Everyone loves cupcakes! This is the only vanilla cupcake recipe you will need. They are super easy to make and the texture is light, fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
Watch the video tutorial below and you will be a pro in no time. We love these with our Cupcake Frosting because a cupcake isn’t a cupcake without frosting.
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Watch Vanilla Cupcakes Video Tutorial!
These cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties and baby showers and they always disappear fast which is why I always make a double batch for gatherings. They are quick and easy to make and homemade cupcakes taste way better than boxed cupcake mix.
Ingredients for Vanilla Cupcakes:
This recipe makes exactly 12 cupcakes and requires simple ingredients: all-purpose flour, butter, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, salt and vanilla. The combination of softened butter and buttermilk creates an amazingly soft cupcake crumb that just melts in your mouth. Also, if you haven’t tried our (2-ingredient) Homemade Vanilla Extract, it will take your baked goods to the next level.
How to Make Vanilla Cupcakes:
These cupcakes are easy to master and you will be making bakery-quality cupcakes in no time.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a second bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer), beat together softened butter and sugar on medium-high speed 5 minutes until thick and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time, mixing to incorporate with each egg then blend in vanilla and scrape down the bowl.
- Reduce mixer to medium speed and add the flour in thirds, alternating with adding the 1/2 cup buttermilk and beating well between additions.
- Pour batter into 12 lined muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips for the BEST Cupcakes:
- Room Temperature Ingredients – eggs, buttermilk and butter must be at room temperature to keep your batter an even consistency.
- Alternate Adding Flour and Buttermilk – this keeps the mixture uniform and well blended. If you add in all of the flour or buttermilk at once, it can saturate the creamed butter and cause the mixture to separate. Mix well between each addition.
- Measure Correctly – be sure to use the proper measuring cups for wet and dry ingredients. Watch our video on measuring ingredients to ensure great results every time.
- Don’t Overfill – Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full or they will overflow and cause a muffin top. If you divide evenly between 12 cupcakes, you should have exactly enough batter. A trigger release Ice Cream Scoop makes portioning easier.
How to Decorate Cupcakes:
Once your cupcakes are cooled to room temperature, it’s time to decorate. This is a great vanilla cupcake base for just about any kind of frosting and toppings. We pipe frosting on with a pastry bag and our favorite Wilton 1M Tip. We have so many frosting options so pick your craving:
- Vanilla Cupcake Frosting – our go-to cupcake frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream – well worth the extra effort
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting – whipped and decadent
- Blackberry Frosting – you’ll love the flavor and color
Common Questions:
Can I Make Cupcakes Ahead? Once cupcakes are at room temperature, cover and keep at room temperature overnight or refrigerate if storing for longer. After cupcakes are frosted, refrigerate until ready to serve. Cupcakes are great served chilled or at room temperature because they don’t harden with refrigeration.
Can I Use This Batter to Make a Cake? We’ve had great results turning it into a Vanilla Cake. You would need to double the recipe for two 9-inch cake layers.
Can I Substitute the Buttermilk? Plain kefir will also work well instead of buttermilk. You can also make your own buttermilk at a ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. Combine and let it sit 10 minutes to curdle then stir and use.
How Long to Bake Cupcakes? Bake until the tops are springy and a toothpick inserted int the center comes out clean. These were perfectly baked at 350˚F for 22 minutes in a conventional oven.
More Cupcake Recipes:
Who can resist a cupcake? They’re just so cute and easy to love. We enjoy getting creative with cupcakes and they are one of the easiest desserts to make. These are our top-rated cupcake recipes:
- Moist Chocolate Cupcakes – this is a great base and so easy
- Pumpkin Cupcakes – with a marshmallow-soft frosting
- Honey Cupcakes – with a cherry filling
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes – with white chocolate frosting
Perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, or plain kefir, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/4 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed 5 minutes until thick and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition then scrape down the bowl. Add 2 tsp vanilla and beat to combine.
- Reduce mixer speed to medium and add the flour mixture in thirds alternating with the buttermilk, mixing to incorporate with each addition. Scrape down the bowl as needed and beat until just combined and smooth, and don't overmix. Divide the batter evenly into a 12-count lined muffin or cupcake pan, filling 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes at 350 °F, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before frosting.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This recipe was first published in June 2012 (below is the original photo). After testing countless batches, we improved the recipe, swapping out oil for softened butter and took out the baking soda to create a super soft crumb. Everyone agrees, these are the best cupcakes. Just read the reviews!
P.S. Thank you all for trying this recipe and sharing it with the people you love.
I am baking cup cakes for the first time and I followed your recipe. It turned out super delicious !!! Thank you 🙂
That’s fantastic!!! Thank you for sharing your review with me 🙂
These cupcakes are really perfect. It has a great crumb that is not too crumbly and the texture is PERFECT. I love the fact that these cupcakes don’t require butter (since I usually have more oil on hand than butter) and that they stand so well. I filled my cupcake liners 3/4 way full since I used an ice cream scoop as a measure and they perfectly domed the top of the liners when baked (not spilling out the sides like a muffin though). They look awesome and so high!
Oh and what makes these cupcakes beat all others is the timing! Boxed cake mixes take 20 minutes but 14 minutes is a DREAM compared to 20 when you’re making a hundred or so cupcakes.
Beautiful delicate taste and recipe. This is my staple scratch vanilla cupcake recipe and I’ve used it a couple of times now…Never been disappointed!
** The ice cream scoop measuring came out to 12 cupcakes (which means I can double the recipe!!!!) with about a half scoop left if you scrape your bowl.
