Even Simpler, More Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
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Vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch! Super easy recipe made in just one bowl, with an incredibly moist texture and rich vanilla flavor.
*This vanilla cupcake recipe originally published on May 1, 2014. I thought it was about time it was updated. So, I've added a few answers to some frequently asked questions. Hopefully, you'll enjoy these vanilla cupcakes as much as my family and I do!*
This post has been a long time coming.
My Simply Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes recipe has been one of the most popular (and commented upon!) posts on Baking a Moment since it was published back in July. But there were a few issues, and a lot of questions I wish I had addressed within the post.
And I just keep getting pickier and pickier. After a while, it started to bug me that the batter was a bit drippy. I'm a tough one to please! And for me to want to keep making a recipe, over and over, it has to meet all of the following prerequisites:
- The taste has to be amazing.
- The texture has to be spot on (for a cupcake, this means moist and tender, but sturdy enough to stand up to lots of yummy frosting).
- It has to be relatively easy to make.
- The process of making it should result in as little mess as is humanly possible.
This new and improved vanilla cupcake recipe hits on all cylinders.
WHAT MAKES THIS VANILLA CUPCAKE RECIPE SPECIAL?
The flavor is bangin', rich and buttery with a big hit of aromatic vanilla.
It bakes up moist and soft, with a fine crumb and a slightly domed top.
The method for making the batter is simple as can be, and because it utilizes the reverse creaming method (more on that here), you're looking at a one-bowl wonder. One that will not leave messy drips all over your counter and cupcake pan 😉
This newer vanilla cupcake recipe is based upon the last one, with a little tweak here, a little tweak there.
The key difference between this one and the last is the addition of sour cream. The final result won't taste sour, but the acid in the yogurt reacts with the baking soda to help the cupcakes puff up and hold a nice dome.
And it makes the batter so nice and thick, with an airy texture almost like whipped cream.
HOW TO MAKE THIS VANILLA CUPCAKE RECIPE
Start by combining all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together just until combined.
I like to use cake flour, because it's got less gluten than all purpose flour, and so it results in a lighter, more tender cake. You can read more about that here: Why Use Cake Flour.
You can find it at the regular supermarket, on the same shelf with all the other flours, or you can just order it online: Cake Flour.
Add the soft butter, and mix until it resembles damp sand. This should only take about a minute or so.
After the butter has been worked in, you can add the eggs. One at a time, and make sure each one is completely incorporated before adding the next.
I love this kind of paddle attachment- it has a silicone edge that reaches all the way to the bottom of the bowl, so you know all the ingredients are well incorporated. And you don't have to keep stopping the mixer to scrape the bowl.
Finally, add the sour cream, milk, and vanilla.
When it comes to ingredients that add flavor, I recommend using the highest quality. I often cut costs with generic sugar and baking soda, but when it comes to butter and vanilla, invest and indulge! It makes such a difference!
You'll see the leavening start to activate right away! The batter is really thick and almost airy. I love it!
Please, please, please, do not overfill your cupcake papers. This vanilla cupcake recipe puffs up in the oven, a lot, and you don't want mushroom tops. Maybe that's ok for a muffin, but not a cupcake!
No more than half full. I've made and remade this recipe, and if you fill 24 cups equally, you should be good. I use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop, a little less than 2 scoops per cupcake. So that's about 3 tablespoons of batter to a cupcake.
HOW TO BAKE VANILLA CUPCAKES
Now for a few words about baking. I cannot stress enough that you must check your cupcakes. Set the timer for a minute less that the recipe states (to avoid overbaking).
This is across the board, not just with this recipe, but with ALL recipes.
Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or bamboo skewer into the thickest part of your cake. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, you are good to go. If it's gooey or there are lots of sticky crumbs clinging to it, add a minute to the timer and then check 'em again.
Ovens are tricky. No two are exactly the same. Some run hot, some cold. Some are hot in one area and cold in another. (Try to position the rack in the middle of your oven, so the heat can circulate evenly, all around.) I keep a little oven thermometer in mine so I can be sure it's calibrated correctly, or if not, I can adjust accordingly.
