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
Filed Under
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.
This is a great recipe! It is super moist and fluffy with a light vanilla flavour. After trying out the vanilla cupcakes a few times, I decided to ads a tbsp of cocoa powder for a chocolate cupcake and it still turned out great.
That’s so awesome, thank you for sharing your wonderful review and your idea for making them chocolate. It’s great to know it works 😀.
I baked mine for 14 min and they are still runny with batter… what am I doing wrong? 😮
Followed recepie to the t and filled to half. Is my oven broken?!? LOL
How many am I supposed to get frön one batch? TIA
That is definitely unusual. Do you have that experience with other baked goods? It’s hard to say without being but it really may be your oven based on how you’re describing it. 1 batch makes 15 cupcakes.
I had the same problem. Though I kind of expected it since it normally takes about 22 minutes to get a nice fluffy cupcake from my oven.
Has anyone ever doubled this recipe? If so, did you double all the ingredients or just some?
Hi, I just doubled the recipe and it came out fine 🙂 I doubled all the ingredients… Some people say that doubling recipes is an issue, but I have worked in pastry for a while and have never seen an issue with it.
I’m afraid that the recipe would become dense so I’m adding 2 tablespoons of sour cream for moisture…
Hi Nikita, I haven’t tried that modification so I can’t really say how that would affect the recipe. They always turn out fluffy and soft without needing sour cream. I’m curious though how the sour cream works out for you.
Would I need to make any adjustments to this recipe to make a 6″ round cake? And do you think it would stack well? I’m thinking about doing 4 layers
Best recipe ever!! I used your recipe to make cupcakes for the first time and are delicious!! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy you loved the recipe! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your awesome review!
Hi Natasha! I’ve made these using cake flour & they have turned out fabulous! I’m making your Strawberry Layer Cake for my son’s upcoming birthday (I’ve made it for all birthdays this year and it’s been a hit!), but I wanted to do gluten-free cupcakes for those in my family with allergies. Do you think a gluten-free flour would work with these?
Jacy, I haven’t tried with gluten free but few of my readers have reported great results using gluten free flour for the cup cakes and for the strawberry layer cake. Let me know how it works out for you!
Hi Natasha. Wondering if I can use egg whites instead of whole eggs for this recipe? That is all I have on hand. If so, what are the measurements?
HI Maymay, I haven’t tested it that way so I can’t say for sure how it will affect the recipe. I hesitate to recommend it though since in general, yolks add fat and moisture to baked goods and help to create a smoother batter.
Natasha,
Can I substitute melted margarine instead of Canola oil?
Hi Azka, I haven’t tried that substitution so I can’t say for sure. If you experiment, let me know how it works out 🙂
Wow, looks delicious and so easy to make! Can i replace this flour with almond meal?
I’ve never tested it that way but I imagine you would have to make other adjustments to make that work.
I just made these cupcakes today. I filled them with a salted caramel filling and then frosted with a salted caramel buttercream. They were wonderfully moist and light, but still held up well with the filling. I will definitely use this recipe again in the future. Thanks Natasha!
Lev, that’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and you are welcome 🙂
These are amazing! Only change I made was to use half butter, half oil for buttery flavour. Thanks!
Rosie, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Hi Natasha , thanks for a great recipe – mine did taste a tad bit floury though- could u help with the flour measure in grand – I’m kind of addicted to using my kitchen scale ☺thanks so much
Hi Ambika, it is unusual that it would taste floury. I haven’t measured it that way and I actually don’t have any ready made cake flour to weight it for you at the moment. Here’s a good chart you can reference. 1 cup is about 120 grams.
Hi. these look great and I hope to try them for my son’s birthday. I wanted to ask if you can use a food processor instead of a mixer to combine the ingredients? Will the regular knife attachment work?
Also do you think it will work if I sub a xylitol/stevia mix instead of sugar? Thanks!
Hi Mo, you could even do these cupcakes by hand with a regular bowl and whisk, you’ll just need to increase your mixing time (which really isn’t long to begin with) 😉 I don’t use sweeteners because I don’t like the flavor of them but that is a personal preference. I haven’t tested it to say how it would affect the recipe to substitute.
Hi Natasha! I love your recipes! I’m really into baking muffins and cupcakes, so I was wondering if you could make more recipes for those. I would greatly appreciate it, Thank you!
Delish flavor and great with the suggested frosting. I made two batches and both came out pretty dense, almost like corn bread/muffin consistancy. How can I remedy this? Any tips?
I used King Arthur cake flour.
Hi Corina, did you change anything about the recipe? Also, did you possibly over-bake? I’ve had them taste more dense and almost cornbread-like once when I over-baked. I sure hope that helps!
I plan on making these the day before my son’s birthday party. Should I store them in a lidded container in the fridge or are they safe at room temp?
I think they would be OK at room temperature for a day, but I always refrigerate them anyways. 🙂 You can also frost them with the cupcake frosting and refrigerate them fully done and it works really well!
I accidentally bought fat free buttermilk. Will that work? Or should I return for regular buttermilk so they taste better? I am excited to try this recipe.
Hi Cara, a fat free buttermilk should still work fine. I usually use low fat but I think it will be fine with fat free 🙂
Thank you Natasha!
I also used a higher protein all purpose flour, since cake flour tends to dry out baked goods at high altitude.
I was impressed at the fluffiness of the cupcakes. I wish that it had a more buttery taste, but it is the tradeoff for using oil I guess. However, the cupcakes did hold up better the next day. I did make your cupcakes following the recipe and baked at 375 degrees instead of 350 since I live in Colorado at 5000 ft. The cupcakes came out with a flat top and was very light and fluffy. I then adjusted the baking soda and powder to account for the altitude difference and the second batch came out more mounded and prettier in my opinion. I had reduced the amount of both by half. Baking power at 1/2 tsp and baking soda at 1/4 tsp. I wish I could attach pics for you. The texture did not change, and they baked at around the same time. I did feel that the first batch was saltier than the second. Not quite sure why.
Thank you so much for sharing your review and tips about high altitude cooking. I’m sure that will be very helpful for those who live in high altitudes. You’re awesome!
I just made these and they we so light, fluffy, moist and DELICIOUS! Everybody in the house said they only wanted one…we all ended up eating 3 and I’m seriously considering going back for another..lol
Thank you so much for this recipe.
That is awesome! I’m so happy you all enjoyed the cupcakes 🙂
I just made these this morning. I doubled the recipe and made 100 mini cupcakes. I didn’t have to change the oven time, and the tops of the cupcakes stayed almost perfectly flat- great for icing! Lol! I wasn’t sure about the batter because it was very runny but they turned out light and beautiful. Thanks so much for a great and easy recipe!!
Rebecca, thank you for such a nice review, looks like you might have a new favorite cupcakes recipe 😁.