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
- Coffee 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
Thanks for making me look like a baking superstar for my daughter’s birthday party! I quadrupled the recipe and made 36 cupcakes and a 2 layer cake with it. They only thing I changed was to add mini chocolate chips to the batter. Everyone raved about the cupcakes and I have to admit I was pretty impressed myself!
Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear that, Sarah! The mini chocolate chips sound like a perfect addition too, I may need to give that a try next time 🙂
These cupcakes are delicious. Since I had to bake about 30 I tried another (slightly more simple) recipe for my second batch, which allowed the whole family to do a proper tasting and we all agreed Danielle’s cupcakes tasted far better.
I don’t like to put too much icing on my cakes so I was left with quite a bit leftover frosting – next time I’ll halve the quantities.
I’m so happy to hear that Rozenn! So glad your family enjoyed the cupcakes! If you still have any leftover frosting you can freeze it to use later.
I just made it, really good and fluffy. Didn’t have sour cream so I added starwberry yougurt and 1/2teaspoon of baking soda. Worked well. WIll make again
Strawberry yogurt sounds wonderful, Wendy! So glad you liked the cupcakes!
These have just come out of the oven and we have already eaten two! Not a great cupcake maker but we had some sour cream to use and found this recipe so thought why not and so glad i tried it! Im in Australia and 18 mins on 170 deg (fan forced) was perfect. As we only had salted butter i just omitted the salt otherwise did exactly as per recipe. Thank you xx
So glad you liked the cupcakes, Brooke! 🙂
Hi! I made these a few months ago for my grandmas 90th bday party- everyone loved them! I was wanting to make it into a 10in cake- do you think this recipe would work for a 10in?
I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, Shannon! I haven’t tried this recipe in a cake pan yet, but I think it would work. If you do give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
I really like this recipe. I want to make them for my son’s wedding but making 8 batches may be too exhausting. Sure wish I could double it. The batter even tastes yummy.
I’m so glad you like the cupcakes, Linda! Some readers have had success doubling the recipe, I try to avoid it because it can lead to over mixing and denser cupcakes. However, it may be okay if you’re just really careful when mixing it. You can also alternate mixing the dry ingredients with the sour cream to help prevent over mixing the batter. Hope that helps! 🙂
I just attempted to double a chocolate cupcake recipe and all of the cupcakes fell. I read that you have to recalculate the baking soda and baking powder if you double it. If the suggestions of 1.25 t for each cup of flour then that would give me 3 1/3 t of baking powder for the vanilla cupcakes (instead of the 2.5 tsp that I would get from doubling it). I think I can be careful with the not over mixing, I am just concerned about the baking powder amount.
Hi, Linda. I wouldn’t suggest adjusting the ratio of baking powder in this recipe if you double it because you may not end up with the same results. A general rule of thumb is usually about 1 teaspoon baking powder per cup of flour. A few readers say they’ve double the recipe and it turned out fine, but I haven’t tested it myself yet.
Making these for my granddaughters 2d birthday. So amazing. Great flavor.
So glad you liked the cupcakes, Shonna! Hope your granddaughter has a wonderful birthday! 🙂
Unfortunately it is too sweet and salty… my kids said was too sweet and yes I followed your recipes.. too bad…
Sorry you thought the cupcakes were too sweet, Miya. Did you find the cupcakes themselves or the frosting was too sweet? If you make them again you can try reducing the sugar in the cupcakes to 3/4 cup or the powdered sugar in the frosting to 2 cups.
Hi! can these cupcakes be made into mini cupcakes and how long would they bake?
I haven’t tried it yet, but that should be fine. I would try 350F for 11-13 minutes? I would check them at the 10 minute mark and see how they look though. You’ll know they’re finished when the tops are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Hope that helps!
I did scoop the flour out. Are these to turn out light and fluffy or a little dense? I was careful not to overmix. I have been baking for 40 years.
Hi, Dorothy. That may be why the batter seemed too thick, I always spoon and level my flour. Scooping it out of the container can cause it to become packed inside the cup and you can end up with quite a bit more flour in your recipe. These are also probably slightly more dense, since they’re made with sour cream.
If you found they were too dense, you could try spooning and leveling your flour next time and see if that helps. Here’s a post I did on it that may help: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/2016/06/24/how-to-measure-flour/. You could possibly try using buttermilk instead of the sour cream too if you’re wanting them to be a bit lighter.
Made this but they did not turn out. Batter was very thick. Not sure it should have been.
