These Vanilla Cupcakes will easily become your go-to cupcake recipe! These soft, buttery cupcakes are completely from scratch using the reverse creaming method. It’s the best vanilla cupcake you will ever taste!
Top these with my Perfect Buttercream for the perfect birthday cupcake!
Everyone Needs a Vanilla Cupcake Recipe That Always Turns Out Perfect!
Today we’re taking it back to basics! This vanilla cupcake recipe is one I shared many years ago, back in 2013 but I thought needed an update. The recipe remains the same, but I wanted to include some more tips and tricks for ultimate cupcake success. PLUS, I felt like they needed some pretty new pictures!
A classic vanilla cupcake might seem like a basic or no-brainer type of recipe to bake, but I will tell you that it took me many years to perfect! There was a lot of trial and error that went into this recipe to get the texture moist, light, and soft! So many recipes I have tried in the past have been too dense, or too dry, or too too oily. But this one is soft, buttery, and light in texture with the perfect dome.
How To Make The Best Vanilla Cupcakes
The trick I use in this vanilla cake recipe is the Reverse Creaming Method. I have used this in a few other recipes on my site, like my Confetti Cupcakes and LOVE how they turn out. Reverse creaming produces an ultra-fine crumb, which makes these cupcakes super tender!
What Is Reverse Creaming?
Reverse Creaming is when you mix the butter into the dry ingredients before mixing in the remaining ingredients and liquids. Generally when you bake a cake you cream the butter and sugar together to start and then add the dry ingredients in alternating additions with the wet.
Reverse creaming evenly combines the butter into the dry ingredients creating a coarse sand texture, coating all the dry ingredients with fat, and then add in the remaining ingredients. We’re always told when making cake batter NOT TO OVER MIX! because over-mixing batter can cause more gluten to form, creating a denser, less light and airy cake. BUT reverse creaming coats the flour in fat which minimizes gluten formation. This also creates smaller air particles being formed in the mixing, producing a finer crumb, and a perfect dome.
Ingredients:
- Cake flour
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Room temperature butter
- Large eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla extract. I like to use pure vanilla to impart the most vanilla flavor. Adding vanilla beans or vanilla bean paste will really amp this up too!
Let’s get started, the process is super easy, but just make sure to follow a few quick steps to ensure perfection!
- Prepare oven and muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the cake flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir together using paddle attachment for 1 minute on low speed.
- Add butter and eggs. With mixer still on low, drop in butter, a few cubes at a time, continuing until all butter is in and mixer resembles coarse sand. The add in the eggs one at a time until combined.
- Add milk and vanilla. With mixer still on low slowly pour in milk and vanilla. Turn the mixer to medium and beat for 2 minutes until batter is smooth, scraping sides of bowl as necessary, making sure batter is well combined.
- Add batter to cupcake tin and bake. Fill liners 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter) and bake for 15-20 minutes until centers are set and toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and decorate! Allow to cool completely before frosting.
What Frosting Recipe Should I Use On Vanilla Cupcakes?
- Buttercream. Of course this is my go-to on vanilla cupcakes! It’s a traditional American Buttercream made with butter and powdered sugar/confectioners sugar and it’s what I have frosted on the cupcakes in the pictures featured here!
- Chocolate Frosting. A vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting is a classic, and my Creamy Chocolate Frosting Recipe is the BEST!
- Perfect Party Frosting. This recipe is a marshmallow buttercream with sprinkles INSIDE! It’s a fantastic recipe!
- Pumpkin Butter Frosting. This is a great recipe to give your cupcakes a fall twist!
- 2 Ingredient White Chocolate Buttercream. Creamy, decadent, with the perfect amount of sweetness, this recipe is silky and rich!
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Frosting
Feel free to get creative with your frosting. I used a Wilton 1M tip for the swirls in these photos, and it’s my go-to piping tip! And of course don’t forget the sprinkles!
Print
My Favorite Vanilla Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This vanilla cupcake recipe is easy, soft, and moist! The perfect birthday cupcake topped with a tall swirl of frosting!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare oven and muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the cake flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir together using paddle attachment for 1 minute on low speed.
