Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
This homemade vanilla cupcake recipe isn’t short of pure vanilla flavor! The cupcakes are moist, and the buttercream is smooth and creamy. This is the perfect dessert for any occasion!
If you think vanilla cupcakes are boring, you’ve clearly been eating the wrong ones.
When done properly, homemade vanilla cupcakes are moist, tender, and full of vanilla flavor. I’m happy to report that these cupcakes tick all the boxes, and then some!
I topped these vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting to stick with the vanilla theme, but you’re welcome to use any flavor of frosting you’d like. You can even add a few drops of food coloring to transform the cupcakes into a special holiday treat.
This scratch recipe is almost as easy to prepare as a box mix, but with 10 times more flavor!
Recipe Ingredients
This truly is the best vanilla cupcake recipe, in terms of both results and ingredients. It uses everyday ingredients I always have on hand, which is perfect for last-minute entertaining.
Here’s a quick summary of the key ingredients needed to make them:
- Flour: Be sure to spoon the flour out of the bag and into your measuring cup. If you scoop the flour out of the bag with the measuring cup, you’ll end up compacting it and will measure out too much by mistake. I have a full post that explains more about the spoon and level method here.
- Unsalted butter: I always use unsalted butter for baked goods because the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between brands. You may use salted butter in the cupcake batter, but you will need to reduce the salt to 1/8 teaspoon.
- Sugar: You’ll need one cup of granulated sugar to make the cupcake batter. These cupcakes are sweet, but the sugar doesn’t outshine the vanilla flavor.
- Vanilla extract: The vanilla is the star of the show, so it’s important to use a good-quality bottle. Pure vanilla extract is preferred.
- Sour cream: Full-fat sour cream adds moisture to the cupcakes and also ensures they’re sturdy enough to hold a lot of frosting while still remaining light and fluffy.
- Heavy cream: Produces the richest vanilla frosting, but whole milk or half and half will also work.
How to Make Vanilla Cupcakes
This is such an easy vanilla cupcake recipe that bakers of all levels can master. I’ve provided detailed instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here’s an overview of the baking process.
First, you’ll make the cupcakes:
- Prep the baking pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 14 cupcakes, so you’ll either need to use a second muffin pan or you can bake the cupcakes in batches.
- Combine the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy. This step may take about 4 to 5 minutes, so be patient! Then, add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream.
- Finish the batter: Add the dry ingredients to the wet, taking care not to overmix the batter.
- Bake: Divide the batter among 14 cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make the vanilla frosting:
- Beat the butter: Using either a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients: Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and mix until combined, then mix in the heavy cream on low speed until smooth.
- Frost the cupcakes: Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, you may frost them. I have a full tutorial on how to frost cupcakes, if you need some assistance!
Can This Recipe Be Made in Advance?
Absolutely! The cupcakes can be baked 24 hours in advance. Let them cool completely, then store in an airtight container on your countertop. The frosting can be prepared 1 to 2 days in advance as well. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Allow the frosting to come to room temperature on the counter, then frost the cupcakes.
The frosted cupcakes may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge one to two days ahead of time. If you store them in the fridge, I’d recommend letting them come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
Can the Sour Cream Be Substituted?
I highly recommend using full-fat sour cream in this vanilla cupcake recipe if at all possible. The cupcakes won’t taste like sour cream at all, it simply adds moisture to the cupcakes.
If you’re out of sour cream, you may replace it with an equal amount of plain Greek yogurt. In a pinch, buttermilk will work, just note that using buttermilk will somewhat alter the texture of the cupcakes.
Can This Recipe Be Used to Make a Cake?
Yes, you can bake the batter in one 9-inch round cake pan and increase the baking time to 30 minutes. For a layered cake, you may double the recipe or try my classic vanilla cake recipe instead.
Other Frosting Options
I paired these vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting, but you can top them with any flavor of frosting you’d like. Here are a few other options that you can try:
- Strawberry Frosting
- Peanut Butter Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Ermine Frosting
Baking Tips
- Bring all of the ingredients (eggs, butter, sour cream, etc.) to room temperature for best results. This helps the batter come together more evenly and makes for a better cupcake.
- Only mix in the dry ingredients until just combined! Over mixing the batter can lead to dense cupcakes.
- Make sure to only fill each cupcake liner a little over halfway full. It won’t seem like much, but the cupcakes will rise quite a bit as they’re baking in the oven.
- You must wait to frost the cupcakes until they’ve cooled completely to room temperature. If you try to frost them when they’re still warm, the frosting will melt and slide off.
More Easy Cupcake Recipes to Make!
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
Recipe Video
Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (165 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (115 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup full fat sour cream (120 grams)
Vanilla Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (230 grams)
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar (360 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream (30ml)
Instructions
To make the vanilla cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second muffin pan with 2 liners (this recipe will make 14 cupcakes). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Add in the sour cream and mix until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them a little over half way full. You should end up with exactly 14 cupcakes.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Remove all of the cupcakes from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.
