Originally published in 2018, this vanilla cupcake recipe has become my go-to (and many of yours)! I recently updated the photos to showcase how beautifully moist and fluffy they are. I love this recipe because it’s easy, consistent, and yields deliciously soft cupcakes that are packed with rich vanilla flavor. They’re also extremely versatile – top them with vanilla buttercream for the ultimate vanilla cupcake or frost them with just about any buttercream flavor and you’ll have an amazing dessert.
One Reader, Uchenna, Says: “Wow! This recipe is truly amazing. I have literally tried dozens of vanilla cupcake recipes and had given up. I read the ingredients and was excited to try this one and I am sure glad I did – this one is by far the best! It will definitely be my go to recipe!” ★★★★★
Why You’ll Love These Vanilla Cupcakes
- Wonderfully Soft and Moist. The soft texture of these cupcakes comes from a balance of incorporating cake flour and extra moisture. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which means the batter is able to retain more moisture (the higher the protein content, the less ability to retain moisture, aka the drier the cake). That being said, the cake flour makes sure that none of the extra moisture from ingredients like sour cream, egg yolks, and whole milk go to waste.
- Perfect Vanilla Flavor. I use an entire tablespoon of vanilla in this recipe and the results are ideal!
- Super Dependable Recipe. Before writing my own recipes, I was very dependent on Betty Crocker box mixes for cupcakes (and cake!) because it’s just so trustworthy. Many of the from-scratch recipes I’d tried resulted in cupcakes that had sunken in the middle, had a weird cornbread-ish taste, were too dry, and just lacked luster. So I spent countless hours concocting the perfect ratio of moisture, fluffiness, flavor, and magic for this recipe. The result? A dreamy, melt-in-your mouth texture that’s soft as box mix, only without all the ingredients in a box mix you can’t pronounce.
- Always a crowd favorite. You can never go wrong with vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles, ever!
The Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes Ingredients & Substitutions
These vanilla cupcakes are soft, moist, and taste like a dream thanks to these key ingredients. If needed, I’ve also shared some ingredient substitutions that can be made in case you’re in a pinch:
- Cake Flour. To achieve the super soft texture in these cupcakes, I swear by cake flour. It produces a much fluffier texture than all-purpose (or plain) flour because of its lower protein content (the more protein in your flour the stiffer the dough and less ability to maintain moisture). You can find cake flour at most grocery stores, but if all you’ve got is all-purpose flour in your pantry, here are instructions for how to make your own cake flour. Keep in mind that if you do use the homemade version, the gram measurement will weigh more (295g instead of 265g) since all-purpose flour is heavier than cake flour.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda. The leavening agents in this recipe. Using both gives the perfect amount of rise.
- Unsalted Butter. The main fat in this recipe, which adds lots of moisture, great structure, and rich flavor. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can substitute that but be sure to omit the salt in the recipe if you do.
- Granulated Sugar. This not only sweetens the cupcakes, it creates a tender crumb as well. You can substitute this with caster sugar if you wish and it will be even more soft.
- Large Eggs. I use three large eggs in this recipe, which add the perfect amount of structure and help bind the cupcake batter together.
- Sour Cream. Sour cream adds the perfect amount of moisture to these cupcakes. If you don’t have that locally you can substitute it for plain yogurt or Crème fraîche.
- Pure Vanilla Extract. I use an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract in these cupcakes, which takes the flavor beyond! I recommend using a quality vanilla extract here (not imitation). You can substitute the extract for vanilla bean paste if you wish.
- Whole Milk. Since it has the highest fat percentage of any milk (aside from buttermilk), the whole milk creates a rich crumb while binding the ingredients together. You can technically substitute this for another kind of milk, but whole milk is going to yield the best results.
Tips for the BEST Vanilla Cupcakes:
If you want these vanilla cupcakes to be the very best, I recommend the following:
- Use store bought cake flour. The homemade cake flour works in a pinch and is better than plain all purpose flour, but store bought cake flour is always going to yield the softest texture.
