try it, let me know how it turns out please.