This homemade vanilla cupcakes recipe makes perfectly moist, completely irresistible cupcakes! These light and fluffy cupcakes are topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and sprinkles for the ultimate sweet treat.
These homemade vanilla cupcakes are a certified mood-booster. They’re buttery, fluffy, and topped with silky-smooth vanilla buttercream that hits all the right notes. Pour a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee, then dig into one of these cupcakes for complete vanilla bliss.
Vanilla cupcakes may seem a little too “classic,” but honestly, sometimes that’s just what you need. You can make these cupcakes casual or dress them up with sprinkles (or make homemade funfetti cupcakes), so they’re a great treat to make for everything from birthday parties to lazy Saturday afternoons when you’re craving something sweet. I truly can’t say enough good things about these cupcakes! I also have my all-time favorite homemade chocolate cupcakes that you can make, too.
What Makes These Homemade Cupcakes Different From My Other Vanilla Cupcake Recipes?
If you’re familiar with my recipes, you know that this is not the first time I’ve shared a version of vanilla cupcakes. I’ve spent countless hours making many, many cupcakes and taste-testing them, too (a sacrifice, I know, but someone has to do it). But my quest for the best vanilla cupcakes for every preference has paid off. And this recipe is absolutely classic. So, how are they different?
- Back to basics. Unlike this version, this fluffy vanilla cupcake recipe is made without sour cream. And unlike white cupcakes, this recipe uses whole eggs instead of only egg whites, so they’re more velvety in texture.
- Butter-based instead of oil. Even though I love my oil-based moist vanilla cupcakes, you’ll notice that butter gives these vanilla cupcakes a richer flavor. I still include just a little bit of oil to help with moisture.
- Extra fluffy. I make these classic cupcakes using a tried-and-true creaming method based on my vanilla layer cake recipe. It creates lighter, fluffier cupcakes. I love how the combination of soft and buttery vanilla cupcakes with creamy vanilla frosting just melts in your mouth.
Cupcake Ingredients
These fluffy vanilla cupcakes use basic ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry already. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- All-purpose flour – Measured correctly using a kitchen scale or the spoon and level method to avoid overmeasuring.
- Baking powder – Make sure that your leavening is as fresh as possible. If it’s been open for a while or if it’s past its expiration date, your cupcakes won’t rise properly.
- Butter – I like to bake with unsalted butter and add salt separately. If you’re using salted butter, I’d suggest adding half the amount of salt given in the recipe.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar is best here.
- Vegetable oil – Even though this is a butter-based recipe, I like to add a couple tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil. It makes the overall crumb more tender.
- Vanilla extract – Please use real vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla. You’ll taste the difference!
- Eggs and milk – Bring these ingredients to room temperature. This way, they blend more smoothly into the batter and the cupcakes bake more evenly.
How to Make Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes
Basically, this homemade cupcake recipe is the result of everything I’ve learned over years of making vanilla cupcakes and cakes, all wrapped up in one simple recipe.
- First, prepare the dry ingredients. To start, preheat your oven to 350°F and insert liners into your cupcake pan. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs next, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
Add half the dry ingredients to the batter, and slowly add the milk. The batter may look a bit curdled, but that’s OK.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients, scraping the sides of the bowl. Mix until smooth. Do not overmix.
Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.
Bake at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream for Cupcakes
This creamy vanilla buttercream frosting is super easy to make in one bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Start by adding butter to a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until it’s smooth and well combined.
- Add milk (or water). Next, add the salt and 1-2 tablespoons of milk or water. Mix again until well combined. Then, add in your remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. You can add more milk or water to alter the consistency if you’d like.
- Pipe the frosting. Pipe or spread your frosting onto your cupcakes, decorate to your liking, and enjoy! See my in-depth tutorial on how to frost cupcakes, and check out the Decorating section below for more suggestions.
Scale the Recipe
You may have noticed that these cupcakes are loaded with frosting. That’s because I made one and a half times the frosting called for in the recipe. My opinion is that you can never have too much frosting, especially when it comes to this particular vanilla buttercream. If you follow the recipe for these cupcakes, you’ll end up with less frosting than what’s pictured, but still enough to frost all of the cupcakes.
Tips for the Best Homemade Cupcakes
- Make sure to cream the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla completely. This ensures that the cupcakes turn out fluffy and that they’re not too dense.
- Measure your flour correctly. Dry cupcakes are often the result of overmeasured flour. Measure using a digital kitchen scale if you have one. If not, spoon the flour from the bag into your measuring cup. Then, level off the cup. Don’t scoop directly from the bag, or you’ll pack down the flour and end up with too much.
- It’s a good idea to add a bit more milk or water if your frosting comes out too thick. Do this a little at a time to avoid thinning it out too much. See how to get the right consistency.
- Let your cupcakes cool completely before you frost them. If you don’t, the buttercream will melt and all your pretty piping will be ruined. You want the frosting to stay smooth and velvety.