- Add in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla and mix on low until fully combined. Slowly add in the heavy cream and mix on low speed until the frosting is smooth and well combined.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.
Notes
Thank you! This is the only cupcake recipe you will ever need! I subbed the sour cream for creme fraiche, and it turned out perfect..light, perfect texture & decadently delicious . Tbh it did not even need the frosting, so I left them as is
I threw the first batch in the trash, beacuse they were inedible, all you could taste was sugar, I can’t even imagine how it tastes if you also add the buttercream. But I had to substiute the sour cream for buttermilk so maybe the sour cream would balance it more. For the next batch i halved the sugar content and they were still very sweet, but delicious! Very moist and tasty, perfect in shape for decorating, so all in all, I will use the recipe again (just with less sugar :)).
Hi these are so delicious. I found them very dense and not as light as fluffy as I had hoped. Thoughts on what I did? Daughter added food colour and we mixed more than I would have. Maybe over mixing could cause that?
Hi, Sabrina! Over mixing can cause cupcakes to be denser. If you make them again, I would add the food coloring before adding the dry ingredients just to avoid over mixing the batter.
Hi! I made the cupcakes but haven’t frosted them yet. I can’t wait to surprise my son for his bday. Can I use granulated sugar for the frosting? Trying to avoid another grocery store trip….Thanks!
Hi, Maggie! You’ll need powdered sugar for the frosting, granulated sugar would make it too soft and gritty. If you have a powerful blender, you can blend granulated sugar into powdered sugar.
My cake came out very dense and didn’t rise. The batter was very thick also before it baked. Any idea what went wrong?
Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out well for you, Anita. Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour and have you checked your baking powder to make sure it’s still fresh.
Hello,
For the cupcake recipe, it calls for sour cream. If I don’t have sour cream available would it be okay to substitute it with milk?
You can use milk, but it will change the texture of the cupcakes and they won’t be quite as moist.
Hi Danielle! I love your recipes and they are so helpful. But I have a problem. In my country they don’t sell heavy cream! I’ve tried supermarkets, but they don’t. I made your buttercream without heavy cream and it still was so delish!! I just need you to help me with the heavy cream situation for recipes that need it!! Thanks.
It really depends on the recipe. For my frosting recipes, you can replace the heavy whipping cream with milk.
Hi! Excited to try this recipe today. However can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Yes, that’s fine. Cake flour is lighter than all-purpose flour though, so you’ll want to use 1 and 1/2 cups of cake flour.
After trying 2 previous recipes, this one was by far the best and produced perfect cupcakes. Love love love!!
I have made this recipe so many times, its my go to recipe! One time i wound up not having enough granulated sugar so i had to throw in about 2 tablespoons worth of confectioners sugar and the cupcakes turned out so light and fluffy. I made them the same way since. This recipe over all is a 6/5 stars, best recipe ever.
Hi.. is it ok to substitute the sour cream for whipping cream- not whipped that is?
I honestly haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure.
Hi, I just have 6 muffin pan. Can I seperate for the baking? Is it okay for the dough to wait ?
Yes, that’s fine. I would just bake the last few as soon as your pan has cooled. If you let it sit for too long the last few cupcakes may not rise quite as high.
I just made these now. Turned out perfect!!! ? so happy
Can I use just egg whites?
I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but I do have a white cake recipe here that uses just egg whites.
hiiii
it says the cupcake requires sour cream but what if I don’t have sour cream, what else can I use instead of sour cream?
You can use plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt.
Everyone loves this cupcake! Even the non-vanilla cake people! I want to use the same recipe for 2 eight inch cake pans (for a layer cake). Should I double the recipe?
Yes, I would double it for that.
Hello from Singapore!
We’ve made 3 batches of your recipe and it’s amazing! So simple yet delish, my 4.5 y.o daughter especially loves the frosting! Thank you so much!
Can this be used for a sheet cake pretty well? My family loves the recipe as cupcakes but wanted to try it as a cake. Any experience with that?
I haven’t made it as a sheet cake, but I imagine that you could. I’m not sure if you would need to increase the recipe though, it will depend on the size of your pan too.
Thank you for a super delicious and super easy recipe to follow. My 11 year old daughter and I backed these for my anniversary. And our entire family loved them. We are not huge frosting people so I cut the frosting recipe in half and it worked great.
My cupcakes are not rising and still wet inside. I’m not sure what went wrong? Followed everything to a t .
Hi, Danielle! Have you checked your baking powder to make sure it’s still fresh? And did you double check the measurements on all of the ingredients you used too?
These cupcakes are delightful!
This recipe for Vanilla cupcakes was used in my FIRST EVER attempt at baking from scratch. I have also made the Red Velvet cupcakes described on this site. My family has LOVED them!
