Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
These vanilla cupcakes are the perfect soft and fluffy vanilla cupcake! I have done a lot of testing and am proud to say that I finally have my favorite version to share with you!
I’m quite picky about vanilla cupcakes. You can’t get by with a mediocre one, you know? They might be one of the most important flavors to get right. Next to chocolate, that is. If you don’t have a good vanilla cupcake, you’ve got a problem.
I have tried numerous vanilla recipes over the past few years and this one was a fave. Problem was, it was a cake recipe. And while many cake and cupcake recipes are interchangeable, this one was not.
When I tried to use it for cupcakes, the wrappers would come off as the cupcakes cooled. Not good. Not good at all.
They also didn’t puff up quite like I wanted. They had pretty flat tops. Too flat.
I also tend to think sour cream gives terrific moisture and flavor to a vanilla cupcake. And I think that even more now, after all my testing. Plus, it can easily be switched up to allow fun flavor variations.
So I decided to take that tasty cake recipe and turn it into the perfect cupcake! Starting by adding sour cream.
Did you see the picture I posted on instagram of all the cupcakes I ended up freezing on my way to the perfect one? It was insane.
I played with the amount of eggs, just egg whites, amounts of milk, sour cream, flour, butter. I thought I was going to drown in cupcakes.
I also wanted to try and use the more common version of ingredients – all purpose flour instead of cake flour, regular milk instead of buttermilk, etc. Just to make it easier. 🙂
Aaaand to make it even easier, you only need one bowl! Woot woot!
I got a number of opinions along the way. Including when I had 6 women from my small group together and they tested what I thought would be my final 3 versions. I knew which my faves were, but wanted their opinions.
They totally agreed that one version had better flavor and one had better texture. The third was out!
So I decided to give it one more try.
Magic! Perfection! And sheer happiness!
My very own Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcake! It is so wonderful, you guys! You have to try it!
MY OTHER RECIPES
It is not too dense, but not too airy. Moist, but maintains structure. Rises, but not too much. And the sour cream really amplifies the vanilla flavor. Love, love, love it!
Plus, I’m kind of proud of myself for persevering. 🙂
As for the icing, it is my go-to vanilla icing.
It uses half butter, half shortening. In any of my icing recipes were I use half butter and half shortening, you can use all butter. But truly, I stand by using half shortening. Shortening can seem gross, but it will give a more stable icing, particularly if it’s warm out. And I really prefer the final flavor. I find all-butter icing to be too buttery and not enough vanilla flavor.
You might disagree in the end, but I encourage you to at least try it first. Either way, the cupcake that the icing will sit on will rock your socks off. And together, they will make a fabulous cupcake party.
So do me a favor, will you? I worked extra hard on this one and burned through a lot of butter, so make sure you give it a try. I know you’ll love it!
Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
These vanilla cupcakes are the perfect soft and fluffy vanilla cupcake! I have done a lot of testing and am proud to say that I finally have my favorite version to share with you!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 1 2/3 cups (217g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup salted butter (170g), room temperature ( I use Challenge Butter)
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) sour cream
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
ICING
- 1/2 cup (115g) salted butter
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
- 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp (30-45ml) water or cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
CUPCAKES
ICING
Notes
You may notice little bits of butter in the batter, but that’s ok. They will melt into the cupcake as they bake.
See my newest vanilla cupcake recipe here.
Keywords: vanilla cupcakes recipes, vanilla icing recipe, easy vanilla dessert recipe, best cupcake recipes
Enjoy!
You might also like:
Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Some treats from friends:
Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake by Java Cupcake
Triple Coconut Poke Cake from Beyond Frosting
White Chocolate Funfetti Chip Cake from Inside BruCrew Life
I love your pictures. They are so bright and fun and make the recipe something I definitely want to try.
Thank you so much Janet! 🙂
I echo Janet’s comment!
I am sorry to say that I tried these vanilla cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday and I was very disappointed. I am an experienced baker and these were neither light nor fluffy. The vanilla flavor was lovely, but the consistency was very dense. My search for a light fluffy vanilla cake/cupcake continues. My family did love the frosting, though!
Hello 🙂 this recipe seems delicious, definetely will try 😉
I just want to know how many cupcakes come out of this recipe?
Thanks a lot in advance 🙂
I too just made these. Came out heavy. Who knew a little cupcake could be like a brick. Baked for 17 minutes. They did not brown but toothpick came out clean. Liners are pulling away as they cool. Not good for a baby shower.
is it correct there is no salt in the cupcake batter??
Thanks making them now, they look wonderful, Terri
Yes, that’s correct. I usually use salted butter.
if i don’t have salted butter can i use unsalted and add a teaspoon of salt?
Yes, you can. Although that might be a little too much salt. I’d try 1/2 tsp.
Hello, and sorry for my english,I’m french! Maybe I did not understand what was written, but, don’t you put the yellow of your eggs in your cupcakes ?
No, not in these cupcakes. Just the whites.
This cupcake recipe is perfect! It’s hard t get a complement from my husband but when he bit into it he said “save this recipe!”… that’s about as five star as I’m gonna get 🙂
Aww, that’s awesome! I’m so glad he liked them!
Hi I’m curious, was there a reason you didn’t cream your butter and sugar together instead of adding the sugar to the dry ingredients? I found that very odd.
While it’s very common to see butter and sugar creamed, there plenty of recipes where they aren’t. It was a choice I made in developing these cupcakes to avoid that step.
I do too! I tried it out and it came out great!
I love your tip about using shortening, it does sound a bit gross when you tell it to people, but during summer it is a nightmare to keep it out of the fridge!
Definitely! It’s much better in the warm weather. I personally prefer the final taste of the icing with shortening too. 🙂 Thanks Mariana!
THESE WHERE SOO GOOD
I’m always looking for a new vanilla cupcake recipe… I’m going to give yours a try! And for the shortening, I add it a lot to vanilla or white frosting recipe. It just adds a level of flavor you can’t get from butter alone. 🙂 Great recipe!
Awesome! You’ll have to let me know what you think Betsy! Thanks! 🙂
They look perfect Lindsay!
Thanks Dorothy!
They look so beautiful and delicious!
Thank you Pam!
We all need perfect vanilla cupcakes in our arsenal!! I bet your house smelled like vanilla for weeks!! These look incredible!
Definitely! Thanks Tanya!
I make all homemade cakes, like you, I try different recipes, and change up on them too! Looking forward to trying your vanilla cupcake recipe. I have a recipe I really like “Delicate Cake” a fine textured cake, received from a chef 40 years ago. Thank you! Happy baking!
Thanks Pam! I’d love to know what you think! 🙂
Yuh know, ‘perfect’ is a big word. I’m going to have to give these a spin just because!
You’re right, it is Risa. I hope you like them!
Nothing beats a good vanilla cupcake! I can only imagine all the butter you burned through in the name of finding the perfect vanilla cupcake! #foodbloggerproblems
omg, yes. Total food blogger problem, but I want through A LOT of butter! Thanks Jamie!
yum will so try this for a bday party! looks easy and yum too! thanks for sharing this great recipe. found you on food gawker and really looking forward to your future recipes! xx. gigi. http://www.gigikkitchen.com
Awesome, thank you! I’m so glad you found me 🙂
You are so right…a mediocre vanilla cupcake will not fly because there are no other bells and whistles! Yours looks perfect. Dense but not too dense. And sour cream is definitely the way to go! I can practically taste these right now! Can’t wait to try them out!
Thanks Lindsey! I’m a firm believer in the sour cream!
I made these last night, it was AMAZING! You are right. It was perfectly moist, full of flavor and had the perfect shape. Job well done! I served these at my office and they were a huge hit. Plus, I rarely make cupcake from scratch, so it was extra special!
Yay!!! I’m so glad you liked them Julianne! You made my morning. 🙂
Hello and Mabuhay! Ken here, from the Philippines! Like you, I’ve been looking for the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe and have tried A LOT! I think the folks at home are already tired of vanilla! Haha. I think this is it. The way you described the cupcakes seem heavenly! Can’t wait to try your recipe! However, there’s a problem, I can’t seem to view the recipe. I tired it both on Safari and Chrome, all I get at the bottom is this: [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:139]. Is there something wrong? I’m new to your site so I’m not sure if there’s something I need to do first. Based on the comments, seems like other people were able to view the recipe. Oh, and its the same thing with all the other posts, and I’ve refreshed the page a million times already! Sorry for the lengthy post. Just excited to try out your recipe! Thank you so much!