The batter is a little thicker, since these are made with sour cream but shouldn’t be extremely thick. Did you spoon & level your flour or did you scoop it out of the container by chance? I’d be happy to try to help you figure out what happened, but I may need a bit more information 🙂
Really excellent, even with expired baking powder and haphazard measuring lol…i can only imagine how good they are If I wasn’t in a huge hurry ?
Glad you liked the cupcakes and to hear they still turned out good for you, Beth! 🙂
I just took these out of the oven about an hour ago and left them to cool. These are DIVINE!!! Light, fluffy and the flavour really comes through. I had another vanilla cupcake recipe that I used to use, but this is DEFINITELY my new go to…I have to try and stop eating them!
I’m so glad to hear this is your new go to recipe! 🙂
Have you ever tried chocolate frosting on these? Chocolate and vanilla – seems like it would be a good combination. If so, do you have a good chocolate frosting recipe? Thanks!
I have and they taste great with chocolate frosting too! Here’s my post about how to make buttercream frosting and there’s a recipe for my favorite chocolate frosting towards the bottom: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/2017/01/12/how-to-make-buttercream-frosting/.
Hi Danielle, I made these cupcakes yesterday but did not have time to frost them so I put the frosting in the fridge and it hardened up like a block of butter. To warm it up and make it “spreadable” again, do I just leave it out of the fridge for a while?
Also, can the cake part be made ahead and frozen, and then frosted on the day of the birthday?
Can the icing be frozen and used at a later time?
Thanks,
Johanna
Hi Johanna! Yes, just leave the frosting on the counter at room temperature. Once it’s back to room temperature, just mix it well and you can frost the cupcakes. Also, you can freeze the cupcakes and frosting. You can thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature the next day before frosting them. Hope that helps!
AAAAMMAAZIING!!! absolutely LOVE!! this recipe the best one i have ever found on the internet…used for the first time last week and my work collegues loved the cupcakes….i didnt even get a cupcake because they were all gone. (i have definitely stored in my recipes box?)
So glad to hear that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, Saritta! 🙂
can you taste the sour cream?
You can’t taste the sour cream, it just adds moisture to the cupcakes 🙂
I was in charge of making cupcakes for my friend’s bachelorette party this past weekend. I didn’t have a basic cake recipe on hand so I researched cupcake recipes and after lots of searching and reading reviews, I decided to try this one. I am so glad I did!! They came out perfectly! They were so good! So quick and easy! I was curious as to how the sour cream would impact the recipe –it made them so moist and delicious! And the frosting was just as good! I added pink coloring since that was the color scheme. They were the hit of the party! I’ll be making them again this weekend for Easter. Thanks so much for sharing and for going through all the hard work of mastering this incredible recipe! It’s definitely a keeper!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes, Cynthia! It’s always great to hear when someone makes a recipe for a party and everyone else loves it too. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi, I want to try your cupcake recipe as my twin baby’s smash cakes. I have 2 6″ silicon cupcake pans. Can you recommend amount and bake time for these
Hi, Ashley! Do you have a link or something that you could show me what kind of pan you’re wanting to use? I’ve only tested the recipe in a regular cupcake/muffin pan, but I can try to help you out if I have a better idea of what kind of pan you’re using 🙂
I doubled the recipe can I bake 2 batches at the same time? Will it change the temp or baking time? Thanks
It would probably be okay, I’m unsure if you’d need to increase the baking time. If you want to double the recipe, I find that it’s best to make two separate batches and bake them separately. Doubling the recipe can sometimes lead to over mixing and cause the cupcakes to be a little more dense. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hey Danielle! I’m doing a science fair testing how the type of flour affects the density of a cupcake and I made these. The thing is, I might have procrastinated a bit on actually doing the project and finding the density, so now I have eight cupcakes that have been sitting in my fridge for almost two weeks now. Are they okay to eat? And more importantly, has leaving them in the fridge for so long affected the density of my cupcakes? Thank you. (also I used yoghurt instead of sour cream if that effects anything)
What a fun project, Georgia! I don’t suggest storing cupcakes in the refrigerator for more than about 5 days, if they’ve been in the fridge for two weeks they may not be good anymore. As far as the density and refrigerator, they are more dense if you eat them cold. I usually let them come back to room temperature before serving them and don’t notice much of a difference from when they were first baked. The yogurt shouldn’t make too much of a difference either. Hope that helps!
These cupcakes were delicious!! I’m so excited I came across this recipe! Thank you for sharing. I now have a go to vanilla cupcake recipe.