- Add butter and eggs. With mixer still on low, drop in butter, a few cubes at a time, continuing until all butter is in and mixer resembles coarse sand. The add in the eggs one at a time until combined.
- Add milk and vanilla. With mixer still on low slowly pour in milk and vanilla. Turn the mixer to medium and beat for 2 minutes until batter is smooth, scraping sides of bowl as necessary, making sure batter is well combined.
- Add batter to cupcake tin and bake. Fill liners 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter) and bake for 15-20 minutes until centers are set and toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and decorate! Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: 15.2 g
- Sodium: 90.9 mg
- Fat: 4.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.5 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 31.2 mg
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I love that you posted a classic. Everyone needs this recipe. Including me! I never make classics, but I have no idea why. I mean they are everyones favorite!
This recipe looks so goo and your pictures are so cute!
So glad you went back to the basics today, I still haven’t found my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe. Hoping my lifelong search will end with this recipe!
Heeheehee! Your post made me giggle. I’ve been looking for a solid vanilla cupcake recipe… so thanks for sharing! I’ll give yours a go and report back.
Sara
I just adore your recipes and am always on a quest for the “perfect vanilla” cupcake! I’ll prob. use vanilla paste, because, well, you can never get too much vanilla flavor.
How odd that people get upset over shortening. I mean, it’s not my favorite ingredient, but really? I imagine vegans find butter just as offensive. You can’t please everybody. Even with cupcakes, it seems. These look great. I can’t wait to try tem.
Hello love! What about the eggs? Do you whip the milk and vanilla with the eggs and add it all together? Would you sub cream for the milk? You have inspired me to give these a go. I like your assertion that a great vanilla cupcake is the benchmark.
Soon as I find out about the egg bit. Thanks!
Patty ‘Mac’
Yep, I realized I left that step out of the instructions.. went ahead and updated the recipe! THanks!
Looks beautiful! One thing…the eggs? I’m assuming they’re added one by one after the butter step? Or do you whisk them with the other wet ingredients and add them that way? Thanks!
Realized I left that step out! Yes, after the butter step before the milk! Recipe fixed, thanks for the catch!
I am cake, cupcake chalenged. The batter is even yummy! Just took out ofvovrn and cooling. They look like they turned out good. It is for my hubby’s birthday and he requires cream cheese frosting. So, can you use this same recipe for a two layer cake?
These look amazing – just like the perfect vanilla cupcake. With a small springy crumb and buttery vanilla flavour – I have always liked the cake part the best. I know, sacrilege! But that’s how I feel.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I am excited about baking these awesome cupcakes in the near future. I am a beginner when it comes to Baking and have some questions.
1. Do you have to use Cake Flour or can you increase the amount of All Purpose Flour?
2. What is Kosher Salt? Can you substitute regular salt?
3. Can you use Buttermilk in place of regular milk?
4. Would it hurt to add a package of Vanilla Instant Pudding and if so would I need to omit any ingredient if I did?
Lord look at me question away. Haha. Ya sure you just don’t want to come and bake them for me. ?. Thanks for all of your help. If you don’t mind can you email me response because it may be a few days before I get back on site
BakingforDummies ???
1) If you don’t have cake flour you can create your own by: Measuring out the amount needed for your recipe. For every 1 cup of flour remove 2 Tbsp of flour, now add 2 Tbsp of Cornstarch for every 1 cup of flour. Sift 5-6 times and it’s ready-to-use cake flour.
2) If you use table salt decrease the amount by 1/4 teaspoon.
3) For this recipe you don’t need to use buttermilk, but you certainly could.
4) I wouldn’t add pudding to this recipe. You would need to alter the other measurements.
Enjoy!
I have the Back in the Day book and have always wondered about their recipe! Good to know it’s a keeper!
And I love the reference to ‘your usual’ by your husband being Duncan Hines 🙂 Too funny!
I am loving your recent Sugar Cookies post and this one b/c as bloggers sometimes we get caught up in the complicated things and crazy recipes but having really solid basic recipes is the best!
I Loved your post and wholeheartedly agree with your views about vanilla cake! I always try vanilla cake as a test to the bakeries true worth! Your cupcakes look lovely and I can’t wait to give the recipe a try… Thanks for sharing!