Hi Ken! Thank you! You’ll definitely have to let me know what you think of the cupcake. You should be able to see the recipe now. I’m sorry about that, not sure what happened, but it’s fixed. 🙂
Thank you! I’m excited for this! Will definitely let you know how my cupcakes turn out! 🙂
Love how you took the time to find the perfect vanilla cake. I gave up after 4 cakes & have one still in the freezer. Wish I was able to test them with you 😛
Its definitely time consuming but I love it and now I’ve got my fave! 🙂
There’s no salt in the cupcake recipe! My first batch made exactly to the recipe came out tasting a little off.. Could not put my finger on it. Second and third batches with salt turned out fantastic! Even my teen daughter thought the ones without salt were not as good. Made a fourth batch to compensate for the first because they were for my son’s graduation party. Has anyone else commented on the salt missing?
I haven’t had anyone comment on that. I use salted butter rather than adding my own salt, so maybe that’s why. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
How much salt did you add to the recipe? I am going to try making these as they look amazing, but I use unsalted butter. Thanks!!
If using unsalted butter, I’d about about 1/4 tsp of salt.
I too thought it was odd that there was no salt, but I love salt and I salt everything 🙂 I did use salted butter and I also added a 1/4 tsp of salt. I was also wondering how it would turn out without any egg yolk, but these are VERY good. Good taste. Good texture. I also used 1 tsp of almond extract and 2 tsp of vanilla. This was my first time using Crisco in the icing, and I was very pleased with the outcome; sometimes all butter icing is too “buttery” for me. This is a great recipe! No special, expensive ingredients (i.e. cake flour, vanilla bean) and no special instructions – just throw it in the bowl and mix it. No creaming the butter/sugar then alternating wet and dry ingredients…blah, blah, blah…I’ve made lots of cupcakes all different ways, and these are just as good or better!!
I am so glad you enjoyed them! You touched on all the things I was trying to accomplish with this recipe – I’m so glad were happy with them! 🙂
Can anyone please send me this recipe, Thank you
Hi I really want to try your cupcakes and I was wondering if it to use shortening or can I just use all butter??? PS they look great!!
Yes, you can use all butter.
Just wondering if you had a chocolate cupcake recipe to go with the vanilla?
I don’t have an official post for that, but this chocolate cupcake is seriously the best. Just ignore the filling part, and for the icing don’t use the peanut butter and replace 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 1/2 cup of cocoa.
Hi! I just made these and they taste and smell amazing! The centers are really moist and fluffy’ however, the bottoms of the cupcakes turned out kind of tough. I’m not much of a baker so I don’t know where I went wrong. Do you think I over baked them? Or over beat them? This was a trial batch. I’m making them for real on Saturday. I’d appreciate any helpful hints anyone might have . Thanks so much!
Sound like they might have been a little over baked. Cupcakes can do that pretty quickly. You want to take them out when there are still a few moist crumbs on the toothpick when you test them. I normally set the oven for 17 or 18 minutes, then check them and only add more time if they need it, so that they don’t overcook. One other possibility is that if it’s just the bottoms of the cupcakes, make sure you put the pan in the middle of the oven. If they were too close to the bottom, maybe that’s why the bottoms of the cupcakes are more done.
I made these this past weekend for my daughter’s first birthday….the cupcakes were great. Lots of flavor and very moist and fluffy. I decided that this would be the recipe I would use for the Giant Cupcake Cake I needed to make.. Well the flavor was all there but it turned out very dense unfortunately 🙁 It’s definitely best suited for regular sized cupcakes. I’ll be making these again for sure! Thanks for the recipe!
I am making 160 cupcakes for a friends birthday party and these really turned out amazing!!! This will now be my go-to cupcake recipe! So easy and delicious! Thank you for sharing it and I also love your photos!
Thank you so much Ana! I’m so glad you like them!! 🙂
Hi,
I tried these cupcakes today and they were AMAZING, i have tried so many vanilla cupcakes but either they are too crumbly, dry or just plain wrong. They were moist, with perfect crumb. Just I had two very minor problems, they were sticking a little to the wrapper and I found them a little bland but the second problem, i think can be resolved with a pinch of salt.
Buttercream is the classic ratio and is just perfect.
Do you mind if I post it on my blog with your recipe linkback?
Thanks.
Hi Nadia! I’m so glad you liked them! You are welcome to post them in one of two ways – just use a photo with a link back to my site for the recipe and instructions, or use your own photo and rewrite the recipe in your own words with a link back. Thanks so much! 🙂
http://bakefresh.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-perfect-moist-vanilla-cupcakes.html
I have done the second thing, let me know if its ok for u, more than welcome if u suggest any changes and i will do anything for this recipe 😉
It looks great Nadia! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
I was so happy to find your recipe and thank you very much for all of the testing and tweaking you did. Hubby’s birthday is Wednesday and he wants vanilla cupcakes. I’ve been testing various recipes and wasn’t sold on any of them. Anxious to try your recipe.
I’d love to know what you think when you try them Coleen!
Hi,
Is it possible to get this recipe in grams, I’m in the UK and think I’ve gotten the conversion wrong.
Also, would this same recipe work for making a cake as opposed to cupcakes?
Hi Louise! I can try to do the grams conversion asap. I’ve made it as a cake, and it’s delicious. It does shrink a little bit as it cools though, just so you are aware.
If you could, that would be great! Is there another one of your recipes that you think would make a better vanilla cake?
Its my hubby’s favourite and your recipes are so good, makes me look like a good baker 🙂
Aw thanks! I’m so glad you enjoy them! This really does make a good cake if it’s just for you and your husband or sharing with friends. My husband loves it as a cake. If you’d rather try another though, this one is great too. I’m working on a vanilla cake at the moment. 🙂
These cupcakes are so yummy! I will definitely be making these again. With a sprinkle of salt, they cupcakes will be great for parties and barbeques. These cupcakes are not like any others!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you liked them! 🙂
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This recipe looks awesome. Question, is the vanilla flavor really strong? I’m looking for a subtle vanilla flavor to use as the cupcake base to fill with jelly and top with a peanut butter frosting to make a peanut butter and jelly cupcake. Thanks
It’s certainly a good vanilla flavor, but I think with a different icing, it wouldn’t be an overwhelming vanilla flavor. You could also cut the amount of vanilla extract in the recipe in half, if you’d like.
Any substitute for the sour cream plz?
I haven’t tried it, but you could try using vanilla yogurt.
I used plain yogurt and it worked great. I know this is an old question but I thought it would help if someone else was reading comments after me 🙂
Thank you! I think I’m going to try these with plain yoghurt since I have no sour cream in the fridge 🙂
I see that there is quite a bit of Vanilla in this recipe. If you were to change it to Almond, how much would you use without the batter being too “Almondy”? (This question is for the cupcake batter only)
I am taking them to a party and want something a little different, but not too drastic, as I want to please a picky crowd.
I am excited to try this recipe as I have had similar experiences with trying to use a Cake recipe for Cupcakes. (Wrappers coming off plucks my nerves, LOL)
I’d say 1 – 1 1/2 tsp should be good. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Is there any substitute to sour cream…. ???? As its not readily available in my locality.
Yogurt usually works as a substitute for sour cream, though I haven’t tried it in these cupcakes yet.
Hi, just wondering how many grams are in one cup? I am from the UK and I have encountered a lot of recipes using different grams to cup conversion (either 200g, 240g or 250g..). Would love to give it a try but need to get the measurements right first..thanks!
your cakes look amazing, love! x
Hi Joanna! I’ve updated the recipe to include grams. Thanks!
Thanks for a grat recipe! I’ve been Loki g for cupcakes that don’t stick to the paper case, and dont fall apart. These fit the bill! A few comments-
I used vanilla yoghurt instead of sour cream, and 50% cream /50% milk.
I doubled the recipe- but only had 5 egg whites. Still worked really well!
I’m in Australia, I used 250ml cup. I think the USA cup is different? It would be helpful if you put mls and grams in your recipes.
I was a bit confused by the ‘cup’ of butter- how can you have a cup, unless it’s melted or packed in? Again grams would be most helpful! I just mashed it in a bit and guessed, and it seems to have worked ok!
Thanks again, I’ve made about 45 cakes to take to my daughters preschool class for her birthday. They will love them 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them and I’m glad to know yogurt works in place of the sour cream! It’s definitely a goal of mine to start adding grams and mls. Here, our butter comes in sticks measured by tablespoons and cups. I’m glad they worked out! 🙂 Thanks Kay!
I’ve just popped back to bake this recipe again, and I see you’ve added gram conversions. Thank you!
Ok, I’m making it now and I’m a bit hesitant…with the 1/2 cup of milk and the 1/2 cup of sour cream, are you sure the sour cream weighs twice as much as the milk? That’s a lot of sour cream, and looks like more than half a cup, whatever cup size you use in the USA!
I’m sorry! I am so unfamiliar with those types of measurements. I have the sour cream as grams – is that the right way to do it, or should it be ml? Let me check it again.
I’m wanting to try these but am concerned about using sour cream. Do you get the taste of it at all or do they just taste like vanilla cupcakes? I tried to make muffins with sour cream once but they were disgusting. Has anyone else tried these? Any feedback?
