Simply Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
These vanilla cupcakes will be your absolute favorite! So fluffy, with an intense vanilla flavor and buttery richness. They have a fine, even crumb, and a perfect dome on top! Sturdy enough to stand up to all sorts of fillings and frostings. You’ll reach for this recipe again and again!
Guess what? I’ve reworked this recipe and come up with something even better! Go check out my Even Simpler, More Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes—-> here.
If you like things simple, unfussed around with, and natural, then you’ll definitely enjoy Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar. I have not been compensated by Zucarmex (the makers of Zulka), but I was given a sample of their product to review. All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own. Visit www.zulca.com or the Zulka Sugar Facebook page, for more great recipe ideas.
I was so pleased when the people at Zulka reached out to me recently, and offered me a sample of their product. (If you aren’t already familiar, Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar is a less-processed, non-GMO version of the granulated sugar we already know and love.) Since I am a huge lover of all things sweet, and ALSO of all things natural, I thought Zulka would be a great fit for me, this blog, and you, my readers!
I knew from the start I wanted to bake up a recipe that really allowed the flavor of the sugar to shine through. Something simple and sweet, that would showcase this lovely product.
Also, I was overwhelmed by the positive response to my chewy peanut butter cookies. It took me by surprise, that such a simple recipe was so well-received, and it got me thinking… maybe I should offer more tried and true basics on Baking a Moment? Kind of silly for me to assume that everybody already has their favorite standby recipes to reach for.
So, today, I’m introducing a new category/recurring series here on Baking a Moment: “Simply Perfect.” I still want to offer you guys some clever and inventive ideas, but I’m also going to arm you with some seriously awesome building-block recipes too! These will be all my favorites, from years of practicing and experimentation! I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do….
- A fine, even crumb.
- A fluffy texture, but not so soft that it couldn’t stand up to filling/frosting.
- A domed top.
- Intense vanilla and buttery flavor.
The recipes I tested are as follows:
Billy’s Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes (tasted great but had a hard crust on top), America’s Test Kitchen White Cake (pillowy soft and delicious, but too delicate), Dorie Greespan’s Perfect Party Cake, via My Baking Addiction (subbing vanilla bean paste), and My Favorite Vanilla Cupcakes, by Cookies and Cups, which was adapted from Back in the Day Bakery.
It was a close race, but in the end, Shelly’s Favorite Vanilla Cupcakes edged out Jamie of My Baking Addiction’s by a hair’s breadth. Mainly by virtue of this simple fact:
Also I thought Shelly’s had a slightly richer flavor, which is probably because of the egg yolk. (But if you’re really going for a snowy white cake, I’d go with Jaimie’s.) And her recipe is so easy to throw together, with only a mixing bowl, paddle, and measuring cup to wash when all’s said and done. All of them were so very delicious though! I’ve only made one slight modification to Shelly’s recipe, and that is the addition of vanilla bean paste. It really amps up the flavor, and it’s a more economical choice than whole vanilla beans.
These little beauties bake up so fluffy and soft, and they can be filled or topped with all sorts of deliciousness. But today, I kept it simple with another “Simply Perfect” recipe: Vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s a little more effort than the straight-up powdered sugar + butter variety, but the satiny-smooth, light-as-air, yet richly indulgent flavor and texture make it more than worth your while!
You are going to love these simple, sweet cupcakes! Sometimes the simplest pleasures can really be the best. Not everything needs to be fussed around with, right? And that goes just as much for sugar as it does for cupcakes.
Here are some of my other “Simply Perfect” recipes:
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Simply Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup (187.5 g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cup (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened, cut into small cubes
- 4 eggs, (large)
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the butter and mix on low speed, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (2-3 minutes).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are well-combined.
- Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup, and beat half this mixture into the flour/butter/eggs.
- Beat on medium speed for 1½ minutes, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture, and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Fill paper liners ⅔ full with batter and bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool completely before topping with Swiss meringue buttercream.
Followed your instructions to a tee. They are absolutely beautiful and yep, simply perfect!
So glad to hear it, Cassandra! Thanks for the great feedback 🙂
Filled them with vanilla pudding and covered them with a chocolate ganache. Boston cream pie cupcakes! Thank you!
What a fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing Cassandra! I’m so glad you enjoyed 😉
Awesome recipe! I’d love to use for my friend’s party. Is there any way to half the recipe?
Thanks Steven! I’m so glad you like this recipe- but if I may I’d love to direct you to this one: https://bakingamoment.com/even-simpler-more-perfect-vanilla-cupcakes/. It’s even better, IMHO! And yes, it halves beautifully; I do it all the time 😉 Good luck and enjoy!
