These vanilla cupcakes are, by far, one of the most-loved recipes on this website. Using creamed butter, plus cake flour, sour cream, and egg whites (no yolks!), guarantees a soft, fluffy, and cake-like crumb. Pure vanilla extract plus the optional addition of vanilla beans seals in a classic vanilla flavor. Use a piping tip or knife to garnish each with vanilla buttercream.
Originally published in 2016, this vanilla cupcakes recipe has soared to the top of my Essential Baking Recipes list. This list includes recipes that are in regular rotation in my kitchen including banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies. (So many favorites!) Like my classic chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, these vanilla cupcakes hold a sacred spot in my baking repertoire. In fact, today’s cupcakes have been so popular around here that I’ve used the base recipe to create several other varieties.
Here’s Exactly Why This Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe Works:
Baking is a science and that’s proved over and over again in base dessert recipes like this. Like when making white cake and vanilla cake, it’s not only the measurements you use, but the specific type of ingredient. Using cake flour instead of all-purpose produces a fluffy, soft crumb. Skipping the egg yolks keeps the cupcakes light. Sour cream helps supply a tight, yet moist crumb. My team and I have done the testing and we are confident in the results. These homemade vanilla cupcakes are simply perfect.
Reader Kristin commented: “This recipe was delicious and will definitely be a go to! I frosted with your Homemade Rainbow Chip Frosting and had rave reviews… several asked for the recipes!”
Use These Carefully Selected Ingredients
This cupcake batter calls for 11 ingredients, including the handful mentioned below, as well as basics like baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Let me explain why the following ingredients are “power ingredients” in this recipe:
- Cake flour: Cake flour is much lighter than all-purpose flour and helps to produce the softest, lightest cakes and cupcakes you’ll ever eat. It’s sold next to the regular flour in the baking aisle and I promise that you’ll use up the entire box in no time after you taste these! Note that you do not need cake flour for chocolate cupcakes because cocoa powder is already very light.
- Softened butter: A base of creamed butter and sugar (instead of using melted butter or oil) often helps achieve a soft, cake-like structure. Make sure it’s proper room temperature butter.
- Egg whites: While egg yolks are rich in fat and moisture, they can weigh down your baked goods. Skip the egg yolks and use the whites purely for giving structure to the cupcakes. Since we are losing a little fat from the missing egg yolks, we add it back in with sour cream and whole milk.
- Sour cream: This is a power ingredient because it lightens and moistens the crumb. Though plain yogurt could be used in its place, I find that cupcakes made with sour cream are lighter.
- Vanilla Extract & Vanilla Bean: For the most well-rounded vanilla flavor, use both vanilla bean and vanilla extract in the cupcakes, just like we do in strawberry shortcake cupcakes. You can usually find vanilla beans in the baking aisle, but if you’re looking to purchase them online, I recommend these vanilla beans. See recipe Note if you’re skipping the vanilla bean or if you want to use vanilla bean paste.
- Whole Milk: Milk with fat such as whole milk or 2% milk is your best choice here. Nondairy milk is great in a pinch. I use buttermilk in this vanilla cake recipe, which is typically a fine substitution for both sour cream and regular milk in baked goods. For these cupcakes, however, the crumb stays a little tighter when using sour cream + whole milk.
Tip: Make sure ALL cold ingredients are room temperature before beginning, otherwise your batter could split and the results aren’t pleasant. Read more about why room temperature ingredients are important in baking.
Want to kick the vanilla flavor up a notch? Replace store-bought vanilla extract with homemade vanilla extract and regular granulated sugar with vanilla sugar.
Success Tip: Filling Your Cupcake Pan
The batter comes together with a mixer. Give it a quick whisk by hand to make sure there are no more lumps at the bottom of the bowl.
When filling your lined cupcake pan, fill the liners only 2/3 full, which is about 3 heaping Tablespoons of batter each. Filling them only 2/3 full gives you about 14 cupcakes from this batch. Using more batter per cupcake leads to overflowing or even sinking.
This Is a Multipurpose Batter
Since the results are so crowd-pleasing, this vanilla cupcake batter has become a go-to standard for many other cupcake recipes on this website. Using this recipe as the starting point, I’ve created all of the following cupcake flavors:
- Mimosa Cupcakes
- Chai Latte Cupcakes
- White Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
- Sprinkle Cupcakes
- Pistachio Cupcakes
- Caramel Coconut Cupcakes
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes
- Wedding Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting
They’re also wonderful for filling with a variety of jams/jellies, frostings, and dessert sauces. I especially love them with this raspberry cake filling in the middle. See my How to Fill Cupcakes post and video tutorial for directions on how to do so.
Can I Turn These Cupcakes Into a Cake?
Yes, instead of cupcakes, you can use this exact batter for making a vanilla 6-inch cake. For a 1-layer vanilla cake, I recommend my similar recipe for 1-layer sprinkle cake. You can skip the sprinkles. See recipe Notes for larger layer cake options.
Frosting for Vanilla Cupcakes
This vanilla buttercream is a top choice for garnishing your vanilla cupcakes. But your frosting options are pretty much endless, including Swiss meringue buttercream, white chocolate buttercream frosting, strawberry buttercream frosting, chocolate buttercream, lemon buttercream, or cream cheese frosting. The raspberry frosting from my lemon raspberry jam cupcakes or the cinnamon-swirl frosting from my snickerdoodle cupcakes would also be fantastic. For a lighter, less sweet option, I love pairing these cupcakes with whipped frosting.