I don’t think they taste like sour cream at all – it just adds great moisture. I also haven’t heard of anyone having that problem either.
Hi all,
Has anyone tried making these using the whole egg vs just egg whites?
Someone said the other day that they used 3 whole eggs instead of egg whites and they turned out well. I’d imagine it’s a different texture though.
I used 1 whole and one white and they turned out great! Usually 1 whole is fairly equivalent to 2 whites
Hello
I’ve just made my second batch of these vanilla cupcakes and they are amazing! The first time I put 3 whole eggs in not just the whites – really lovely texture. Second batch I separated the eggs put the yolks in with wet ingredients and whisked the whites then folded them in at the end – kind of like a sponge
consistency to these ones. I love this recipe – have tried so many vanilla cupcake recipes but this one is
now my firm favorite. Thank you so much.
That’s awesome Ally! I’m so glad you like them and are having fun playing with them! 🙂
I`ve just tried this recipe and it tastes great!!
But mine shrank after I took it out of the oven.
Do you know what could be the reason?
Hmm, the dome does shrink a bit, but they shouldn’t sink in the middle or anything.
it didn`t sink in the middle but overall the size of the cupcake shrank.
Maybe I had incorporated too much air when mixing?
About how long did you mix the batter?
I think they do kind of do that. I’ve noticed it when using the recipe to make a cake.
After my disappointing experience with Magnolia recipe book, I went on a thorough internet search for a moist flavorful vanilla cupcake. You are very correct! These are the best I have ever made! I am filling the little cakes with a little lemon curd and then topping them with your strawberry icing. Can’t wait – the srawberries smelled amazing during the puree. Thank you!!
What a compliment Lorna! Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hello,
Should we melt the butter first or combine it with other while it doesn’t melt yet
Would there be any adjustments to the recipe if you were doing a sheet or layered cake?
I haven’t tried a sheet cake. I’ve made a layered cake with it without changing anything. One thing to note though is that as a cake, it shrinks a bit when cooling (width wise, not height). I love it as a cake though.
Yum! I just made these with my kids tonight and they were delicious. I love that you only have to use one bowl…almost as easy as a box mix but a whole lot tastier. I was wondering, could you use melted butter instead of softened? I always forget to get the butter out early to soften and then in my efforts to try to soften it in the microwave, it melts. Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I will be making it again.
I’m so glad you enjoy them! 🙂 I’ve heard that the recipe still works well with melted butter, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Hey there. Im making few batches of this recipe as I’m typing this out. first batch out was good. but second one slightly under cook i guess. making the third batch now. hope all will turn out good. thank you for a good recipe. i do get the fluffiness and the moistness out of them. 🙂
cheers from Malaysia.
Awesome! I’m so glad you like them! 🙂
Hi
I just made these and the batter was lumpy and the cake stuck to the wrapper.these were for my granddaughters 1 st bday party.
They taste good but embarrassing when. They try and take the paper off
Not very happy with this recipe.
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Hello,
I’m going to try your recipe tomorrow, but I want to make two 8 inch cake pans instead of cupcakes. Can you please advice how this works change the quantity of the ingredients? Thanks so much!
You shouldn’t need to change anything. I hope it turned out well Tammy!
I Thanks for the reply. Actually, to make two 8 inch cakes you need to double the recipe. The cake was delicious by the way.
Ahh, you’re right. I’m sorry. Some of my cupcakes recipes are already doubled, so I was thinking this one was too. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
hi! is it okay if i add chocolate chp cookies orlueberries in this recipe? thanks!!
I assuming you’d be chopping the cookies? I think it’d be alright, but haven’t tried that. The blueberries would work great though.
I made the vanilla cupcakes today they had a good rise while baking when taken out they sank quickly. the flavour was lovely. i used self raising flour and no raising agents, also dropped the oven temp by 20 percent.wat have i done wrong? please can u help!!!
The do sink a bit when they come out of the oven, but shouldn’t fall in the center. They should be somewhat flat on top. It’s hard for me to say what might be wrong, if something is, especially with the change in flour and temperature.
am gonna try cupcakes again and use the plain flour with rising ingredients. i used i kitchen aid to make these, the mix was lovely and light and fluffy, they just colapasedwhen out of oven. ps thanks for replying to last message x
Thank you for this recipe! It’s indeed moist and passed the test of my family!
I just have one comment on the icing. My icing didn’t quite turn out because I overbeat the butter but that’s really my error. But I was wondering if there is a typo with the amount of the sugar in the icing. I always try to use less sugar so I started out with only 2 cups. When I tasted it the icing was already so sweet that I started adding cocoa poweder to eleviate the sweetness somewhat. Unfortunately I ended up overbeating the icing at the end. I can’t even imagine the sweetness if you add 4 cups of sugar! So, is that a typo?! …. anyway, the cupcake itself is really awesome. This one is a keeper.
Hi Erika! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! That actually isn’t a typo. 4 cups per 1 cup of butter (or butter/shortening mix) is pretty standard for a traditional buttercream. I’m glad you were able to alter it to your liking though. 🙂
Thank you for the clarification. I’ll look under your other recipes and maybe try other icings for the cupcakes. But once again, the cupcake is just amazing. You know how cupcakes are not as good (as fresh made ones) anymore when you put them in the fridge. Well, that’s not true for these cupcakes! Even after 3-4 days (small family!), I pull them out of the fridge and either let them get to room temperature or place them in the microwave for very short time and voila, they are (almost) as good as freshly made. Thanks again for sharing this awesome recipe. Like you mentioned in your blog, I have also tried different things to make the cupcakes moist and fluffy. My search is over now!
i didn’t mean chocolate chip cookies. sorry about that. what i meant were chocolate chips 🙂
Hi can i substitute white vinegar instead of sour cream?
That seems like it’d be a lot of vinegar. I don’t know that that would work very well. You might try subbing additional milk instead, if you don’t want to use sour cream.
Hi thanks for the response. I was using white vinegar for my moist chocolate cupcakes, that’s the reason why I asked if it’s possible. Another question would be what kind of milk will i use for the cupcake batter? And for the icing when you say water or cream, what kind of cream did you use? thanks….
I use 2% milk in the cupcakes. I usually use water in my icing, but you can use milk, heavy cream, or whatever your preference.
I made these last night for a charity bake sale. They are very good. Best icing yet!
Thank you so much Lucie! So glad you enjoyed them!
I am definitely going to try these! What type of milk should I use??
I use 2% milk.
Dear Lindsay, I would like to say how much I enjoy your beautiful site, of course your recipes. I call it art. Obviously I am not the only one that thinks you are special. You are very popular. There is a lot to be attracted to your site for. Hugs and Kisses Sherie. I am about to make your vanilla cupcakes. Luv ya
Thanks so much Sherie! I hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
I tried this recipe for some wedding cupcakes I am making and it is PERFECT. Every gal needs a go to vanilla cupcake recipe just like every gal needs a little black dress. I have just found mine. Thank You!
Awesome!! I’m so glad you are happy with them!! 🙂 Thanks!
The vanilla cupcakes and frosting turned out splendidly. Two thumbs up for this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it Suzanne! Thanks! 🙂
Hi! I am planning to make these for a kids birthday party. I am interested in possibly adding food coloring in them for the rainbow cupcake effect, do you think this will alter the flavor any? Thanks so much!
No, it shouldn’t hurt the flavor.
Hi Lindsay,
All your recipes look amazing, i’m going to try the vanilla recipe this weekend.
It says that the recipe yields 12-14 cupcakes. Are they regular size cupcakes (aprox 3″ in diameter)?
One last question, you mentioned adding 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter. Is that added to the frosting or the cupcake batter?
Thanks for your help, and for sharing!
Yes, that should be for regular sized cupcakes. The salt can be added to the cupcake batter. Enjoy them!
Hi Lindsay,
Nice recipe, though initially the cake came out fluffy but after putting it in the fridge, it felt heavy when brought out to eat, any tips on what to do differently next time?
It’s hard for me to say, but I wouldn’t suggest putting them in the fridge. The usually dries out cupcakes.
hi ms.lindsay what can substitute for sour cream, can i use 1 cup of milk instead half of it and half sour cream? thank you 🙂
I think that would work alright, but I haven’t tried it. The sour cream adds a lot of moisture and flavor that using all milk might lack, so keep that in mind.
Was looking for a moist vanilla cupcake recipe and im glad that i found your blog and recipe! At first i wanted to use the allrecipes website recipe but there were too many negative reviews about it being dry, course and bland. So i ditched it and found your recipes and give it my best shot. I didnt have sour cream however, so i substitute it for another cup of milk but other than that kept the recipe the same. The vanilla cupcakes turns out amazing and my god there were super fluffy!! almost like a chiffon cake. Its soft, very moist and sweet. Would highly recommend this recipe! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you found the recipe and liked them! 🙂
I loved these they were everything you said they would be, fluffy, moist and PERFECT. thank you so much for all your hard work!