Thanks for the great recipes and the creation of a new baker. ❤️❤️
I just made a batch. Baked them in a jumbo 6-muffin tin and they are absolutely delicious. Followed the recipe exactly. The flavor reminds me of Christmas sugar cookies. We are eating them warm as we speak with no frosting. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks.
followed recipe exactly. made them in a jumbo muffin tin and cooked it 10 minutes long, turns out fabulous! great recipe, thank you.
I made this recipe and it turned out perfectly. Light, airy and fluffy cupcakes. My icing almost broke so I’m not quite sure what happened there but it was still delicious. The cupcake recipe was fantastic. I thought 2 tsp of almond extract would be too much but it really wasn’t. They don’t taste overly almond-y. These cupcakes are SO light, I can’t imagine topping them with very much icing. It almost seems like they would tip over. Also, they are a very sweet cupcake and just don’t need that much more sweetness. I’m going to experiment with using less sugar next time, maybe 1 cup, and see how it affects the texture. I baked 12 cupcakes and 1 8×8 cake out of this recipe and all turned out perfectly!
OMG just tried this recipe for cupcakes and whole cake with less sugar. It’s divine. My kids loved it.
Made the recipe today, and I think I finally found my go to vanilla cupcake recipe! I have been making so many vanilla cupcake recipes, but never happy with one thing or the other. I love the taste, texture and color of this vanilla recipe. The recipe says it makes 14, but I think I could have made 15 or 16. My question, and this would make this recipe PERFECT for me: they were very flat on top. How to I get a dome? Not a huge dome, but I would love some rise…again, these are very flat. That is my only complaint,,if you can call it that. Thank you.
You could try increasing the oven temperature some (maybe 25°F) and see if that helps.
I just made again, starting with 400, then down to 350 for the entire baking time. Not much change in the dome. Do you think this recipe is written to create a dome? Maybe not? If I do increase the temp, more than just at the beginning, would it be for the entire baking duration? Thank you. Best tasting vanilla cupcake!!
You could try leaving the oven temperature at 400F the whole time and see if it helps. It may just be this particular recipe too though, as I haven’t tried them at a higher temperature.
Thank you. I’ll give it a try. They are the best tasting vanilla cupcakes! Reminds me of bakery cupcakes we used to get from the locally owned bakery.
Hey!!! I love this recipe, I made it for my dad’s birthday and he loved it The only complain I got is that it was too sweet, how can I make it less sweet? How much can I cut the sugar?
You could probably reduce the sugar in the cupcakes by 1/4 cup and the powdered sugar in the frosting by 1 cup.
I’ve made this recipe several times to find the subtle differences when making changes and just learn about baking. Following your recipe as exact as possible made slightly over-cooked but very fluffy cupcakes (I use the metric scales) so I suspect I have to lower the temp a bit.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I had great fun with it.
Hey!
Could I double this recipe or would it be better to just make two batches?
I have a 5q mixer if that matters!
Thank you 🙂 🙂
Yes, that would be fine! Just be careful not to over mix the dry ingredients when you add them.
So I’ve tried a few of your cupcake recipes. The lemon, raspberry is my personal favorite. With my daughter’s 7th birthday coming up she wanted 3 different flavors of cupcakes and requested they be made from scratch. This weekend I’ll be making vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Since you don’t have a strawberry cupcake recipe I’m going to substitute the sour cream for strawberry flavored greek yogurt. I’m wondering if I could add a strawberry puree to the recipe but I’m not sure how that will make the cupcakes turn out. Should I try and find a strawberry extract possibly? Crossing my fingers someone knows before Saturday.
Hi, Sara! I haven’t tried a strawberry puree in this recipe, so it’s hard to say. I think using strawberry Greek yogurt and strawberry extract would be best.
This recipe is my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe! I’ve only made it in batches of 1 so far, but I want to make six batches at once for tomorrow. I’m not sure if making a batch this big for this recipe would mess up the baking chemistry?
Hi, Catherine! I honestly haven’t tried increasing the recipe by that much. Sometimes when you make larger batches, you can accidentally end up over mixing the dry ingredients which over develops the gluten and causes baked goods to be denser. I think it would be okay to double the recipe or possibly triple it.
What can I used instead of eggs?
You may be able to use flax eggs, but I haven’t personally tried substituting the eggs in this recipe so I’m not quite sure.
My cupcakes came out perfectly! I had to adjust the oven temperature a bit (I’m in Denver, CO) and followed your instructions to a T. They were a big hit with my son—he also helped with making them. It was too much for the two of us so I shared with neighbors, and they loved them too! Question—is there a way to modify this for a strawberry cupcake? My son is now asking for it and I think it would be fun to try. Thanks again for sharing your recipes and tips!
So glad you loved the cupcakes, Shelley! I imagine you could use a strawberry yogurt and add some strawberry extract. I have a
strawberry buttercream frosting in this recipe too.
Do I sub the yogurt for the sour cream? The same amount? Thanks again!
Yes, you can substitute the same amount of yogurt for the sour cream.
Do you have a cake version?
I don’t yet, but it is on my list of recipes to work on!