The Best Vanilla Sheet Cake Recipe

Name: Vanilla Sheet Cake
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 185 min
Ingredients: 2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* (DIY recipe in notes); 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 (340g) 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; 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature; 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar; 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract; 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature; pinch of salt, or to taste; 1/4 Cup rainbow sprinkles

July 3, 2025 · In: Cake, Featured, Recipes

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For all the times you want a delicious vanilla cake but don’t want the commitment of decorating a full-on layer cake, this vanilla sheet cake is just the thing. It’s super moist and fluffy cake with the perfect vanilla flavor, topped with vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles to make it extra celebratory! I also love how quick and easy it is to decorate. I grew up celebrating my birthdays with sheet cakes, and they’re such a great choice if you need a cake to feed a crowd.

vanilla sheet cake recipe by sugar and sparrow

vanilla sheet cake recipe with vanilla buttercream

Why You’ll Love this Vanilla Sheet Cake

There are so many reasons why I love this vanilla sheet cake (and you will too):

Super Moist and Fluffy. This recipe actually uses my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe as a base, which I found to be the best for this sheet cake version. It has an extra fluffy texture due to the cake flour and a little extra sugar, and includes sour cream and just the right amount of whole milk to make it perfectly moist.
Amazing Vanilla Flavor. I use a whole Tablespoon of vanilla in this recipe to create the ideal vanilla flavor!
Simple to make. You can make this vanilla sheet cake with a hand mixer or stand mixer, and I’ve included detailed instructions on how to make it (timing included!). You’ll find the recipe to be simple and very similar to many of my other highly rated cake recipes.
Fun to decorate. Sheet cakes are more forgiving than layer cakes when it comes to decorating, which makes the process fun! You can keep the design of your vanilla sheet cake simple like I did, or choose a more elaborate design if you want to challenge yourself.
Easy to Transport. You can bake this sheet cake in a pretty baking dish, decorate it after it cools, then transport it in that same baking dish if you want! So simple.

vanilla sheet cake recipe with vanilla frosting

Vanilla Sheet Cake Ingredients & Substitutions

After testing a few of my favorite vanilla cake variations as sheet cakes, the winning recipe actually starts with my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe. It is perfectly moist and fluffy, bakes up nice and flat on top, and has an amazing vanilla flavor. Here are some of the key ingredients, along with substitutions you can make if needed:

Cake Flour. To achieve the super soft texture in this cake, cake flour is a must. It produces a much fluffier cake 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 (331g instead of 265g) since all-purpose flour is heavier than cake flour.
Baking Soda + Baking Powder. The leavening agents used to create the perfect 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 cake, 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. This recipe uses three large eggs, which add a great amount of moisture while providing structure and giving the cake rise.
Sour Cream. Sour cream takes the moisture level of this cake to the next level and creates a richer flavor in the cake overall. If you don’t have it locally you can substitute it for plain yogurt or crème fraîche.
Vanilla Extract. I use an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract in this cake, 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.

How to Make a Vanilla Sheet Cake

If you’ve made any of my other vanilla cake recipes before, the process for this one is quite similar. Here’s how the process goes:

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF, then grease and line your baking dish.

Step 2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Step 3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Step 4. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla before whipping everything on high speed for one minute.

Step 5. Add the dry ingredients all at once, mix on low speed until they begin to incorporate, then add in the whole milk in a steady stream while continuing to mix on low speed. Mix until the ingredients are well incorporated, about 15-30 seconds.

Step 6. Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.

vanilla sheet cake recipe for 9x13 baking dish

Step 7. Let the cake cool to room temperature, then make the buttercream frosting.

best vanilla buttercream for cake decorating

Step 8. Decorate the cake. I kept the design here simple by frosting the cake with some rustic buttercream swirls, then piping a shell border with Wilton Tip 4B. I finished by garnishing the shell border with some rainbow sprinkles.

homemade vanilla sheet cake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles

Recipe FAQs

Do I Sift the Flour Before or After Measuring? In this recipe, you’ll sift the flour before measuring. I recommend having a kitchen scale for the easiest workflow – you can place a bowl on the kitchen scale and sift the flour right into it, measuring exactly what you need without having to spoon and level the cake flour into cups.
What if I Don’t Have Cake Flour? Cake flour makes this cake extra light and fluffy, so I do recommend making a trip to the grocery store for it. However, if you don’t have access to cake flour you can make your own homemade version using all-purpose flour (or plain flour) as a base. The instructions are in the notes section of the recipe card below.
How Tall is this Cake? The cake layer bakes up to about 1.5 inches (slightly shorter on the sides). The frosting adds another .5 inch or so, so altogether each slice ends up being about 2 inches tall. If you want a taller sheet cake with filling in between the layers, you can double the recipe. I’d recommend baking two separate cake layers vs. torting one taller cake layer.
Can I Make this Recipe as Cupcakes? Or as a Layer Cake? Yes. I have this recipe adapted for cupcakes here, and adapted for a layer cake here.
Can I Add Sprinkles to Make this a Funfetti Cake? I’d recommend making my funfetti sheet cake recipe instead!

soft and fluffy vanilla sheet cake recipe

More Sheet Cake Recipes

If you’re looking for more sheet cake recipes, you can actually make any of my layer cake recipes as a sheet cake! But here are some of my favorites that are written as sheet cakes already:

vanilla sheet cake with vanilla frosting recipe

I hope you love this vanilla sheet cake recipe as much as I do and if you make it, be sure to let me know how it went in the comments section! Don’t forget to rate the recipe below + tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me a pic. I love to see what you create!

Equipment

9×13 baking dish

Ingredients

Vanilla Sheet Cake

2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
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 (340g) 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

1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
pinch of salt, or to taste

Garnish (Optional)

1/4 Cup rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

Make the Vanilla Sheet Cake

Preheat the oven to 325°F (163ºC). Prepare a 9×13 metal baking dish by spraying the sides with baking spray and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
Sift the cake flour first, then measure it out by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high speed for two minutes until creamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 10-15 seconds after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high speed.
Turn the mixer off and add the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then add the milk in a steady stream and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs by hand to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the baking dish until room temperature.

Make the Vanilla Buttercream

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer and large bowl), cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low speed for another minute, or until fully incorporated.

Assembly

Once the vanilla sheet cake has cooled completely, frost with the vanilla buttercream. To create the look pictured, use half of the vanilla buttercream to frost the cake surface with rustic texture. Add the remaining vanilla buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B and pipe a shell border around the edges of the cake. Garnish with rainbow sprinkles.

Notes

*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. Keep in mind that since store bought cake flour weighs less than homemade cake flour, 2 1/2 cups of homemade cake flour will weigh closer to 331g instead of 265g.

9×13 Baking Dish: I used a metal pan for this sheet cake, but a ceramic or glass baking dish will work just fine if you add 10-15 minutes to the baking time.

Make Ahead Tips:

The vanilla sheet cake can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
The vanilla buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency.
The frosted sheet cake can be stored at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, for up to five days.

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