Thanks Jess! So glad you liked them! 🙂
Hi Lindsay! 🙂 I stumbled upon your blog from a repin via Pinterest and I am so glad I found your website! The colors look really gorgeous and your photos even more so! I made this recipe today but instead of only vanilla, I also added heaps of green tea (or matcha) powder to my batter cos I love green tea! My cupcakes came out very moist and tender. Yay! Thanks so much Lindsay! =]
On another note, I used cake flour and my cupcakes didn’t sink after taking them out from the oven. It’s a great idea to add sour cream as well; mine didn’t have the after-taste of the sour cream! Thanks once again for this awesome recipe! 🙂
Thanks Genevieve! I’m so glad you found the blog and were happy with the cupcakes! 🙂
Hi lindsay.. I was wondering.. Can i replace the sour cream with yoghurt? Because sour cream is.a lil bit hard to be found in my country.. Thankyou so much 🙂
I haven’t tried it, but I think it’d be ok.
Hello about to try this recipient out but I have everything except the sour cream. I do have plain Greek yogurt. Can this be substituted? And if so do I need to change measurement of it or anything else?
I haven’t tried yogurt before, but I think it’d work fine. Use the same amount.
Hi there.I am eager to try out this recipe.But the only thing stopping me is the fact that I can’t make out if the part in the instructions where it says 350ª,is in celsius or fahrenheit.I’m leaning towards celsius,but I’m not 100% sure.So I guess that would be my question: Is the temperature in the instructions celsius or fahrenheit? (ªuª)/
It is in fahrenheit.
Hi, I don’t know why my cupcake surface crack, do u know why this happen?? I’m using you recipe with 160 degree and 18 minutes.
Is that in celcius? I think it’s too low. It should be 350 degrees F, so around 177 C.
Hi,
I tried this out last time for my boyfriend’s niece’s birthday and she loved it as well as their family.
I used cream cheese frosting for the batch I made and they were so delicious!
Do you have a tip for using this recipe as a cake? 🙂
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! <3
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them! For a cake, you’ll probably want to double it if you’re doing a layered cake. Thanks!
These turned out GREAT! Delicious and moist – and so easy – in one bowl! Thank you so much – you did a great job with this recipe! 🙂
Thanks Cal! So glad you liked them!
Hi,
I was just wondering do you use block butter? I usually use Stork butter but not sure if that will work with this recipe? Also for sugar do you just use normal white sugar or caster sugar?
I’m not familiar with Stork. I use sticks of butter – usually Land O Lakes brand. And just regular white sugar.
Hi,
I made 2 batches of these for my sisters baby shower and they were a real hit. I wanted to make mini ones for my sons party at school. Can I use the same recipe or what should I change?.
I’m so glad they were a hit! They should be fine as minis but you’ll need to cook them for less time. I haven’t done them mini, so I can’t say how long, but I’d start with 8-10 minutes and go from there.
is this recipe a thick batter cupcake or thin? The cupcakes look amazing!! the pictures are perfect 😀 please reply ! <3
It’s somewhat thick. Not really thick, but not thin.
Hi Lindsay,
I’m very excited to make these. Thank you for sharing your recipe and hard work!! Just curious, why egg whites instead of the whole egg?
One reason is that egg whites lend a whiter cake. The other is that in theory egg whites should lend a lighter, less eggy tasting cake.
I just want to say the cake and icing recipe is the best I’ve made so far!!!! I thought I read once when making a 8″ round cake to Double the recipe? Is that to make one pan or two pans?
I’m so glad you liked them! Yes, when making an 8 inch cake, you’ll want to double it to get to layers, and you’ll want to bake it in two pans.
Awesome! I’m so glad you liked it! Yes, to make an 9 or 8 inch cake, you’ll want to double it in two or three pans.
Is the oven temp supposed to be 350 degrees?
Yes, 350 degrees fahrenheit.
Hi. I don’t have sour cream my part of the world so I use 3/4 cup buttermilk instead. The cupcakes rise nicely in while baking but once they are out of the oven deflate and sink in the middle. Have tried every method I know but nothing seems to help. Any idea why?
I would think the buttermilk would work fine as a replacement for the sour cream, though I haven’t tried it. But you should only use 1/2 cup, since the recipe calls for 1/2 cup sour cream. 3/4 is probably too much liquid.
I use 3/4 cup buttermilk in place of 1/2cup sour milk and 1/2 cup milk because I think it would be toop much liquid in that case. Is it 200g of flour and 200g of sugar in metric units. I prefer to bake measuring in grams to cups.
Oh, I see. You should be able to use 1 cup of buttermilk to replace the milk and sour cream, I’d think. It’s 200 g of sugar and 240 g of flour.
I have, as many other who have commented, have searched high and low for a good vanilla cupcake recipe. I thought I had found one but lately after months of the perfect domed cupcake it seems like they are starting to sink a bit and I’m not sure why. So now after reading every single one of the comments above I am convinced and I am going to give your recipe a try tomorrow. Actually, my decision was already made after reading your description and looking at your photos. They do look like the perfect, moist vanilla cupcake!!! To add to other comments, the recipe I use (used probably after tryiing yours) calls for either sour cream or half sour cream and half full fat greek yoghurt so yes, it can be substituted with the same result. And I totally agree with you on the shortening in the frosting. I do not like the taste of butter so I use half and half and use whipped cream and whip the heck out of it to give it a fluffy consistancy and it takes away the strong flavour of the butter and just leaves you with the best frosting! It is so hard to keep the fingers out of the bowl! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe!
I’m so glad you found the recipe Shanny! I hope you enjoyed it!
Hi, I was wondering how many cupcakes does this recipe make?
Thanks.
It should make 12-14 cupcakes
Hello Lindsay, I notice that you use egg whites only instead of the whole egg in your recipe. Does the egg yolk change the texture of the cupcake.
Egg yolks can make the cake a little heavier. You can use them though. I have a version that uses them here.
I just made these cupcakes and they are everything you made them out to be and more! Very moist, not overly sweet, buttery, and came out of the wrappers beautifully. I have been in search of a moist vanilla cupcake recipe for a very long time and I can now confidently say that my search is over! This one is a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with all of us!
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks KC!
Hi, I was curious as to why you chose this method to mix your batter as opposed to the creaming method with the butter and sugar and also, why do you only use the egg whites – Thanks!
Also, I have a hand mixer, roughly how long should I mix the batter, (you said until smooth), does the sugar grains need to melt?
There are a couple reasons – one is that I wanted to have a simple method. The other is that for this particular cupcake, it actually produced better results. I played around with creaming the butter and sugar and ultimately preferred the results with this method. I used only egg whites for a couple reasons as well – to keep the cake whiter and also to lend a lighter cupcake.
You shouldn’t need to mix the cupcakes for long. Just long enough so that the batter has all come together. The sugar will not melt during mixing.
I’m so glad I found this! I’ve been trying so long to make the perfect cupcake and have failed and I almost gave up! Then I tried this recipe. Not kidding, this is hands down the best cupcake I’ve ever had. It is better than any box mix and world’s better than the mass market bakeries. I made a batch today and I almost cried. I’m proud of how they turned out. I only wish I had come up with it myself. I’m making my little nieces birthday cake and am definitely using this recipe! 1000 times thank you!!!!
Aww, thank you Kimberly! I’m so glad you were happy with them! 🙂
Is the sugar granulated or is it caster sugar? Also should I add salt. I want to make these for a friends birthday they look amazing!
I use regular granulated sugar. I also use salted butter, instead of adding salt to the recipe.
I haven’t tried the cupcakes yet, but they were amazingly easy! Thank you!
I don’t think my butter was warm enough or I didn’t mix long enough because I had melted butter in the bottom of the pan when I pulled the cupcakes out. The frosting is the best I’ve ever had. I can’t wait until I can try the whole shebang. Again, thank you fir such an easy recipe
I’m so glad you are happy with them Margot!
Absolutely lovely vanilla cupcakes. Best vanilla cupcake recipe I’ve found yet, thanks life, love and sugar!
I’m so glad to hear that Maddie! Thank you!
I’m just wondering why mine kind of sunk in the middle! I tried the recipe and loved it, when I looked inside the oven they rose! When I took them out and let them cool it sunk in the middle
Wow! Tried this recipe today and I am in love! The cupcakes turned out to be very moist which is what I expect from a good cupcake. This is definitely going to be my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe!! Also, love how I can do this by hand, no fancy stand mixer needed.
Thanks so much!! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked them Helen! Great to know that mixing by hand worked too – I hadn’t done that. 🙂
Hi! how are you? i absolutely LOVE the pictures they look insanely good and i would seriously love to give it a try but i just wanted to know before if i could use a substitute for sour cream ?
I believe replacing it with additional milk would work.