Decorating Vanilla Cupcakes
It’s not hard to make these cupcakes picture-perfect. But there are tons of easy ways to dress them up and make them even prettier!
- Sprinkles: Add your favorite festive sprinkles to make these cupcakes a beautiful party treat.
- Fruit: Top them with a slice of strawberry, a few blueberries, or any other fruit of your choice.
- Oreos: Garnish these cupcakes with an Oreo cookie or sprinkle them with crushed Oreos!
- Candy: Make these cupcakes even sweeter by adding your favorite pieces of candy.
- Pretzels: Turn these cupcakes into a sweet and salty treat by adding crushed pretzels or mini pretzels.
If you’re sprinkling a topping on the cupcakes, make sure to do it right after you pipe your frosting. This way, your sprinkles or crushed Oreos will stick perfectly!
More Frosting Options for Vanilla Cupcakes
If you’d prefer to decorate with another flavor of frosting, I love these cupcakes topped with chocolate frosting, brown butter buttercream, or this homemade strawberry frosting.
How to Store Frosted Cupcakes
- Store airtight. If your cupcakes somehow last longer than one day, place them into an airtight container, and they’ll stay good for up to 3 days in the fridge or at room temperature.
- Freeze the unfrosted cupcakes. You can freeze the vanilla cupcakes before they are frosted. Cover each cupcake in plastic wrap, then place them in an airtight covered container or freezer-safe Ziploc bag. They’ll keep in the freezer for 2 months. Just make sure to thaw them in the fridge before serving.
- Make the frosting ahead. The frosting by itself will last 3-5 days if covered and refrigerated. Just scoop it into an airtight container and close it securely before placing it in the fridge. When you want to use it, bring it back to room temperature, stir it until smooth, and use it like you normally would.
More Homemade Cupcake Recipes
Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe
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Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cups (163g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- ¾ cup (155g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp (150ml) milk
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) water or milk
- Pinch or two of salt
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Add the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
- Now it’s time to add the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
- Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter will look curdled, but that’s ok.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
- Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Carefully pour in about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and 1-2 tablespoons of the water or milk and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional milk or water as needed to get the right consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844.
- Cupcakes are best when stored well covered for 2-3 days.
Video
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
I meant store bought.🤦🏼♀️
Hello! I am anxious to make these cupcakes and try them. In the video when you were making the frosting you said cream but your recipe says milk. So are you using whole milk or did you use a whipping cream? Thank you
You can honestly use either. I’ve even used water before. I can’t say I notice a huge difference between any of them, but I’d probably go with milk or cream, depending on what you have on hand.
Thank you so much. I am going to makes these today for my daughters baby reveal tomorrow. I will let you know what everyone thought. I am excited to try these. Plus they will be homemade with love, not site bought. 😁
Which there is nothing wrong with store bought. I should of said that first. 😊
I hope you enjoyed them!
hi LIndsay, do you think you could make this as a cake and not cupcakes? just adjust the cooking time??
Yes, you can find that recipe here – https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/moist-vanilla-layer-cake/
Wow, these turned out fantastic! I’m a diehard chocolate lover and have made a lot of your chocolate cupcake and cake recipes to rave reviews. My kids were looking for a non-chocolate change of pace so of course I came here first. Vanilla cupcakes have given me trouble in the past but these came out light and fluffy, with a perfect vanilla flavor. Nicely done as usual Lindsay!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I was about to give up on a scratch recipe for cupcakes until I found yours! I just made and I must say besides easy to make they are absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi, I would love to try these they look amazing but I wish there was an eggless vanilla cupcakes recipe. My 3 year old is allergic to eggs. Can I replace eggs with anything else?
Common egg replacements that people seem to use are applesauce and mashed bananas, but those would obviously mess with the flavor of these. I’d check your grocery store to see what egg replacement products are available.
I am so interested to try these. I have made the version with the sour cream so many times (probably 100 times). They are my go to cupcake and everybody loves them, but of course you need to plan ahead with having the sour cream. I am really interested in whether these are just as good or only nearly as good.
I’m glad to hear you enjoy the other ones! I personally think these win now, but everyone has their own preferences. I’d love to hear what you think!
These cupcakes 🧁 look delicious and so easy to make, do you grease the cupcake pan or the cupcake liners? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
Mayra
I don’t grease the pan or liners. I hope you enjoy them!
Could I add lemon zest and juice to this recipe to make a lemon cupcake?
I modified the cake version (which is the same but amounts are doubled) to make this lemon poppyseed cake. You could make that into cupcakes and leave out the poppyseeds. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/lemon-poppyseed-cake/
I plan on doing these cupcakes and adding a different flavor as well. I looked at the poppyseed cake recipe and that one calls for baking soda but this cupcake recipe does not. Will the cupcakes turn out differently? Can I reduce the milk in this recipe by half and substitute the other half with the juice? Thx
Lemon is acidic, so when you add lemon juice to a recipe it’s ideal to use some baking soda to react with the acid and give you the best texture. You could try using this recipe and just replace some milk with lemon juice, but it might not give you the best result. The lemon poppyseed recipe is better for a lemon cake/cupcake.