WHAT KIND OF FROSTING TO USE ON VANILLA CUPCAKES
These cupcakes taste wonderful with all sorts of frostings! I personally love them with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but they are also just heavenly with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Or Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Can you tell I like Swiss meringue buttercream?
But for today's post I wanted to keep it on the simpler side, so I've used this Whipped Cream Frosting, which contains a little bit of cream cheese to keep it stable.
It's really fluffy and light, and has just a hint of sweetness to it.
I use this kind of pastry bag for piping, and this kind of tip.
Check out the video on my Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes post, to learn how to pipe a tall swirl like what you in these pics.
CAN THIS VANILLA CUPCAKE RECIPE BE MADE AHEAD?
If you want to make these cupcakes ahead, you totally can! Just keep them unfrosted. They'll keep well in an airtight container, for up to 3 days at room temperature, in the fridge for a week and a half or so, and for months in the freezer!
Thaw at room temperature and then frost and decorate however you like!
Hopefully I didn't leave anything out, but if you have a question I didn't answer, please feel free to leave me a comment below.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and have lots of success with it! There's just nothing better than a homemade cupcake, from scratch, especially if it's this easy to make!
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Even Simpler, More Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) cake flour*
- ¾ cup (93.75 g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon (4.5 g) kosher salt, (scant)
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) unsalted butter, (1 ½ sticks), softened
- 2 (100 g) large eggs
- ⅔ cup (153.33 g) sour cream, (Greek yogurt or buttermilk** can be substituted)
- ½ cup (122 g) milk
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla bean paste, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with papers.
- Place the cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer, and stir on low speed to combine.
- Add the butter, mixing on medium-low speed until the mixture resembles damp sand (about a minute).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Add the sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste. Stir until fully combined.
- Fill the papers half full and bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Notes
** If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute by stirring 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice into ⅔ cup of regular milk. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes, or until thickened and slightly curdled.
*** This cupcake recipe can also be baked in three 6-inch diameter, two 8-inch or 9-inch diameter cake pans, or in a 9x13-inch pan. Bake times may need to be extended. You'll know your cake is done baking when a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean. Click here for the layer cake version of this recipe: Perfect Vanilla Cake Recipe. Some other cupcake recipes you might enjoy:
The cupcakes shunk up when they cooled. Have you had that happen ever? It is the strangest thing. The tops are all puckered and have "fallen" now that they are cooled.
Hi Lisa! It used to happen to me from time to time too. Then I found this article: http://www.itsyummi.com/why-cake-sank-in-the-middle/. There are some really great tips there. I learned a lot and it's really helped me to get better results with cakes. I hope you find it useful too!
Looks so yummy! Can i make a 9x13 sheet cake with this recipe?
Hey Jenny! I haven't tried it myself so I can't be sure. If it works out for you please let us know! Thanks so much for reading and for the great question 🙂
Hello. I just wanted say this recipe is "holy grail"!! I have always been weary making cupcakes for fear of being dense and tasteless, but I tried your recipe and they turned out amazing! I knew they were going to be amazing when I saw the batter. I really do like the reverse creaming method, as I had the most silkiest, aerated batter! I took your advice you gave to another commenter and used 1/2cup buttermilk to replace the milk/yogurt, and they came out perfect (coming from a first time cupcake baker)! I think it also helps to use a timer to prevent over mixing. Thank you for sharing your recipes and I'm gonna try to make this buttercream!
That's wonderful Balencia! Thank you so much for sharing your positive feedback. I'm so happy you liked the process and the outcome! xoxo
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I made a batch of the vanilla and a batch of the simple chocolate cupcakes from this site for my 3 yr olds birthday party. They are great because they are quick to whip up, make very little mess (only 1 bowl, 1 half cup measure, 1 spatula, and 1 teaspoon dirty!), taste great and freeze well. Great for a busy parent! I made them 2 weeks before the event and froze them and they defrosted beautifully on the day.