Hi! I just made these cupcakes and it is sooo moist and taste amazing but it isn’t fluffy as it should be. Do you think I over baked them? Or over beat them? Thanks so much!
When you say fluffy, do you mean they sunk a little in the middle? That can be caused by over mixing the batter.
I tried the vanilla cupcakes (and frosting) and to tell you the truth I was very disappointed. Followed both recipes to the T. I really felt they were VERY heavy and the frosting doesn’t have a lot of flavor. I did not take any shortcuts at all. I think it’s interesting that most people have not tried the recipe, just thought the pictures were nice. The pictures are lovely, but I was looking for a good scratch cupcake. Sorry. Keep up the good work with your blog!
I had a vanilla cupcake from “Cupcake Charlies” last summer that was absolutely delicious… but it was almost $4.00!!!!! For ONE regular sized cupcake! So, I’ve been on the search for my first try at homemade cupcakes and I’m going to try this one tonight!!! However, I bought unsalted butter and will add 1/4 t. salt and see what happens. Wish me luck! I promise to come back and let you know how I did.
I’d love to know how they turned out for you! Thanks Theresa!
I baked these cupcakes and they were so good! They were very soft and moist. They were perfect 5 mins after they came out of the oven. They were perfectly rounded, and very light. About 10 mins later, they went flat and became a little dense. Do you know what might have happened?
They do fall a little after they come out of the oven – that’s normal. They shouldn’t fall down into the center of cupcake though, if you know what I mean (like a crater). If that happened, then the batter may have been over mixed.
I followed the recipe and made sure I didnt over mix the batter but when I tried the cupcake after it had been cooked for 20 minutes, it was quite dense. It also tasted a little bit undercook, which it shouldnt have because the top of the cupcake was nicley browned. Do you know what might have happened? Thanks so much 🙂
It’s really hard for me to say from afar, I’m sorry. Some people think the cupcake is a littler denser. It’s not super light or super dense. Kind of right in the middle.
In the recipe is it caster sugar or granulated? I really want to make these they look amazing! Should I use unsalted butter?
I use regular granulated sugar. I also use salted butter, instead of adding salt to the recipe.
Will it make a difference if I use caster sugar? Thank you so much
I’m not really familiar with using cater sugar, but it’d be worth a try.
Loved the cupcake but my frosting did not turn out. Will try again though.
I’m glad you enjoyed the cupcake, I’m sorry the frosting didn’t turn out. If you describe what was wrong, maybe I can help?
I have one last question this may seem silly but can you make the cakes without vanilla extract? Will it still taste nice? Thank you in advance
You can do it without the extract, but as for how it will taste, that’s probably going to be a preference thing.
Can I use this recipe for a giant cupcake? Would I double it? How long would it bake for do you think, thanks
I’ve never tried it, so I can’t say for sure. It might be a little dense, but should be fine. I really don’t know about bake time though, sorry.
Beautiful pictures and cake. Love the easy how to recipe. Will try later.
Thanks
OMG! These cupcakes were delish! I will make them again one day soon! My family loved them.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
They look amazing! I am going to try this, however is it possible to replace sour cream with butter milk? If so, how much butter milk would be required? Thanx! xx
That should be fine. You can use the same amount of milk as the sour cream – 1/2 cup.
Hi,
I have always thought that vanilla cupcakes are hard and rubbery until I get to taste this cake in a party, well I was wrong and I was able to consume 3. LOL! Since then I have been searching for “the best” VCC recipe and I think this is the one to beat 🙂 I just have a question though, do I need to melt the butter? , I am thinking it will crumble when I add it in blocks just like when making a bread ? I hope to get an answer before I make this recipe (I am actually excited)
Best,
Rich
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂 You certainly can melt the butter. At room temperature, you might have a few bits of butter in the batter, but that’s ok too. Either way, they bake well.
I’m in the kitchen a lot. Went to Cordon bleu in Paris to take pastry classes for a vacation. Made your vanilla cupcakes- Really GOOD! Went with all butter and vanilla paste in frosting instead of “hydro oil” ( could not bring myself to use shortening) and used 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg instead of all 3 whites and 16 min. bake time. This recipe WORKS AT HIGH ALTITUDE (7000ft) whoot whoot !
Thanks for your good efforts!
Who are these people that post “LOOKS like a good recipe”…. what the….. ??? GO Make em”
Thanks Whitney! I’m so glad you liked them and it’s great to know they work at higher altitudes!
Best vanilla cupcakes i have found…..definitely a win! I just made them and they are awesome… 😀
Thanks!!
I’m so glad you like them!
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The cupcakes are hit! Super yumm! My problem though is that they are not flat. They are like hill looking. I’m making them for school and I want to put nice frosting on top. Can you help me on how to keep them cooked flat. Big thanks! Again, the recipe is superb!
How long can they be stored at room temp?
They’d be best for 2-3 days.
Your work is so encouraging
Thank you so much!
hello, sorry can I ask if the oven degree in Celsius or Fahrenheit??
Yes, it’s Fahrenheit.
I am definitely making these for my son’s birthday! Silly question, but my oven is electric and in Celsius, would I preheat and set it to the Farenheit equivalent?
That’s sounds like it’d be right. I hope it works!
Thanks for this recipe! Sour cream is not something I normally have in the fridge, but it was totally worth it as these cupcakes were lovely and moist. Made them for the hubby’s birthday and he proudly shared them with his friends. Included a picture in my latest post at http://amyzinglycreative.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/the-neverending-meal-plan.html (tried to make icing dots with the leftover icing but it didn’t work so well)
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Amy! They look great! 🙂
Would the icing still turn out okay if I subbed coconut
Oil for the shortening. I don’t use shortening and only coconut oil, so I wanted to know if it can be done with that instead?
I don’t know about the coconut oil. I’ve never tried it. You can sub the shortening for butter though.
Hi,
I am excited about making these cupcakes! Especially after reading all the reviews!
I just wanted to confirm the temperature… 350 degrees?
Is this in farenheit?
I am assuming… but just wanted to confirm, and ask for advice on temperature in degrees celcius?
Thanks 🙂
Jess
Yes, it’s fahrenheit. I don’t have any experience cooking with celcius, I’m sorry.
Hello!!! I haven’t made these cupcakes yet but I have made the caramel apple cheesecake blondie (well I have madebthat SEVERAL times… Who am I kidding!!!) so I trust your baking skills 100%. I am looking for a delicious plain vanilla cake recipe and I understand this stems from just that. By any chance can you steer me in the direction of that recipe??? I would like to make a mini cake and the accompanying cupcakes for a baby shower. Thanks!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the caramel apple blondie cheesecake! This cupcake actually works as a cake as well – you’d just double the recipe. If you want the recipe this one is based on, find it here.
Hi… I’ve made these for my sons Birthday party which is tomorrow… They’ve come out of the oven drenched in melted butter… the bottom of the case is all oily from melted butter and the trays have it in too… Idon’t understand what I did wrong??? They don’t look anything like yours they’re dark brown and crispy on top… really disappointed… have to ice them tonight as party is tomorrow…
I’m so sorry about that. It’s really hard for me to say what it was from a distance. I hope you were able to make them work.
CAN THIS METHOD BE USE FOR BIRTHDAY CAKE
Yes, you can use it for a birthday cake. You may want to double the recipe, or at least use 1 1/2 recipes worth.
what can be used instead of sour cream as it is not available where i live
You can replace it with additional milk.
Hi Lindsay! I just wanted to thank you so much for this wonderful cupcake recipe!! I have been on the hunt for a really good vanilla cupcake recipe for a while, and I must say your recipe is hands down my absolute favorite. It is so perfect in terms of texture, amount of sweetness, and moistness, and I must say I have experimented with a bunch of different recipes. I will definitely be making a lot more of these cupcakes in the future! Thank you again!
That’s awesome to hear! I’m so glad! Thanks Caroline!
I wanted to light and fluffy vanilla cake recipe to make cupcakes for my son’s 5th birthday. I searched all around and settled on your version. I followed the recipe to a tee, and my cakes were dense and thick, not at all light and fluffy. I made two batches and they all came out that way……very disappointed.
I made the strawberry cupcakes on this site and they are PERFECT! However, i made these vanilla ones and well, oddly enough, they taste similar to cornbread? Not sure why, but regardless they all got tossed.
I’m not sure why you had that problem. They both use basically the same cupcake base.
I followed your recipe exactly and they came out amazing. It was everything you had promised….moist, fluffy, and delicious. They even looked perfect….the right colour, texture, no flattening out like others experienced. I wish I knew how to post a picture of it. My hubby and kids loved them! This is my new go-to recipe for vanilla cupcakes. Thank you!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Mine took 30mins to cook not sure why maybe filled them up too much… but still very yum ty
would the recipe still come out as good with semi-salted butter?
I’m not sure. It’s probably a flavor preference. The salt does add flavor. You could add some salt to offset the semi salted butter. Maybe 1/8 tsp?