Great! Thank you. 😀
Hi Allie!
I too had the problem of them puffing up too much and then collapsing. The still tasted wonderful, jsut didn’t look good. I’m sure I didn’t underbake them, ad I actually had them in about 7 minutes longer than was suggested. And they were browning on the top. The toothpick came out totally clean. I don’t know what I did wrong! they don’t have cake flour here in the UK so I was making it myself – for every cup of cake flour, do 1 cup of all purpose and replace 2 tablespoons with corn flour. Not sure if I didn’t measure properly. I also didn’t do totally exactly measurements for the baking powder. Would a little tiny bit extra make that difference? The were still yummy and once frosting was on them, they were great, but would just like to improve them for next time. Thanks!!
Hey Danielle! Thanks for reading my blog and trying one of my recipes. This one is really good but did you happen to notice the link at the top of the post? I actually reworked the recipe and reposted, here it is again in case you missed it: https://bakingamoment.com/even-simpler-more-perfect-vanilla-cupcakes/. I think this newer recipe is a lot better and the picture tutorial will hopefully answer lots of questions. Good luck sweetie and thanks again! <3
Hi I’ve made these cupcakes before with great results. Lately, they bake up fine with great domes on them while they are in the oven, and once they cool they sink down into the wrappers. They are nothing at all like the pictures. Any ideas as to why this is happening?
Tee, I’m going to edit the recipe a bit. I’ve gotten similar comments from other readers, and I think it might help if the milk is decreased a bit. Also, I think if you allow the butter to soften before adding it to the dry ingredients, you might have better luck. I’m sorry for the trouble! I will actually be posting a new (and I think better) recipe for vanilla cupcakes in the coming weeks. It’s basically this: https://bakingamoment.com/lemon-greek-yogurt-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting/ but without the lemon. It’s really reliable!
Hi Allie, your chocolate cupcake is now my go-to recipe, now I’m off to try this vanilla cupcake recipe. I checked out Shelley’s site too and noticed the modifications you’ve done to the recipe, i.e, cold butter vs. room temp, equal amount of cake flour and APF vs. 1 3/4 cup cake flour and 1 1/4 cup APF, and lastly 1 1/2 cup milk vs. 1 cup. If you don’t mind, I just want to know the reason behind these modifications and what would be the difference in the outcome between the two. Also, if I use vanilla bean instead, do I still need to add some extract?
Hey Grace! Thanks for the great questions. Actually, you’ve reminded me that I need to go back and re-edit the recipe a little bit. I think you’d be better off listening to Shelley about the butter- I’ve tried it a few times since publishing this post, both ways, and I do think that softened butter works better. The reason I changed the ratio of cake flour/ap flour is because the cake flour results in a softer, fluffier cake, and in this case I thought it needed a little more sturdiness. The extra milk seemed to give a little added moisture. But honestly, all that said, I think I actually have an even better vanilla cupcake recipe now. I’ve yet to post it as such, but if you have a look at this post: https://bakingamoment.com/lemon-greek-yogurt-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting/, I think you will really like this recipe. (Just leave out the lemon.) That little bit of acidity from the yogurt, along with the baking soda, really yields a nice texture. And I think it would work equally well with buttermilk, sour cream, or regular plain yogurt, if you have difficulty finding Greek yogurt. As for your question about vanilla, it’s totally up to you, how vanilla-y you like your cupcakes to be. I personally would probably double up with bean + extract, just because I love the flavor so much 😉
That’s perfect, I still have some leftover greek yogurt from when I made your chocolate cupcake! I knew there was a reason why I was not able to bake these vanilla cupcakes today. Off to try that other recipe later! Will let you know how it goes! 🙂
Hi Allie, I followed your advise and adapted the Lemon Greek Yogurt Cupcake recipe (sans the lemon juice and zest) and they were indeed delicious! It is now my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe! I halved the recipe as I wanted to see first if I can make it by hand (can’t use the mixer as the baby was napping). I just used a wooden spoon and spatula. I was actually surprised that I was able to achieve the coarse crumb consistency with just a wooden spoon! And no, I don’t have strong biceps. I just mixed it slowly, gently mashing the butter with the wooden spoon so it incorporates with the flour. Quite cathartic actually. I think mixing it by hand also helped as I tend to over mix when I use a stand mixer. The cupcakes turned out moist, light, fine crumbed yet sturdy. So yes, you can do the reverse creaming method by hand, just make sure all ingredients are room temp. Can’t thank you enough for ending my quest for the perfect chocolate and vanilla cupcakes!