So glad you liked the cupcakes, Kiersten!
Hello!, i did the recipe and loved it but the cupcakes were a little bit too hard and the buttercream was really hard and not soft, any tips? And how many grams of butter did you used in the recipe for the buttercream? Thanks!?
Hi, Brisa! Make sure to mix the cupcake batter until it’s just combined, over mixing can lead to a denser cupcake. Also, did you spoon & level your flour into the measuring cup? For the buttercream, I use 230 grams of butter in it. You can use more heavy cream if you feel like it’s too thick. Or you can even use milk instead of the cream, it will make the frosting softer. Hope that helps!
I just made them! Yummy! The best homemade cupcakes yet, thanks for a great recipe. I added fresh squeezed lemon juice to the frosting. ?
So glad you liked the cupcakes, Stephanie! You can never go wrong with a little lemon juice too! 🙂
hello! im thinking about changing the sour cream with anything elts or If I really need it at all. Is there anything I can do????
Hi, Tyler! Some readers have mentioned they’ve had success using plain greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. I haven’t tested this yet with something else though, so it’s hard to give suggestions for a substitute. I wouldn’t suggest leaving it out all together though, you really do need it in this recipe.
If I halved the amount of sugar, would the batter bake differently? I want to make for my hubby’s birthday this weekend but do not want an overly sweet cupcake. Thank you.
Hi, Aga! I haven’t tried reducing the sugar in the cupcakes yet, so I’m not sure how it would affect them. You may be able to reduce it to about 3/4 cup without it affecting it too much. You can reduce the powdered sugar in the frosting a bit if you need to, just keep in my that it won’t be quite as sturdy if you do. Hope that helps!
I am baking these as we speak. I added 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup to the batter. Is it normal that the batter is quite thick?
The batter is a just little bit thicker, since these are made with sour cream 🙂
WOW!
Just wow!!!!!
I never baked cupcakes from scratch. I always used a boxed cake mix! Never again!!!!! I just finished baking these! Instead of making 14, I just made the 12 and the leftover I put in a little round Pyrex. It is my daughter’s birthday so that will be her cake and the rest are for us.
The smell from the oven is so good. I had to pinch one of the cupcakes. It was Delish!!!!!!!!
Can’t wait for this to cool down so I can put icing!
To those who are hesitant to try. Just do it! I’m not a baker at all but this one turned out great! No substitution whatsoever! Maybe in the future I will cut back on sugar but not because it is too sweet! I just want it less for my kids.
I’m so glad to hear that you liked the cupcakes! I hope your daughter enjoyed them for her birthday 🙂
Hi, you mentioned above you like to weigh your ingredients to be sure about exact amounts. Would you please let me know the weights for this recipe? I’m German and grew up there. NOBODY would ever even think about NOT weighing ingredients, in grams, of course 🙂 My scale can do US measurements and metric, so either is fine. I usually use German recipes in baking because I find US recipes inexact. I’m thinkg about baking these cupcaks for my daughter’s birthday, but top with chocolate frosting. Thanks
Hi, Katja! I’ve been slowly working on including grams in my recipes, I just went in and updated this one. I hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Danielle! I have tried this recipe, you know what? IT IS SUPER DELICIOUSSSSSSSSSS! I can’t describe how good it is. The cupcakes are so fluffy! please-please-please create another recipe! and you should make youtube channel! ill be the first viewer who subscribes. Thanks Danielle for creating this magnificent recipe!
Lots of love from Malaysia!
This is such a sweet comment, thank you!
I used this recipe (doubled everything) for my daughters birthday cupcakes and I loved it.
Has anyone made this into a cake before??
I’m not a “pro baker” or anything close but would love to be able to use this recipe on a valentines cake (I bought a 9inch heart shaped pan last night.
Hi, Kelley! I haven’t tried this as a cake yet, so I’m unsure of the baking time or how it would turn out. I do have a cake recipe here in this apple upside-down cake that would work well! Here is a link: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/2015/09/03/caramel-apple-upside-down-cake/.
Hi Danielle , I did try it (the cupcake recipe) and it took about 32-35minutes. They came out awesome!!! Thank you? I may have to try the other recipe as well
That’s great to hear, Kelley! Thanks for commenting back with the baking time, that will be helpful for others! 🙂
I am making these and not sure if I messed up or didn’t put in enough sour cream. Is the batter a little thicker than normal cupcakes?
Hi, Angela! The batter isn’t super thin, it is a little thicker. Did you make sure to spoon & level the flour?