You can swipe the frosting on with an icing knife (pictured below) or with a piping bag + tip such as Wilton 1M (images in the post above). If you’re just learning how to use piping tips, my piping tips guide is a helpful resource.
And finally, here’s just one photo of our multiple test variations. The left cupcake had way too much liquid and produced a wet, squat cupcake. The right cupcake was from our final batch, simply perfect!
Printable recipe & video tutorial below.
Recommended Tools
- 12-count muffin pan. I use and love this muffin pan and this muffin pan. Both are excellent quality and you can’t go wrong with either.
- Cupcake liners
- Handheld mixer or stand mixer
- Vanilla beans
- Icing knife or Wilton 1M piping tip + piping bag
Simply Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 14 cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my favorite recipe for homemade vanilla cupcakes. Using creamed butter, cake flour, sour cream, and egg whites, these cupcakes are soft, sweet, fluffy, and infinitely buttery.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (207g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean (optional)
- 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat sour cream at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk at room temperature
- vanilla buttercream and sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2 liners—this recipe makes about 14 cupcakes. Set aside.
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the egg whites, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, at least 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed and then beat in the sour cream. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour in the milk until combined. Do not over-mix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners—fill only 2/3 full to avoid spilling over the sides. Bake for 19–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For around 30–36 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11–13 minutes, same oven temperature. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Frost cooled cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. You can swipe the frosting on with an icing knife or use a piping tip such as Wilton 1M. Leftover cupcakes keep well covered tightly in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cupcakes can be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature. Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): USA Pan 12-cup Muffin Pan or Calphalon 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Icing Knife | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip
- Amount of Batter: This recipe yields between 3-4 cups of batter which is helpful if you’re reviewing the Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions page.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour is the only ideal flour for this recipe. In a pinch, you can make your own homemade cake flour but the cupcakes won’t taste as light. You can find cake flour in the baking aisle near the all-purpose flour.
- Leftover Egg Yolks? I have some recipe ideas for you!
- Vanilla: For best flavor, pure vanilla extract is strongly recommended. If using imitation, increase to 1 Tablespoon (3 teaspoons). If you can’t get your hands on vanilla bean, simply leave it out or replace with an extra 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. If you want to use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract and vanilla bean, use 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste.
- Whole Milk & Sour Cream: Whole milk and sour cream are strongly recommended for the best taste and texture. A full fat plain yogurt would work instead, though the cupcakes may not be as light. Same goes with a lower fat milk. Nondairy milk works in a pinch. You can replace both the whole milk and sour cream with buttermilk (1 cup; 240ml) if needed.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read here for more information.
- Vanilla Cake: I suggest following my white cake recipe as the base, which is almost double this cupcake recipe. I also have a taller 3 layer vanilla cake recipe as well. For a 1 layer cake, I recommend this 1-layer sprinkle cake and you can skip the sprinkles in the batter.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin.
To use a jumbo muffin pan, how much to fill each well and how long to bake
Hi Karen, we haven’t tested these cupcakes in a jumbo pan.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Any chance I could follow your marble cupcake recipe and add a chocolate swirl to this?
YES! Absolutely. I’ve actually made these that exact way. No bake time changes needed.
We love these cupcakes, and make them for every occasion in our home. However, my
Sisters birthday is coming up and she’s recently gluten free. Is there a way to go gluten free with this recipe?
Hi Jen, we haven’t tested it ourselves, but some readers have reported success using a 1:1 gluten free flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill). Let us know if you give it a try!
Looking to make these but wanted to ask if this recipe can be doubled or is it best to make 2 separate batches?
Hi Nae, for best results, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
Came here to test the Perfect White Cake recipe by using a smaller batch with cupcakes first. A bit concerned that this recipe, while most of the ingredients are reduced, the amount of sour cream used is still 1/2 cup for both your full size cake recipe and the 14 cupcake recipe. ???????
Hi Terry, that’s correct. I developed this recipe before the white cake recipe. The recipe here produces fluffy cupcakes that don’t crumble too much overtime; they maintain their soft, plush crumb. The cake recipe, developed a year later, needed more liquid to sour cream, to keep the batter a good consistency. I’m sure you could use more sour cream in the cake than what is given, but I don’t mess with it. It’s perfect as is!
Partly doing you a favor Sally, but also giving a 5 star review because it’s AWESOME! Looks so good!!!
Hello! Just a question please! we do not have cake flour however we have baking flour written on it: Description
Best Mix Self Raising Flour is great for light and fluffy baking products. I’ll go for it??
Thanks in advance!
Hi Angela! You do not want to use self-rising flour in this recipe. How about using this cake flour substitute? It works in a pinch.
I will! Thank you!
Ihave been struggling to find a great vanilla recipe, it always comes out way to dry or way to dense. This recipe is amazing! thank you for sharing this!
Hi I’m making these for a wedding this weekend, I know the recipe will be great but wondering if I can double it?
Thank you so much!
Hi Nancy, it is best to make separate batches for best results. Hope the cupcakes are a hit!
i also need to double the recipe… but might just risk it! it’s 10 year old birthday. ill keep you posted!