I was so excited to find this recipe and try it. They were delicious! My only problem was they looked so beautiful coming out of the oven but then flopped. Do you know what can cause this? My kids want me to make them again but because they flopped they were a little dense in the middle. I am thinking maybe my baking powder was a little old? Or maybe I put too much sour cream? I weighed the sour cream to make sure I didn’t have any air pockets in the measuring cup. I am new at this, so please bear with me. Thank you! I can’t wait to try many other of your recipes.
I’m sorry about that Julie. Did they have a kind of a sinkhole in the middle? It’s hard to say exactly what happened, but that can happen sometimes with this cupcake if the batter is over mixed. Once everything is added, you only want to mix it until it’s just combined and everything is mixed. You could also add another tsp of baking powder. I’ve been doing that lately.
Just wanted to say that though I am a pretty good cook, I am normally a below average baker! I have no patients for the science and precision required, however I really wanted to make cupcakes for my daughters 3rd birthday this year. I saw this recipe and thought maybe, just maybe this one would turn out OK! OMG I’m so happy, these cupcakes are the best I have ever eaten, let alone BAKED myself! Thanks so much for your post, I will be happily baking these knowing that they will be perfect on the day.
That’s so great to hear! I’m so glad you are happy with them! 🙂
I was just wondering if you combine the butter and cream mixture into the flour mixture all at once or cream it together and then add the flour mixture to it.
You add it all at once. Just make sure your butter is fairly soft so that it incorporates better.
Maybe this has already been asked but what have you found is the best way to freeze cupcakes? Huge party next month and would like to get a head start…Thanks!!
Any time I freeze cake or cupcakes, I wrap them twice – once with clear wrap, then again with aluminum foil.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I have been trying out other recipes and my search has come to an end. I am wondering if you have a recipe for a chocolate cupcake? I have found one for a very rich chocolate cupcake but I am looking for a lighter one…
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂 This chocolate cupcake recipe is the chocolate version of these vanilla cupcakes. You could leave out the ganache filling, if you prefer. I have another chocolate cupcake, but it’s richer.
I did the batter part for cupcake wars and the batter tasted good, I haven’t tried it cooked yet but can it last for 2 days like cooked ? And still not dry out?
If they are in an airtight container, they should be fine for 2 days.
Hi! I came across your vanilla cupcake recipe and I am sold! I have liquid egg whites and was wondering how many tablespoons of those I need to equal 3 egg whites in your recipe!
Thank you
Gosh, I’m not sure. I’ve never measured egg whites that way.
Hi, Can this be made into an 8 inch cake?
Yes, it can. Depending on how big of a cake you want, you’ll probably want to double the recipe to get two good sized layers. I think in 8 inch pans it bakes for about 20 minutes.
I recently made your s’mores cupcakes for my son’s birthday party. They were so wonderful that I knew when I needed a vanilla cupcake for my niece’s birthday today, that I needed to get the recipe from you! As expected, they turned out amazing! They are exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you so much for sharing your talents.
Awesome! I’m so glad you you’ve ben enjoying the recipes! Thanks Kerri!
Hello, I have a question/concern and wondered if you could advise. I know this is supposed to be a cupcake recipe and I did try the recipe the other day and totally loved it, so much so that I wanted to make this into a round cake. Well, it was a disaster. It was quite odd. The sides rose up, browned really fast and were very dried out before the center was even close to being done, at about 20 min. So I knew it was pretty much over then. At about 30 minutes of course the edges were totally inedible and the center was still not done, but I obviously didn’t continue. One thing at the start was, I’m totally afraid of over mixing so there were a lot of chunks in the batter, which there was some in the cupcakes too and they turned out great. Is it possible that it wasn’t mixed properly? Any other suggestions or a vanilla cake recipe you highly recommend? I never had this happen and a little afraid to try again. Thanks
Hi Lisa, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve made this recipe as a cake many times and haven’t had that issue. You’re right that the batter normally has bits of butter, so that should be fine. It’s really hard to say what the problem was. If the center didn’t rise, it could be a number of things. Did you open the oven too soon? Maybe the baking powder was left out accidentally? It’s very hard to say, but this should definitely bake well as a cake. I hope it works out for you next time.
Hi Lindsay, well after posting my comment I was really desperate to try again because I needed something for a birthday party the next afternoon and figured if it didn’t work Wal-Mart’s open 24hrs, lol. Anyway, I thought maybe the batter was too much for the 9″ round pan???? So I tried scooping out the equivalent of 4-5 cupcakes, putting that batter in a muffin pan aside and try that. Well, it seemed to work just fine, not sure why, but whatever, lol, it worked 🙂 Thanks!
making them now, they where heaps of fun to make
Thank you so much for your recipe. I’m very excited. I just won a cupcake bake-off at work. I added raspberries and white choc chips, and it was delicious. Thank you so much.
That’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know – and congrats on your win! 🙂
My oven goes up to 250 degrees. Can i still use it.
I’m not sure that the cupcakes would bake well at a lower temperature. I haven’t tried it.
I made this tonight and they were absolutely perfect! I couldn’t wait so I ate it without the icing and it was just lovely, wonderful vanilla flavor, light and buttery, super moist. I cannot wait until I make the icing next. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
I’m so glad you were happy with them! 🙂
I tried this recipe and you saved Mother’s Day. The first recipe I tried for a vanilla cupcake was doughy and came out tasting like a really sweet biscuit. This was a homerun. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Hi! I’m giving your recipe a try for my boyfriend’s upcoming birthday! just 2 questions though, may i know what cream specifically to be used for the icing- whipping cream or milk etc? And can i use this recipe to bake a cake instead of cupcakes? Thanks in advance dear! 🙂
You can use any kind of milk or heavy cream. It’s mainly used to thin the icing out, so it’s preference Whatever you have on hand. And this recipe will make a cake, though you may want to double it depending on how tall of a cake you want.
Any idea why the cupcake becomes dense overnight? :/ Otherwise, flavours were perfect!
It definitely becomes a little denser after it cools and sits, but that seems to be pretty common in a lot of the recipes I’ve tried.
The cupcakes seemed really yummy in the picture so I tried the recipe out. While I was mixing the batter I noticed LOTS of butter. LOTS of it. I had to mix it for a while to get the butter down to small chunks. After I had done that it seemed okay, so I threw it in the oven and set a timer. When I pulled them out of the oven, they looked delicious, other than some somewhat disconcerting holes in it, it looked almost like a mini sponge. I over-looked this, but when I tried them, even the frosting couldn’t hide the taste. The cupcakes tasted like cornbread. What did I do wrong? Am I the only one who had this issue?
It sounds like the butter was too firm. It should be at room temperature, or you could melt it.
Thanks! 🙂 I will try melting the butter next time or using two bowls and creaming the wet ingredients before hand. 🙂
I have to admit- I was so wary of making a (cup)cake batter without doing the traditional creaming of the butter and sugar as the first step. I did beat the liquid ingredients by themselves, then added the whisked-together ingredients dry in three batches, mixing a little after each one, but not mixing for long at all. They turned out delicious. Thank you!
Hello! I was wondering if this recipe could be doubled? I need 24 cupcakes, so i would like to know if i should make two separate batches, or if this recipe can be doubled.
Yes, you can double it
I made these for a friend’s birthday, and added some sprinkles to the mix. I even messed up the recipe and didn’t use enough butter, but they still came out really good! Many people were sneaking back for seconds! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! 🙂
Hi there! I just loved this recipe, I’m gonna try it tomorrow for sure!
I was wondering (sorry if I say something wrong, I’m from Brazil and my english is not really good) about the egg whites, do you whisk them before (until stiff or not) or just add them to the batter? And what if I use the whole egg? Will it change too much?
Do you think that adding chocolate chips would work?
Thank you so much! Your website is beautiful!!
The egg whites are just added to the batter. You could use one egg and one egg white, but it will change the texture just a bit. The batter is thick enough to hold chocolate chips well. Enjoy!
Your cupcake recipe is fantastic!!! I have tried so many recipes and failed so many times… I was just about to give up when I read your blog. At first I was quite skeptical… all in one bowl?? will it works??
It really works!! I The most fluffy and moist cupcake I have ever baked! ! am so happy now that I have finally found a great recipe ! Thank you.
szel
Terrific! I’m so glad you were happy with it!
The best vanilla cupcake recipe. While ihavent used your icing, the cupcakes are perfectly moist. I also love the fact that you can make them the night before and they are still so fresh the next day. Often, I find that some recipes become quite firm and not AS fresh. Have made them about 8 times already.
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for this recipe it was definitely light and fluffy…however when I made it the cupcakes didn’t peel off the cupcake wrapper andstuck to the wrapper too much. Any advice on how to have it peel off?
Thanks again!
