Everyone needs a vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch in their recipe box. You can make these easy vanilla cupcakes for birthdays, special occasions, or just for snacking and sharing. You can mix and match the cupcake liners and sprinkles for a truly unique theme around your celebration. We love classic recipes and have many of them in our go to for short notice sweets. We know this one will be the same for you. Watch out, this is a super moist vanilla cupcakes recipe so you may not want to share at all! Don’t worry, we show you how to make enough to if you want to of course!
Is this vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch better than a box mix?
First things first, let’s get this out of the way…from scratch vanilla cupcakes are is going to beat out the boxed mix every day of the week. Although we’ve been known to doctor a box mix up a time for two! Luckily these vanilla cupcakes are so easy, you don’t have to worry about choosing between something easy and something delicious, you can have the best of both worlds!
Why this is the best vanilla cupcake recipe out there:
There are some special ingredients in this recipe that make sure you end up with moist vanilla cupcakes and not a dry, crumbly mess. Let’s take a look at why these things work so well in this recipe!
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is such a great option because it helps make the batter slightly acidic. That aids in locking in moisture and helps break down those tough strands of gluten in the flour.
- Room Temperature Eggs: Using room temperature eggs helps make sure that you aren’t rehardening any fat in the batter and it also helps everything fluff up more nicely as room temperature eggs whip up at a higher volume.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Yes! We’re using both! Adding both helps make sure that a slightly more acidic batter has enough lift so they puff up and look just like you want them to with their beautiful golden brown perfection.
Do I need any special equipment to make this easy vanilla cupcake recipe?
To make this vanilla cupcakes recipe you’ll need some typical kitchen items like a mixing bowl, a whisk, some spatulas, and spoons. Of course we’ll be baking these beautiful cupcakes so you will also need a cupcake baking pan and our greaseproof cupcake liners. And what cupcake recipe would complete without beautiful sprinkles? We topped these with our Birthday Cake sprinkles which are a staple for any upcoming celebrations!
For the frosting part of this recipe you will notice that we used a #1M tip and the color is created with a very small amount of sky blue coloring!
How many cupcakes does this vanilla cupcake recipe make?
This easy recipe makes 1 dozen cupcakes. The good news is that if you are feeding a crowd you can easily double this recipe. Once you taste them, you’ll want to double them every time! We decided to start small though because sometimes you just want something sweet to share with your family for an after dinner dessert.
Moist Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s a list of all the ingredients necessary to make these amazing cupcakes. They’re so moist and delicious this will surely become your go to vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch. After a time or two you won’t even remember why you used a box mix in the past. Remember to measure these ingredients out exactly as we have them listed!
- 1 ¼ cups flour, all-purpose
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar, white granulated
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup cooking oil, vegetable or canola
- ½ cup buttermilk
How to make vanilla cupcake recipe from scratch:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill pan with cupcake liners
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until lightly frothy
- Gradually add sugar beating about 30 seconds until well combined
- Add oil and vanilla, beat well
- Gradually add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk. Starting and stopping with dry ingredients. Dry = 3 additions. Buttermilk = 2 additions.
- Beat until well combined. Batter will be thin.
- Divide into cupcakes liners, ⅔ full
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Cool completely, frost, and top with sprinkles!
My vanilla cupcakes didn’t come out right, why?
The first thing we would suggest is that you check your measurements. Even just ¼ cup too much liquid can make this recipe go flat and you will end up with short little cupcakes that are too wet.
Another issue is the flour, sometimes we have a tendency to want to sift flour that is going into baked goods. That’s not necessary here and if you sift the flour that can also make the cupcakes flat and the batter too runny.
Finally, keep an eye on your baking times if your oven tends to bake at a different temperature than you set it for or has hot spots. Keeping an eye on the temperature and the baking progress is key for removing these delightful vanilla cupcakes at the perfect moment.
Not sure how many bags of sprinkles you need? Check out our conversion How Many Sprinkles Do I Need charts for cupcakes or cakes!
Shop These Easy Vanilla Cupcake Supplies!
- Cupcake Liners: Dot Pink | Rugby Stripe Pink
- Sprinkles: Birthday Cake
Love these easy vanilla cupcakes? You’ll love these other recipes!
- Birthday Cake Mix Cookies Recipe [+ Birthday Cake Sprinkles!]
- Easy Cake Batter Fudge Recipe [No Bake & With Sprinkles!]
- Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe From Scratch
- Pina Colada Cupcakes Recipe + Coconut Frosting
- Funfetti Cupcake Recipe
- Hi Hat Tutorial
Easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe From Scratch
This homemade vanilla cupcake recipe will quickly become your favorite! Learn how to make these moist and dense sponge-like cupcakes from scratch.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups flour, all-purpose
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar, white granulated
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup cooking oil, vegetable or canola
- ½ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill pan with cupcake liners
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until lightly frothy
- Gradually add sugar beating about 30 seconds until well combined
- Add oil and vanilla, beat well
- Gradually add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk. Starting and stopping with dry ingredients. Dry = 3 additions. Buttermilk = 2 additions.
- Beat until well combined. Batter will be thin.
- Divide into cupcakes liners, ⅔ full
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Cool completely and frost
3 comments
Moist! If you want cupcakes to stay moist after a day or two, these are it! They hold up well and with the use of oil instead of butter ensures that the cupcake will stay moist through and through. I followed the recipe exactly except for the oil — I prefer grapeseed oil in baking over vegetable or canola oil. I just wish that there are cupcake liners in the U.S. that are sturdy and thick like the ones I got from the U.K. (51x38mm) .
Can I used regular or it has to he buttermilk?
Hi Gloria, you can use regular milk, however the buttermilk will give the vanilla cupcakes a more rich taste.
To make your own buttermilk, add about 1 tablespoon of distilled regular vinegar to a measuring cup then fill to the measurement you need with milk.
Let it set for a few minutes until it looks curdled.
-Liz