By the way, when substituting ground flax seed for eggs in party cupcakes, I always prefer to use Melrose brand ground yellow flax as it is ground very fine and you can't see it in the batter. When making muffins, or more hearty baked goods I use Bob's Red Mill ground brown flax which is a coarser grind and results in a 'healthier' look and feel. Different brands produce different binding properties so it pays to experiment.
Thank you so much Kathryn, for the awesome feedback and the great tips! I've never worked with flax eggs before so this is really useful info. I'm so happy you liked the recipe! And happy belated birthday to your little one 🙂
Hi Allie, we really swear by this recipe, it is the only vanilla cupcake recipe that I use. However, one of the kids at my daughter's new school has an egg allergy and I am planning to bring cupcakes for her coming birthday. Would you know of a substitute for eggs in this recipe?
Ok, now, I've never tried this, but I've heard you can make an egg substitute out of ground flax seeds + warm water. Evidently if you allow it to sit for a little while it gels up and has a similar texture to an egg. I can't vouch for how well it will work but it's probably worth a try! Here's another resource you can check out: http://chefinyou.com/egg-substitutes-cooking/. I hope that helps! And thank you so much for the sweet compliments! Good luck Grace and be sure to let us know how you make out, k? 🙂
You can substitute eggs with chai seeds. You soak chai seeds in warm water and add into the batter- the mixture is very gelatine like. I've used in all of my baking and it works! The proportion can be looked up in Google. I hope this tip helps!
Thanks so much for the great tip Tanya! I've never used chia seeds but I know that flax seeds work in the same way. Very useful info!
Thanks for the recipe. These are delicious!
My pleasure, Melanie! I'm so happy you enjoyed them; thank you so much for letting me know!
Dear Allie,
I saw this amazing recipe and made these today 🙂
At first when I took them out of the oven they looked great, but then by the time I served them, 5 hours later they had sort of shrunk and condensed (although they still tasted pretty great and everyone loved them!).
Do you have any advice on why this happens and how to avoid it?
Best, Juliane
PS: I served them with your Chocolate Swiss Meringue Butter Cream, which I made for the first time, and I love it, it's so nice and light compared to regular butter cream 🙂
Hey Juliane! Thanks so much for reading my blog and trying one of my recipes! I'm so glad you liked the taste but sorry about the shrinking. In my experience that has happened when either a) they are a little bit underbaked, or b) I wrap them up or cover them before they are 100% cool. Sometimes the oven temperature has something to do with it. I would try baking them at a little higher temperature next time, and see if that helps. I'm so glad you liked the buttercream too, isn't it just so dreamy???
I followed your advice and and I also bought spoon measurements to make sure that I use exactly the right amount of baking powder and baking soda and they turned out beautiful and are not shrinking. Yay 🙂
Do you know why sometimes cupcake bake so that instead of being flat on top, they don't reach all the way up to the top of the cupcake paper on the sides but they are domed in the middle?
Great! I'm so glad it's working for you now. The dome can be caused by too much leavening in the recipe and/or too high of an oven temperature. Also it sounds like maybe you could fill your papers a little more. I personally prefer a little bit of a dome on my cupcakes but if you like them flat then maybe try baking at a lower temperature. Good luck and thanks again for reading!
Dear Allie,
Thanks so much for all your advice!
I just have one more question, hope you don't mind 🙂
Which tip did you use for the piping the cupcakes in the pictures above? I love the way they look! 🙂
Best,
Juliane
No problem, Juliane! It's an open star tip. I believe it's 1M. Good luck and have fun!
These cupcakes look beautiful and I must try them! Never made them with yogurt and I'm curious how they are bona turn! Pinning!
Thanks for pinning, Mira! I think you will really like these, they are a family favorite around here!
Hi Allie! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will definitely try this. I have a couple of questions thou, Is it okay to use canola oil instead of butter? If yes, can I still follow the direction on the recipe (dry ingredients+butter+remaining ingredients)? And can I use whole milk/pure milk instead? I would really appreciate your response on this. Thank you! 🙂
Hi Twisted Sunshine! Sorry for the late reply... I have never tried it with canola oil, so I'm not really sure. As for the milk substitution, I don't think I would because it won't give you the acidity you need to activate the baking soda. Maybe try sour cream instead, if you aren't a fan of Greek Yogurt? Or buttermilk? I hope that helps! Good luck and thank you so much for reading!