Hmm, I’ve never had that happen. Maybe it was something with the wrappers?
what nozzle did you use for your piping?,because they really have a tasty and comfortable size. :3
It’s Ateco tip 844.
Can cake flour be used?
I have never tried it, so I can’t say if it’d work.
Hi!
I just want to tell you your cupcakes look great and I can’t wait to try them!
But can I please check with you what is the reason behind of not using the egg yolks but only the white? Does it contributes to the fluffy-ness?
Can’t wait to hear from you! (:
Yes, the whites add more softness, as well as a little different flavor and color.
Hi, I’m baking these tomorrow for a group of little girls. I am using SMALL cupcake patty pan liners. Often American cup cakes are about a normal muffin size. I was thinking I would cook my small cupcakes for about 10-12 mins. Any thoughts?? Thanks and I’ll let you know the outcome.
Are they mini sized? I haven’t actually made these mini before, so I don’t know for sure. 10-12 sounds like it could be right, but I’d start looking around the 8 minute mark, just to be sure they don’t over bake.
Yum!! These are beautiful, nice and moist and still fluffy, awesome work!!! The icing is delicious too, thank you for sharing!
I tried five different recipes trying to find a great vanilla and a great lemon cupcake recipe, and this one worked perfectly, as did the lemon version. Thank you! These were delicious!
I just have to come back to comment that I realized the first three times I made these and the lemon cupcakes, I kept putting in 2/3 of the butter (1/2 c instead of 3/4 c) somehow. But the last time I made them, I used the full amount of butter, and they were much much too buttery. The texture just wasn’t the same, and the liners were coated in grease, I thought it was surprising, and just wanted to share in case anyone else had the same experience.
hi! I know this is probably a terrible thing to ask, but I just have to – I’m thinking of making this for my almost one year old’s first birthday, and while I’m okay with giving him sugar, I would still like to cut the amount of sugar in this recipe because this ratio of flour to sugar ( 1 2/3 C to 1 C) would result in a fairly sweet cake. Do you think I would be able to get away with say 2/3 C sugar?
Thanks! If I am asking a sacrilegious question do let me know… And I will search for another recipe, though I think I will try baking this cake when I next have the chance to bake a cake. 🙂 looks and sounds so lovely
It’s not terrible, don’t worry. 🙂 You certainly can reduce the amount of sugar. I think they’ll still bake ok. 1/3 less cup shouldn’t be too bad, though it will affect the texture of the cupcakes a bit.
These are the most moist and fluffy cupcakes ever, I added some cinnamon for flavor and they turned out great, thank you! Made some for my best friend’s birthday and she loved them 🙂
These actually turned out to be some of the driest cupcakes I have ever made. It’s a shame because the flavor is nice. I stumbled upon this recipe by googling ‘moist cupcakes’. I’m not sure where I went wrong as I followed the recipe exact but I can see it has happened to some others so there must be something we’ve done that has given us a different result to all the other positive reviewers. Guttered!
hi, may i know if i can just substitute sour cream with yogurt?
Yes, you can, though it does change the texture of the cupcake.
Do we need the sour cream? Can it be replaced by something, or is it just optional?
I really prefer to use the sour cram – I think it adds to the flavor and moistness of the cupcake. If you don’t have it on hand though, you can replace it with milk.
is this recipe in celcius or farhenheight?
fahrenheight
Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous recipe. These cupcakes turned out the best. I substituted a little to suit ingredients I had at home. I used yoghurt and lemon juice instead of sour cream and 2 whole eggs instead of 3 egg whites. Very fluffy and superb flavour.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Can I add cream cheese to the icing recipe? If so, how much?
Yes, I’d recommend replacing the shortening with the cream cheese. Enjoy!
I just made these for a friends childs 1st birthday and I think I just tasted heaven! These are the best cupcakes I have ever made and eaten! Using this everytime to make the best cake ever! Thank you 🙂
Thank you Erin! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
This is a great recipe! I followed the recipe but added 1/4 tsp salt, and ended up not having 3 eggs so used 2 whole instead of 3 whites. Perfect!! I’ve been searching for a great recipe and so glad I came across this one. Thank you!
hi,
i have a question about the eggs used in the recipe.
what size eggs are they, small, medium or large?
thanks
They are large.
I love the recipe… I substitude the sour cream with yoghurt and they turn out amazing… Like what you said MOIST, FLUFFY and SUPER YUUUMMM…. These were dellicious.. Thank you… 😉😊
Absolutely delicious. Thanks for posting this. The only part of the recipe I changed , was the use of egg whites . I didn’t feel ike wasting the yolks, so I used two whole eggs instead . Put it all together in less than 15mins. Baked for exactly 20 mins @ 170 degrees centigrade ( for anyone wanting a conversion) . They came out perfect and are really moist . Definitely a keeper .
hi I’ve tried your receipt today but I realised that the more I beat, the texture seemed to get tougher. may I know what has got wrong? thanks so much!
Yes, you don’t want to overheat the batter. It’ll make it tough.
HI, I baked them there were so nice and soft, after some days there are still fresh and soft but I have a problem after just 18 it was so crack on it and it raised up so much but after getting cold it was a bit down, I wanna know is it normal or not ? tnx a lot
These cupcakes ARE amazing! I keep them in a fridge and take them out for 15mins and they taste even better! I used unsalted butter and added 1/2 tspoon salt. I also reduced the amount of sugar (caster sugar) to 3/4 cup and they’re just perfect. Next will try to make it into a cake. I still need to work on the buttercream though. I only used 1 cup of icing sugar and didn’t add water and the texture was “grainy”. Any tips to make it smoother? Thanks so much for the recipe! Did I mention it’s so easy to make too? 😉
Thank you so much for your vanilla cupcakes recipes. i made it this week and it was sooooo delicious! I will be talking about it on my food blog as well.
thank you so much
Love the pic but hate the cupcake my entire family of 5 kids spit it out. Boyfriend says the icing was good but the cake was horrible
Two things. Paddle or beater attachment? Also the butter, should this be cut into smaller pieces first? I had some very large chunks after mixing. Thanks!
Hmm, I’m under the impression the paddle and beater are the same. I googled to be sure. Which are you referring to? I don’t cut the butter into pieces, but it should be softened. You could even melt it a little bit to avoid the pieces of butter.
This frosting was cloyingly sweet. Had to salvage it with an 8 ounce package of Philly cream cheese. Even then, it was borderline sugar-shock. Two cups of powdered sugar would have been fine. I used three cups and tossed in the sour cream and it’S so-so.
I’ve been searching for moist cupcakes and finally, yours a winner! The ones I’ve tried always turned out to be dry. This time I made it with salted caramel frosting. Thanks Lindsay. You’re a star! I’ve gotta try your other recipes!
Thanks Ira! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are delicious!! The only problem I had was that they still came away from the sides of the cases. Anything I can do to rectify this?
I honestly haven’t that had problem with these cupcakes so I’m not really sure what to suggest. I’m not sure what would cause it.
I love this recipe!! Just wondering, if I wanted to add some chocolate chips to the batter is there anything I should do differently? Thanks!
Nope, should bake great! I’m so glad you enjoy them!
I just made cupcakes today for the first time.
I’ve always baked, but I’ve mostly stuck to cakes, pies, tarts, etc. However, recently I got inspired with the possibilities, so decided to start baking cupcakes.
I found a random recipe online that was rated as being ‘the best’ lime cupcake recipe out there. The cupcake looked beautiful, perfectly round dome and golden colored; but the taste left something to be desired. Followed the recipe exactly, I even added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract to get extra flavor. it’s extremely disappointing when you have a beautifully decorated cupcake with gorgeous flavorful icing, only for the cupcake itself to be mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t make me go wow either. If anything, anyone eating the cupcake would remember the icing but completely forget the actual cupcake. I was tempted to just lick off the icing and forget about the cupcake.
But after reading your quest for the perfect vanilla cupcake, I’m excited to try again tomorrow using your recipe!
I do have one question though, for frosting – I tried using a frosting pipe but it was extremely difficult. I think the frosting was simply too ‘hard’. (Not enough liquid). Does shortening help with that issue? I’ve got no idea what shortening is actually used for, never used it before.
When you say you used a frosting pipe, do you mean you tried piping frosting? I’m not sure what recipe you used previously, but the one above can easily be thinned out if needed by adding a little extra water or milk, if needed. The shortening acts much like butter and can actually be replaced with butter if you prefer. I like the shortening and the way it stays stable.
Why egg whites and not the whole eggs?!
I prefer the texture of the cupcake with just egg whites.
