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.
Could I add food coloring and do different color layers with this batter?
Hi Olivia that should work as long as you don’t go overboard with the food coloring, I recommend gel food coloring.
Thank you! Also, do you have a preference for all purpose flour?
Hi Oliva, I linked the flour we used in the recipe, but you can also find it HERE.
For some reason the page comes up with an error. I see it’s on Amazon but the page is blank. 🙁
Hi Olivia! That’s odd, I clicked on the link and it’s working for me. The brand is Bob’s Red Mill, Flour Unbleached White All Purpose Organic.
Hi Natasha, if I were to make a batch of 3 x 12, would it be a problem to whip them all up at once and then have them sit around (I only have one 12-cupcake pan). What do you recommend for making a batch of 3? Many thanks!
Hi Aparna, it’s best to make one batch at a time since the batter can lose its volume causing the cupcakes not to rise properly.
hie, i would like to try your recipe but I struggle with converting cups to grams as I don’t have measuring cups
Hi Chrissie! You can click on the “metric” button in the recipe card above and it will convert the ingredient list for you. 🙂
thank you very much for helping me figure that out. I made some super amazing cupcakes soooooo soft. what’s missing is the icing .. …still learning
You’re very welcome! 🙂
Hi again Natasha! I tried the recipe, and it came out perfect!!! I have been looking for a good cupcake recipe for a long time, and have finally found your perfect recipe. Thanks so much!
We’re so glad you love this!
This is a very good recipe. My cupcakes turned out perfect for my first time baking from scratch. I added an extra teaspoon of sugar and two drops of almond extract, and it was oh delicious, fluffy, moist! I also made your buttercream frosting and that turned out perfect for piping and really good ! not too sweet 🙂
Hello Nessa, that’s lovely! Good to know that you enjoyed it!
I tend to make cake mix cupcakes for my kids because any recipes I have tried over the years come out dense and disappointing. This recipe is absolutely amazing! It was easy to do and came out light, fluffy and delicious. This is the answer to my cupcake problems! Thank you Natasha!
Hi Deanna, I’m so glad you tried homemade. It’s always better than ready to cook mix cupcakes and so glad your family enjoyed them!
Hi Natasha! I am SUPER excited to make your cupcakes! But can I exchange the buttermilk for milk and cream of tartar?
Hello Audrey, I have not tried using the cream of tartar to advise. 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.
Hello, I’ve made these a few times and LOVE them, specially the frosting! Do you happen to know the exact tip you used here to frost these? That makes it look like a ribbon? I have the XL Tips. Yours are so beautiful looking! Thanks
Hi Rachel! I’m glad you love the recipe. Yes, I try to include that information in the blog notes. I used a Wilton 1M tip for these. You can find it on my amazon link HERE.
P.S.—Forgot to say that most of the cake stuck to the paper liner. A mess!
I made your recipe for vanilla cupcakes, and they were AWFUL! I followed your recipe and the video exactly. The only differences from your video are that I weighed, not measured, the dry ingredients (as I always do), and I used powdered buttermilk (again, as usual). They didn’t rise at all and were dense and hard. I now realize that most sites tell you never to use baking powder with buttermilk. Is there a mistake on your recipe? Should it have called for baking soda? On the plus side, your chocolate buttercream is fabulous. I’m eating it and tossing the cupcakes.
HI Maria, I’m sorry to hear that and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. I haven’t tested this with powdered buttermilk so I wonder if that could be the culprit? Also, make sure not to overmix. Overmixing is a common reason why cupcakes or cakes can become dense. You want the batter to be just combined without prolonged mixing.
Made these for the first time as I have a cupcake order and didnt wanted to try it rather than using the premix. They came out lovely! I used Rama (SA margerine) instead of the butter. Fab!
Hi Dale! I’m glad they turned out for you.
These were just ok. I followed the recommended measuring technique. I did not have buttermilk so I used the recommended milk/lemon juice combo. Everything was room temperature as suggested. Baked 20 minutes (checked at 15). Toothpick came out clean and cupcakes were lightly browned on the top. I let them cool as directed then added frosting. The first problem was the cupcakes were stuck onto the cupcake liner and a lot of the cupcake was torn off. I made a different cupcake recipe last weekend using the same cupcake liners and they did not stick at all. They tasted ok, nothing special, but there was something not quite right about them. Almost like they weren’t baked long enough but I kept looking at it closely after each bite, and even pulled it apart with my fingers trying to figure out was the problem was. They looked fine, didn’t look underbaked. But that’s the only way I can describe it. Other reviewers seemed to have a better experience with this recipe, but I’ll take a pass on this one.
HI Kerrie, I’m sorry it didn’t meet the mark for you. I haven’t had that experience but I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you add the full amount of butter 8 Tbsp and ensure it was softened to better incorporate into the batter? Also, make sure your oven is fully preheated before baking. Lastly, make sure you don’t overmix. The batter should be just combined before portioning into individual cupcakes.
The cupcakes were delicious. They were so easy to make, I am definitely saving this recipe
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Erika!
Hey!
Cupcakes were very good, but I didn’t end up with enough batter to fill the cupcake lines 2/3, only about 1/2. For this reason they didn’t rise over the rim of the cupcake liner. Any reason why?
Thanks!
Hi Jenna! I’m glad you loved the cupcakes. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe? I have enough batter using this recipe and I measure with this size ice cream scoop. I would look over the recipe again to see if you missed anything or possibly measured some of the ingredients incorrectly. You can also reference the images above so you can see what my process looked like. I will attach my tutorial on how I measure my ingredient HERE. I hope that helps!
These cupcakes are a dream! Natasha, may I ask why you use butter in this recipe but oil in your dark chocolate cupcake recipe? Could I use oil instead of butter in these vanilla cupcakes and if so, how much?
Hi Beverly! This is a butter-based cake. I have not tested this recipe with oil.
I made these today for me and my family and they were so buttery and moist I loved them. They had such an amazing crumb to it. I will be making this recipe from now on. This was by far my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe hands down. Thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Carmen!
I tried a few vanilla cupcake recipes before I found this one! Very fluffy cupcake with good flavor! This will be my new vanilla cupcake recipe. Thanks for posting!
So glad you found your new go-to recipe, Michelle! Thank you for sharing.
Tripled the batch and they all turned out perfectly. This will be my go to vanilla cake recipe!
That’s wonderful, Ashley! This is our go-to vanilla cake too. I’m glad you loved it. Thanks for sharing.
Hi! I’m gonna make these, but wanted to make them as mini cupcakes! What would the baking time/temp be?
Hi Jasmine, I have not tried that but one of our readers shared this “Made them mini cupcakes and baked for about ten min 💯🙌🏼
Also added sprinkles for a confetti look 🎉 Thanks for the best recipe!!” I hope that helps.
These were the hands-down best cupcakes we’ve ever eaten! My whole family agrees, and that was without the frosting!! I would give this six stars if I could. We are definitely going to be making these again 🙂
Hi Autumn! That’s wonderful to hear. So glad they are a hit! Thank you for sharing.