That’s so great, Grace! I’m so happy you had such a great experience, and thank you so much for sharing it! So good to know it can be made easily without a mixer. Thanks for the great feedback, dear!
Yes please do! I think you will have better success with that recipe. And you’ve motivated me to post it as my new favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, so hopefully that will be up soon 😉
Hi! I’m from Singapore and I just tried this recipe today. The cupcakes fluffed up after about 25 mins but when it cooled, it sank and was quite dense even though the flavour was really good. I’m unsure if I had underbeaten it as it was quite runny when I scooped the batter into the cupcake holders, or was it underbaked? And did you use a paddle attachment to beat the batter? Thanks!
Hi Grace! Thanks so much for reading my blog and trying one of my recipes. I did use the paddle attachment. I think perhaps your cupcakes may have been underbaked. Every oven can be slightly different, and different altitudes can play a part in baking as well. Don’t pull the cupcakes from the oven until the tops spring back when pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Thanks again and good luck!
Hi! I made this recipe this morning, but I used frozen sliced peaches that I had leftover from peach season here in Michigan. I thawed the peaches and put them in a strainer while I was preparing the other ingredients. Then I roughly chopped up the peaches (actually it was more like crushing them because they were so soft) and then I added them to the batter. They turned out great! Very peachy! It was nice to bring back a little bit of summer considering we have been stuck in a never-ending winter.
opps! I meant to post this on the peach muffin recipe!
Oh! That sounds wooooonderful!!! I could use some sunny peachy cupcakes in my life! I’m so happy to hear that the recipe adapted so well. Thanks so much for sharing, Hilary, and hang in there! I’m hoping this March will go out like a lamb…
Hi!!! I just discovered your blog and I loved it … I will try more than one of your recipes. Thanks for publishing.
I have a question, I live in Madrid, Spain and I don´t know this kind of cake flour. Can I use any other brand of cake flour?
Hi Auxai! And thank you so much for your kind words! Absolutely you can use any kind of cake flour you like. I often use the Softasilk brand, or Swan’s Down, whatever I can find on my supermarket shelf. Thanks so much for the excellent question and for stopping by! 😀
Hi Allie,
I’ve finally found a go to vanilla cupcake recipe and frosting – thank you! One question though, why do you add your butter in cubes & cold? I do this for my scones and other more dense pastries where I want to make them more airy and ‘fluffy’, but I’ve never heard of doing this with cupcakes, especially ones using cake flour. I must admit, that was my variation from your recipe…I creamed the butter, then added in the sugar until it was light and fluffy, added the eggs one at a time, and then, alternating, added the flour mixture with the milk/vanilla mixture. They came out absolutely divine – very light and just a beautiful flavour. I’m curious to try your method, but I’m so used to creaming the butter and sugar when I bake cupcakes that I’m not terribly interested in changing this either. Will be curious to hear if you’ve made this recipe using both methods and what differences you see between the methods.
Cheers!
Julie
Hi Julie! I’m so happy you like these cupcakes as much as I do! And glad to know that it works equally well with the traditional creaming method. I had not tried doing it that way, although I do often use that method for many other recipes. This method has been dubbed the “reverse creaming” method and I really like it, just for its ease. You can read more about it here: http://bakeoutsidethebox.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-reverse-creaming-method.html. I’ve actually gone back and forth between using cold butter and softened butter and I truthfully can’t decide which offers better results. But I really do love the reverse creaming method because it’s so foolproof and just one bowl to wash! Lol… Thanks for the great question, Julie!
Hi! I am really excited to try this recipe but can you do it without the vanilla paste? I do have the liquid extract. Would a scraped vanillabean do? Also I often find that after my cupcakes are done in the oven the wrapper tends to go loose sometimes or that the dome that they had has sunken in. Anything I missed? When my oven beeps as its finished I turn it off and leave them in there untill they are completely cool, so the door hasnt been opened at all since they went in. Would be great if I can finally perfect my cupcakes! 🙂
Hi Romina! You can certainly substitute vanilla extract for the paste. The paste just gives a more intense vanilla flavor. Scraped vanilla beans would be great too! Sometimes my wrapper comes loose too and I think it’s often the wrapper that’s the problem, not the cake. Grease-proof cupcake liners are great if you can get your hands on them. As for your dome, is this a problem you’ve experienced with this particular recipe here? If so I’m really not sure- I’ve had a lot of success with this recipe and one of the things I love about it is how it always gives me such a pretty dome…
hi allie..
i really love your website . I have tried your chocolate cupcakes and they were so delicious. TQ for all the recipes. I wanna ask u about this vanilla cupcake recipe..can i use the recipe for my rainbow cake or ombre cake?previously i used the doris green white party cake.