These are gorgeous cupcakes, I made them about 2 hours ago and they are a rich pale yellow color, very fluffy but not filled with air bubbles, risen but not overflowing, and so delicious. Thank you for taking the time to make this recipe as great as it is, much appreciated,
-Clare
These are amazing! Definitely moist and fluffy, and full of flavour. I made them for my son’s 1st birthday party this past weekend. Everyone loved them. I did make a cream cheese icing from your banana cake recipe instead, and I decorated the cupcakes like cookie monster. So much fun! I’m not much of a baker, but love a quality dessert. You’ve inspired me to bake more. Can’t wait to try more recipes from your blog.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Just made these, amazing texture and beautiful flavour, but mine came out of the oven in a pool of butter. Might cut back a little next time
I tried these and they DID NOT work! Not lite or fluffy. Certainly wont try this again
sorry.
Quite fluffy and looks amazing. Thanks for putting this out. I cant wait to try them out!
Stumbled upon your site when googling “light and fluffy cupcake recipe”. I make cupcakes each year for both my girls’ classes on their birthdays and have not found one that I love. While I did find some of the ingredients unorthodox for cupcakes (egg whites and all-purpose flour, which I changed to whole eggs and cake flour) the resulting item was grand. I thought it was a supremely good cupcake recipe and my husband, who is not a cupcake lover, said if he were to eat a cupcake, he would want this recipe for its “guts”. I was a bit turned off by the huge chunks of butter remaining in the batter (yes, despite your note) so may likely cream them next time prior to mixing everything. All-in-all, thank you for this delicious recipe!
This cupcake recipe is delicious! I used this recipe to make a double layer 9 inch circle cake and a 9×13 cake (I doubled the recipe both times). It worked out perfectly. Also, I substituted vanilla yogurt for the sour cream (I didn’t have any sour cream on hand and didn’t feel like driving to the store). This is hands down my new favorite cake recipe!
I’m so glad you were happy with it!
I’m excited to give this recipe a try but I’m looking to make mini cupcakes. What would you suggest I alter in order to do that?
I haven’t made them as minis, but you’ll need to reduce the baking time. I’d guess starting at 8-9 minutes, then go up from there.
These are literally perfect. Moist, sweet, just BEAUTIFUL! Best cupcake I’ve ever eaten. This is one to add to the recice book – I’ll never need another cupcake recipe again! Thank you!!
I have to say i never bake anything from scratch especially cupcakes. But I wanted to bake something special for my sons 21st birthday since he does not like cake cake, but he loves cupcakes i thought i would try to bake them from scratch and surprise him and his coworkers at work yesterday. Needless to say they were not only a HIT with him but with everyone else. My oldest son and my husband who does not particularly care for cupcakes, raved about them as well. The birthday boy cannot quit eating them. So YES will definitely be making them again. Not only where the good but they were easy to make, and the icing was a hit as well. I am soo glad I tried them.
Hi, I baked a batch of these cupcakes, and found the all went flat on me, I had to use self raising flour, do you this is is why, as the recipie says all purpose flour. Thanks
I would say it’s possible that self raising flower has something to do with it. Hard to say for sure as I haven’t used that kind of flour with these.
This cupcake recipe is not good. I am a very experienced baker and cannot get this recipe to turn out “light and fluffy”. It’s dense, oily, and the cupcakes sink in the middle every single time. After four attempts and lots of wasted (expensive) ingredients, I’m removing this recipe from my collection. Ugh! So frustrating.
Could you make the icing ahead? If so, how would you store it? My son’s party is on May 14. Wanted to see about saving time and making as much ahead of time as I can. Cupcakes are being made this weekend and put in the freezer until time to frost.
BTW, love this recipe!!! 🙂
I’m so glad you you enjoy the recipe! The frosting can be made a week or so head and stored in the fridge.
YES. I’ve been looking for a great cupcake mix and this exactly the type I was looking for. Tastes amazing and love the texture – all the other recipes I found were too dry. This one came out great on my first try. Thank you so much!
I tried the vanilla cupcake recipe and it was really yummy ❤️ A little sweet but still yummy
Thank you for sharing
Hi
I was wondering if I could use cake flour instead of all purpose ? Would this cause a little fluffier consistency ? Im looking to use this recipe for a cake instead of cupcakes. Thanks
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it.
Hey there,
So I am in the middle of baking these cupcakes of yours. My batter is very thick, almost like a cookie batter? Is that normal? I am kind of nervous to see what they turn out like.
Wow these cupcakes turned out amazing! They are so light and fluffy and just pure delicious! Thanks much for sharing your awesome recipe! I look forward to trying more of your lovely desserts.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are my go to cupcakes!!! I love them so much
i had high hopes for this recipe but even though i followed the instructions and ingredients exactly, they stuck to the cupcake papers and tasted as if they had no sugar…they tasted very much like dense pancakes. did anyone else get this result?
Hi! I live overseas, and sometimes it’s hard to find recipes that I can make from scratch. No boxed cake mixes, boxed pudding mixes, etc. to purchase in stores around here. 🙂 I was super excited to find your recipe. I made the cupcakes for my daughter’s 14th birthday party, and everyone who tried them thought they were moist and tasty (even without frosting!). Just wanted to say thank you, and this will become a go to birthday cupcake recipe for our family.
i want to make this recipe but im a little confused, if im right there are no eggs in this recipe. im thinking of making these for a 4th of july party and dont know if i should make them or not.
There are 3 egg whites.
These look absolutely delish! I’m baking them right now and cannot wait to feed this sweet tooth 🙂
yeah they look fine
i also like cupcakes i’m the cupcake girl by the way im 9
Hi! was wondering if I could substitute butter for margarine?
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think so.
I am thinking of making these and your Tiramisu cupcakes for a baby shower. Can I make the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them.? And can I frost them the night before and keep them in the fridge once frosted?
The cupcakes should be fine frozen if well wrapped and covered. I’d defrost them in the fridge.
I am hugely disappointed, ironically it took me a very long time to attain a decent batter like consistency as the butter refused to melt and mix in.. There were lumps of butter all over my batter.
I was so excited to try this recipe, but very dissapointed in the end result. The cakes came out very dense, dry and bland. Didn’t taste like cupcakes at all. The frosting was so so, not great. I hate to leave negative comments, but they’re are much better recipes out there 🙁
Do these have a sour taste like sour cream?? It’s been a long time, but from what I recall, I did not like it!! Thanks!
I don’t think they taste like sour cream at all. It just adds a lot of moisture and a nice flavor – though not sour cream-like in my opinion.
I made this frosting today and it is so good! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Should the frosting be refrigerated?
I don’t usually refrigerate it, but if you were going to keep it for longer than 3-4 days it’d probably be best to refrigerate it.
What would you add if you wanted to make the frosting strawberry?!
Here’s a recipe for you. 🙂
I tried this recipe but didn’t have sour cream so I used vanilla yogurt instead and I whipped the egg whites before folding them into the batter and they came out amazing. Will definitely be using this recipe again
Thank you so much!!!!!! the recipe was perrrrrfect!!!!! like seriously.the sour cream makes all the difference.I’ll def become a regular on yur site.my family loved it.im an upcoming bake.
Hi! Thanks for all your hard work. 🙂 Do you think cake flour would be ok to substitute for all-purpose flour?
oops sorry. there was already a comment on this subject.
I love so many of your cake recipes so we tried this recipe yesterday and I had pockets of cake like melted butter in them from clumps when mixing batter. Do you think my butter wasn’t quite soft enough? it had been out for hours and easily indented when touched. Does yours all mix in or is there clumps left when scooping? (I didn’t want to overmix.) Would melted and cooled butter work here as well do you think? Thank you so much!
This recipe does tend to end up with a few bits of butter in the batter. You can melt the butter if you prefer. Either way, they should bake fine.
These cupcakes are amazing. I made these for my family and they loved it so much, they ask me to make them every other day. Thank you for the amazing recipe.
Could you please let me know what I did wrong? When I added th butter to the ingredients in the bowl, it never mixed to be “smooth” & there was chunks of butter. The cupcakes were rubbery and stuck to the wrappers.
I doubled the recipe and did leave some butter chunks in the batter – put in the oven that way. The cupcakes came out in puddles of butter. Is this normal?
There can sometimes be a little moisture from the butter on the bottoms, but I definitely wouldn’t think you’d have puddles of butter.
thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! I’m a bit challenged with cake making, and work told me we all had to make some cupcakes for a charity event we’re holding I had a bit of meltdown, then, I found your recipe and they worked out great 🙂
Hi definitely keen to make the vanilla cake however was wondering what shortening you use . Thanks
Crisco.
Sorry if this was already answered, but there are so many comments it’s difficult to sift through, original Crisco or butter flavor?
It’s the original.
im not a professional baker and this is the first time a recipe on the internet acually worked, it was sooo good, great job!
I have never made cupcakes before… but I do cook a lot. I decided your recipe would be my first. I followed your instructions to a t… I noticed that the butter was super clumpy and then I remembered the 1000 baking showd where they cream the butter and the sugar first and I said, oops too late. I predicted that the butter chunks would never incorporate and they did not. Is there a reason you didn’t mention that the butter needs to be creamed with the sugar?