Thanks Lindsay! So I went ahead and used this recipe replacing half of the milk with key lime juice. I also added some key lime zest. I think they would’ve came out better if I reduced the amount of key lime juice (a little tart for my taste) and not forget that I changed my mind about doubling the recipe (accidently put 3 eggs instead of 2). Overall, it wasn’t bad. No complaints from my 7 yr old :). I’ll try the poppyseed recipe this weekend. Thanks again for the reply!
Super moist and fluffy. The children absolutely loved it. I’ll make again and again!!
Lindsay,
I made these last night and they are simply the best vanilla cupcakes I have ever had! I’d like to make a two layer cake using this recipe, would doubling the recipe work? About how long would you suggest baking in a 9in round cake pan?
Trish =)
I’m so glad to hear that! You can definitely make a layer cake with it. Here’s the recipe for it in cake form – my Moist Vanilla Layer Cake. I bake it in three 8 inch layers, but you could do two 9 inch. I’m not entirely sure of the bake time, but it should be similar or maybe a touch longer than in the cake recipe. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/moist-vanilla-layer-cake/
Thank you!!!
Hi Lindsay, to make 24 cupcakes would I double the recipe ingredients? And what would be the cook time ?
Thanks
Jennifer
Yes, you can double it for 24 cupcakes. You’d still bake the cupcakes for the same amount of time.
Does the fat content of the milk that we use in the cupcakes matter?
I use 2% so I’d recommend something similar.
Can you share where I could get the cute little sprinkles you put on top? My granddaughter’s is coming and it would help make the cupcakes special. Thanks.
Yes, they’re from sweetapolita. https://sweetapolita.myshopify.com/
Thanks Lindsay! I can’t wait to try these cupcakes. I have a silly question. Say I made these cupcakes and wanted half of them to have the vanilla icing and half to be chocolate icing but didn’t really want to make a separate batch of icing. Could I just adapt the remaining vanilla icing over to chocolate by adding in cocoa powder? Anything else I should add? And how much cocoa would you add?
Thanks!
Linda
So when I make chocolate buttercream, I remove some of the powdered sugar to add the cocoa. If you make the vanilla as written, then add the cocoa, the frosting would be quite thick. You could add more milk to thin it back out, if you like. It’s a little different that making separate chocolate buttercream, but it would technically work. I normally use 1/2 cup of cocoa in place of 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. If you aren’t only doing half of the recipe, then it’d be 1/4 cup. I hope that helps!
Hi Lindsay! I plan on making these on weekend for my niece’s birthday. If I want to make 3 dozen of them, can I cook more than one cupcake tin in the oven at once, or does that affect cooking time? Would I need to rotate? Thank you!
Tiffany
Phlanx’s Marketing Specialist
I don’t typically do that, just to be safe and ensure best results. You could try it, but yes, you’d likely need more cooking time and depending on your oven, might need to rotate.
How can I get my cupcakes to have the spongey centre when I bite into them. Do I have to reduce the flour?
Is it important to use unsalted butter in the cake recipe?
If you use salted butter, you’ll want to leave out the additional salt.
Hey Lindsay, you are too good at baking! I am a fan of all your desserts specially these mini cakes as they looks attractive and make my kids happy… Well, these day free from official tasks and busy with kids demands make me look out for something new and I just can’t find the better place other than lifeloveandsuger.com … Keep up it!
Thank you so much, Jenny!
I’ve made 2 of your vanilla cupcake recipes, I have to ask tho what one is your all time personal fav.
This is the newest and the favorite.
So exited to try these cupcakes! I have tried all of your other cupcake recipes, I’m exited to try this one! They look great.
I haven’t had this recioe, but I did the one made with egg whites. They were delicious!!!! The only problem is I can’t make my frosting as pretty as yours. I really need a video, and a light frosting where I can get the height. I desperately want to make pretty ones like yours!! Congratulations to you and hubs ..so blessed!
I’m so glad you enjoyed those! Have you seen my cupcake frosting tutorial? That might help.
Hi , which sugar should I use ?
I use granulated sugar in the cupcakes and powdered sugar in the frosting.
Lightest fluffy cupcake ever. Delicious! I do recommend watching her frosting vid. Before hand. This is only if you want super pretty and perfect cupcakes!
How do we make this one into a lemon batter? I did the lemon with the egg white but this recipe is the one we really love! Do I just add some lemon zest to batter?
This Lemon Poppyseed Cake is my new lemon version and you can definitely leave out the poppyseeds and make cupcakes. There’s lemon zest, juice and an adjustment to the baking powder/baking soda. You could make the vanilla ones with lemon zest in them, but the lemon flavor won’t be as strong.