TQ
Hey Rafidah! Thanks so much for reading my blog and trying my recipes! The chocolate cupcake recipe is one of my absolute favorites, if not my very favorite, recipe. I really like the vanilla cupcake recipe too, but I will admit that I’ve had some readers who had trouble with it. I would urge you to read through the comments on the post, and judge for yourself. I don’t really now enough about your rainbow ombre cake to tell you for certain, but I will say that I found the vanilla cupcakes to be really tasty and easy to make!
hi allie.
tq so much for the reply. appreciate it much. ombre cake is just the same as rainbow heheh…its just that it use the same color but different tone so white party cake recipe is normally used here. i will give ur recipe a try and update u on the result. As for the chocolate cupcake…pls pls share me your favourite recipe hehehhe…wanna give it a try….muahhhhhhhh
The chocolate cupcake recipe, I thought you said you’d tried it…??? Sorry I guess I misunderstood. It’s this one: https://bakingamoment.com/simply-perfect-chocolate-cupcakes/. So SO good, and all my readers love it too. I’ve yet to hear a bad word about these babies! I hope you enjoy and do let me know how the ombre cake works out for you! I’d love to hear about your experience.
Hi~ I made these cupcakes today and the cake was delicious, perfectly moist and crumby. I need help with the buttercream frosting though. It turned out very heavy and thick, not silky at all. They still tasted amazing, but I wasn’t able to pipe them. Suggestions?
Thanks for the recipe once again! The photography was equally well done 🙂
Thank you Melissa! I’m so happy you liked the cupcakes, and appreciative for your readership and that you tried one of my recipes 🙂 I am so, so sorry about the buttercream though! I cannot imagine what went wrong?!? Swiss Meringue Buttercream is my favorite, for sure, but some people don’t like it because it’s less sweet or just a little different and unfamiliar. But I have never heard of it coming out so thick that it can’t be piped. I really wish I could offer some solution but I really am stumped! I’m so sorry dear!
Hi – so I made these today bc I fell in love with yours, however they were a tad doughy … I wonder if i use 100% cake flour if that will lighten it up? Or sift both flours before adding? And perhaps bake longer?
Hi Sweet tooth! I’d definitely bake a bit longer- if they’re doughy they probably need more time in the oven. If you stick in a skewer or toothpick and it comes out gooey then bake for a few extra minutes and then check again. Every oven is a little different, y’know? They aren’t done until the toothpick comes out clean. Thanks, and good luck!
You are the comment queen! I had to scroll down a mile to tell you that these look fabulous! My readers are ultra-shy, so this is fun! Anyway, just wanted to say YUM and that I pinned this mouth-watering creation. 🙂
Wow that’s great to hear! Thanks so much for pinning, Mariel, and for the opportunity to contribute! I had a lot of fun 😀
I’m so excited to try this recipe after your trial to find out which recipe seems best!
My brother is having a wedding on short notice this Friday, and I really want to bring vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream for the dinner after the ceremony. After all, how can it be a wedding with no cake?! 🙂
I know many people think vanilla is boring, but I don’t think it is when it’s done right, and hopefully it’s a safe choice for a variety of preference since I don’t know the bride’s family at all.
Fingers crossed I can find the vanilla bean paste today because I’m dying to try that instead of regular vanilla extract. Even if I can’t find it locally I’m definitely buying some later to have on hand.
I’ll definitely report back to let you know how the cupcakes turn out!
Congrats to your brother, Diana Lee! That’s so exciting. I think vanilla/vanilla is a perfect way to celebrate a wedding, especially when you go the extra mile to do everything from scratch. I think your friends and family will really enjoy this. I’m told that the vanilla bean paste is sold at Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table, but if you can’t get it at either of those places, there is a link within the post to an online mail order source. It’s a great ingredient to keep on hand for all sorts of uses; I just love it! Good luck and thanks for reading!
Hey Allie,
Great recipe! I tried these and they turned out great with the frosting. One issue i had, and not sure if you’ve ever had it or can help diagnose, is that without the frosting they tasted very eggy. If you can understand what I mean by that. Not sure if my eggs were too large – i bought large eggs, but not larger than normal – or if something in my technique caused it. Any help is appreciated!
Btw, the simple chocolate recipe was TDF (to die for)! Thanks!
Yay! I love the chocolate too- my FAVORITE!
Hi Maggie! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! I’m not sure about the eggy thing… I haven’t had any other readers mention anything like that. I think you did the right thing- I always use large eggs for baking. So, I’m sorry but I’m really not sure!