Wow thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful review! And thank you for sharing your tips 🙂
I am making these for my baby’s first birthday! Any cupcake with buttermilk and cream cheese in the frosting is a win for me! Thanks!!!
You’re so welcome! I hope you love them!! 🙂
Just made these for a friend’s bridal shower.. They were amazing! Light and airy! Thanks again for another “never-fail” recipe 😉
Thank you Lena for a great review 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
I just whipped these cupcakes up and I am curious to know if anyone else had a similar “problem” with them. I just took them out of the oven and after letting them cool for a few minutes in the pan, I transferred them to a wire rack. The cupcake liners are soaked — I am guessing with oil or a combination of everything. Even the pan itself is “wet”. I followed directions to a “t”. Any ideas?
I haven’t had that happen. What kind of oil did you use? Did you make sure to let the oven fully pre-heat before putting them in the oven?
What a wonderful recipe. Thank you so much for posting it. Seriously, the best vanilla cupcakes ever, and the frosting is awesome as well. I just love your blog, everything I’ve tried has been delicious!!
Thanks so much for a fantastic review! It means gobs to me 🙂
I tried these and accidentally baked them for only 6 minutes. Nonetheless, they came out soft! The ones with plain yogurt centers were especially delicious. Also, I added less than half (60 grams) of sugar. Perfect sweetness.
Plain yogurt in the center would be a nice contrast. Good idea! 6 minutes? Wow! That must be a record 😉 I’m glad they still worked out 🙂
best cupcake recipe! so good!
Thank you so much for a great review! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
1. If I make them the day before, can i store them outside of the refrig covered?
2. my son loves vanilla and cookies and cream pudding. I was thinking of poking a hole insides and inserting some pudding. Do you think your frosting will be okay w/ that combination? thanks and also do you think it’s fine if I did that?
Yes to both questions. That should be fine. Let them cool to room temp then cover and let sit overnight at room temp (about 70-73˚F) but if you need to leave them out longer, it would be best to refrigerate. I think the pudding inside would be tasty! 🙂
These were delicious! Def my fav vanilla recipe and I’ve tried many! I like the softer crumb for vanilla cake and this was perfect. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes 🙂
The batter for these cupcakes tasted delicious, and they looked pretty as well. However, when cooled the cake was extremely dry…almost the consistency of cornbread.Highly disappointed!
These aren’t supposed to be like corn bread, but soft and fluffy. Maybe it was the type of flour you used? What kind of flour and what brand did you use? Did you change anything in the recipe? Also, did you make sure the oven was fully pre-heated before putting them in? It could be any number of things. I’d love to troubleshoot and help you figure it out!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I just finished baking them and they look almost as good as yours. 🙂
Thank you so much for the great review! I can just see them now. What frosting did you go with?
Just made these using the lemon juice tip with the milk because I didn’t have any buttermilk on me. Sifted the cake flour twice and added vanilla bean paste instead. Whisked the eggs for a couple of minutes before adding the rest of the liquids. They’re simply delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m so happy you liked them! Thanks for sharing your techniques 🙂
Mine tasted kind of cornbready, but I really like cornbread, so that’s okay.
I’m glad you still liked them ;), but the cupcakes shouldn’t have been cornbready. What kind of flour did you use? Did you change anything from the recipe?
Mine also came out somewhat cornbready! They were still very yummy, but I have no idea what happened. I used Swans Down cake flour and followed the recipe without modifications or substitutions. A few of my cupcakes also sunk down toward the middle. Any ideas or suggestions?
Do you happen to live in a high altitude area? For some reason, this recipe doesn’t bake up as well in high altitudes. I haven’t tried that brand of cake flour, but it should have worked fine. Did you measure the baking soda and powder exactly? I ask because my sisters came out sunken once and she admitted that she “eyeballed” the ingredients. lol. I’m not saying you would, but it’s the only other thing I could think of.
Are these cupcakes moist and not crumbly?
Yes they are very soft and lightly moist, but not really crumbly. Enjoy! 🙂
I was wondering if anyone has tried substituting coconut oil for the canola oil in this recipe? If not, do you think it would work if I melt the coconut oil so it is liquid when adding it to the other ingredients? Thanks!
I haven’t tried. Anyone else?
No but I liked using butter because I just love butter and it subbed just fine as long as it is softened and then creamed with the eggs and butter. Coconut oil would be perfect since it is a neutral tasting oil and very good for you and can be creamed with the sugar and eggs before adding the flour.
Oh I hadn’t even thought of trying coconut oil with these! Thank you April! 🙂
Can this be converted to a cake? What size pans? Thanks 🙂
According to the gal that I got the recipe from, it can be turned into a cake. You should double the recipe for an 8 or 9″ cake. I haven’t tried it personally myself, but I don’t see why not 🙂
Can this recipe be turned into a cake?
According to the gal that I got the recipe from, it can be turned into a cake. You should double the recipe for an 8 or 9″ cake. I haven’t tried it personally myself, but I don’t see why not 🙂
Yum
I just tried this recipe and followed it step by step and the cupcakes came out flat and tasted awful. Not sure what I did wrong, I followed every step and measured everything correctly.
It’s so hard to say without being in your kitchen. I’ll do my best to troubleshoot the problem. Did you possibly switch the amounts of baking soda and powder? Did you wait until your oven was pre-heated before putting the cupcakes in? Do you live in a high elevation area where the baking time would be different?
Trieds this recipe! It is the most successful vanilla cupcake i’ve done! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I’m so happy you loved the cupcakes 🙂