- Start with room temperature ingredients. Baking is a science, and when ingredients like eggs, butter, and dairy are at room temperature, they form an emulsion which traps air in the batter. Once you place that batter in the oven, the trapped air expands and gives your cupcakes a good rise and lovely, tender crumb. If you want your cupcakes to live up to their true potential, don’t skip this step.
- Use fresh baking powder and baking soda. Each of these leavening agents lose their power to make cupcakes rise after about 6 months, so be sure to keep fresh baking powder and baking soda on hand for best results.
- Be careful not to over or under mix. Under-mixing the batter will prevent important chemical reactions from happening in your cupcake batter, and over-mixing will lead to too much gluten development (aka dense cupcakes). In order to help you mix perfectly, I’ve listed all of the mixing times and speeds in the recipe below regardless of whether you’re using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Follow them exactly for best results!
- Know your oven. I’ve written this recipe (and all of my recipes) for a conventional oven. If you have a convection or fan-assisted oven, you’ll want to reduce the baking temperature to 325ºF (163ºC) and check for doneness a few minutes earlier than specified.
Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe Video
I whipped up a quick video showing you how to make these vanilla cupcakes from start to finish!
If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.
The Ideal Vanilla Buttercream for Cupcakes
I love frosting these vanilla cupcakes with a swirl of this vanilla buttercream, which is my personal go-to. It’s an American buttercream that’s so silky smooth, bursting with vanilla flavor, perfectly pipeable, and I’ve customized it to be less sweet than average. If you prefer a more buttery vanilla frosting that’s even less sweet than American buttercream, I also have this vanilla swiss meringue buttercream recipe that takes a little more effort but is so delicious!
If you’re looking to switch up the frosting flavor, nearly any of my frosting recipes will be delicious paired with these vanilla cupcakes.
I hope you love these vanilla cupcakes as much as I do! Let me know if you make them in the comments below (don’t forget to rate the recipe!) and tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me if you post a photo. I love to see what you create with my recipes!
Perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 2 1/2 cups (265g) sifted cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup (350g) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 batches vanilla buttercream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177ºC) and line standard cupcake pan(s) with liners. This recipe makes about 32 cupcakes.
- Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high for two minutes until creamy. Add the sugar and continue to mix on high for another two minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream, then turn the mixer to high speed and mix for one minute. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients all at once and mix until just combined, then add the milk in a steady stream. Continue mixing for another 20-30 seconds, until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick.
- Spoon or pour the batter into the cupcake tins until they’re about ⅔ full, then bake for 14-18 minutes, until they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about five minutes before removing them from the pan and continuing to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Make sure they are entirely room temperature before adding any frosting.
Assembly
- To create the look pictured, make the vanilla buttercream and add it into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M. Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake with the buttercream and top with rainbow sprinkles.
Hi. Can i substitute almond milk for the whole milk?
Thank you
Hi Jessica! I’ve never tried it before but I hear that almond milk works well as a dairy-free whole milk substitute. I’d say give it a shot!
I was looking at both your perfect vanilla cupcakes and perfect vanilla cake recipes and was wondering why the different ratios of ingredients? Does it change the structure to be better for cupcakes or cake? Do they end up tasting different?
Hi Diana. It’s kindof a long story haha! They’re so similar that you truly can’t taste or see a difference. Initially, they were exactly the same recipe with the vanilla cake recipe making enough for two 8 inch pans. Then upon request I tweaked the vanilla cake recipe to fit three 6-inch pans instead of 2 8-inch pans. That’s why the two recipes are just ever so slightly different. Hope that makes sense!
Hi Whitney,
Thank you for sharing your lovely recipe. I just tried it and it tastes amazing!
I just have a question that I’d appreciate your help with:
After I creamed the butter and sugar together, I added the 3 eggs 1 at a time (mixing thoroughly after each one), I then added the rest of the ingredients and found that my mix curdled. Do you know how I can prevent this from happening again?
(I fixed it by putting my bowl in hot water then mixing until it looked like batter again) 🙂
T.I.A,
Amy
Hi Amy! Did the batter curdle after adding the whole milk at the end? The only thing I can think of is the milk not being room temp. I know that when I add cold milk/dairy to anything (even buttercream!) the shock of the temperature can make the mixture appear curdled. I’m glad you were able to fix it though!