Hello Allie! I have tried this recipe and I just want to thank you for sharing this gem! Bakes up beautifully fluffy!
Do you think substituting the Greek yoghurt with plain, natural yoghurt will affect the texture? I love Greek yoghurt but it is a tad costly in my part of the world. I am planning to bake a lot of these cupcakes. Thanks!
Hey Sadie! Sorry for the late reply... I would think you can probably sub plain yogurt- but the batter will be a little runnier because of the higher moisture content. Just make sure it's plain yogurt and not vanilla or fruit-flavored because those have added sugar and it might throw off the "chemistry" of the recipe. I'm so happy you like them! Let me know how you make out with plain yogurt, ok? I'm curious to hear. 😉
I am planning on making a ton of cupcakes for a kids birthday party and don't really feel like splurging on pastry flour (5 yo don't care that much 🙂 ). The corn starch can says I can mix the corn starch and ap flour and get the same results as cake flour, do you know if that's really true?
I haven't actually tried it myself but I have seen that formula floating around the web quite a bit- so I think it should work! Good luck and let me know, k? Thanks Yulia!
How do I love this recipe? Let me count the ways...
1) I love how amazingly moist and fluffy it is - have searched around for the perfect basic butter cake recipe, and this is IT.
2) I love the flavour that comes from adding the perfect amount of vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste
3) I love how the sugar level is just right, making it only mildly rather than tooth-achingly sweet
4) I love how it doesn't dry out even after refrigeration
5) I love how this for teaching me the reverse creaming method - how have I not heard about it before after being a home baker for more than 4 years??
6) I love how versatile it is - lemon cupcakes? just rub in some lemon zest! chocolate chips? fold them in!
7) I love how it bakes up perfectly as a 9" round cake that can be sliced into 2 layers, 20mins at 325 and it doesn't dome too much nor crack
I could go on, but 7 is the number of perfection, and perfect this most certainly is.
Thank you so much for the awesome feedback! I am so thrilled that you like the recipe as much as I do. Your comment is much appreciated and very useful as well (thank you for letting us know how to bake it into a cake). <3 <3 <3
Just wondering if i can use wholewheat flour for this recipe?
Hi Sabrina! I've never tried it with whole wheat flour- I'd be curious how it'd work...? I'd probably recommend using whole wheat pastry flour rather than regular whole wheat flour, just because I'd imagine regular whole wheat flour may be a bit heavy. Let me know if you try it/have success, ok? And thanks so much for reading!
Oh and one more thing, will this quantity be enough for a single layer 8 inch round cake? Sorry for the trouble!
No trouble at all- I think you should definitely have enough batter for an 8-inch round. Maybe even enough for two layers. Good luck!
I made these cupcakes and they by far were the best!! It was so good that I'm wondering if I could make this into a cake rather than cupcakes. Would it work? Could I use the same temperature? I am planning to bake this for a party very soon, so thanks in advance for your reply 🙂
Hi Madhu! Thanks so much for reading my blog and trying one of my recipes! I'm so glad you were happy with it. I have baked it into a cake and it's worked really well. You could do it at the same temperature and have a really nice result, but when I bake layer cakes I typically like to lower the oven temp by about 25 degrees F and increase the bake time as required. I find that the cake bakes more evenly that way and there's usually less of a hump in the middle. I don't mind a hump on a cupcake but I hate it on a layer cake because so much is wasted in levelling it off. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
Thank you very much! I will definitely be giving it a go!
Hi Allie,
would it be okay to add 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup butter instead of the whole 1/2 cup butter? I was reading a post about oil+butter base cakes taste better with better texture. whats your opinion on this?
Hi Shannice! I've never tried it myself but it sounds like a pretty good idea. Oil does make for a really moist cupcake and light too. I'm anxious to hear how it works out for you! Will you stop back and let me know? Good luck!