Thank you for your response!
I noticed it start after the sour cream and eggs ♀️
Maybe the sour cream was too cold.
I’ll definitely be making them again as this was the favourite recipe out of 3!!
My family loved them and they’re really picky
Thanks so much xx
No problem, Amy. It’s actually normal for the batter to look like that after adding the sour cream and eggs! Once you add the flour and milk at the end, it all comes together into a nice smooth batter. I’m glad it worked out with your method though!
Hi Whitney, I just made these cupcakes today and oh my they are fantastic! Best recipe I’ve ever used. Thank you!
Hi Renee! I am so happy to hear that!! Glad you love the recipe 🙂
Can you use margarine instead of the unsalted butter?
Hi Nicole! I’ve never tried substituting margarine, but after googling it looks like you can sub margarine as long as it’s labeled “good for baking.” If it’s not specifically developed for baking, it might not whip enough air in the creaming process (responsible for giving the cake a nice rise). I’d say give it a try though and let me know how it goes!
Hi Kelly! I did some googling and it looks like Corn Flour and Corn Starch are one in the same. Excited for you to try making cake flour!
Hi Whitney, I’m in Australia and would like to make my own cake flour. We don’t have corn starch in Australia. Can I swap it out for corn flour or Arrow root? Thanks!
Amazing recipe, i just adjusted sugar to 1 1/2 cups and was still sweet enough. Would love this in chocolate, can you tell me how i can make them into chocolate cupcakes. Also not sure why they didn’t rise much..
Hi Tania, so happy you love the recipe! I do have a chocolate cupcakes recipe here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-cupcakes-chocolate-buttercream/
Can I use buttermilk instead of whole milk?
You sure can, Vicki! That’ll make them extra moist.
Hey, I’d love to try your recipe! I normally use caster sugar in cooking, would it be okay to use this instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Ashley! Yes, caster sugar will work great! It’ll make the cupcakes even softer. Enjoy!
Can I use full fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Yes, that will work great as a sub!
Hello, i love your blog!
i was wondering why some recipes call for buttermilk whilst you incorporate sour milk?
Hi, HS! Thanks for the kind words about my blog. I’ve spent a lot of time testing recipes and found that some are more moist and tastier with sour cream, while others are better with buttermilk. That’s really the only reason!
Hello ¡! I’m making about 90-100 cupcakes in less than 5 days , can i make some now and freeze them ¿?
Hi Adriana! You can definitely make some of the cupcakes ahead and freeze them in an airtight container. They freeze just fine and thaw in about 30 minutes!
Hi , I started to follow you recently and I am amazed with your cakes and cupcakes amazing!!!! I made your vanilla cake but unfortunately didn’t come out right, I measure the ingredients in grams and followed your instructions, but when they were inside the oven the middle part sank. Would you be so kind and give me and advice.
Oh no, Silvia! I have made this recipe about a hundred times and haven’t ever had the middle sink :/ When a cake sinks in the middle it’s usually due to overmixing. At the very end of the recipe it’s tempting to continue mixing after adding the liquid all at once, but I recommend that you mix on low until the liquid is just incorporated. You can then turn off the mixer and whisk the batter a few times by hand to make sure you don’t overmix. I’ve detailed the exact timing for how long you should mix each portion, so make sure you follow the timing step by step and let me know how it turns out next time!
Hi! You have such beautiful cakes!! Could we use your recipe for cakes as well or would it not bake correctly? TFS!!
Hi Tracy! Thanks so much for your kind words about my cakes! I’ve got the perfect vanilla cake version of this recipe here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cake-recipe/
Hi there! I use a Canon T7i with a 50mm lens for every picture I take. It’s my first DSLR and I love it! If you’re looking for a great camera/lens combo for food photography that doesn’t have a huge learning curve, I bought mine on Amazon. The camera kit: https://amzn.to/2Q2t6OH and the 50mm lens: https://amzn.to/2NaIQR2
Awesome! Thank you so much Whitney! You have absolutely gorgeous cakes and photos!
Thanks so much Cassie!
Hello!
I was wondering, what kind of camera do you use?