The Best Vanilla Cupcakes
If you’re looking for a go-to vanilla cupcake recipe – this is it! These cupcakes are fluffy and moist and the recipe is super versatile, it halves perfectly if you want to make a smaller batch. Top with creamy vanilla buttercream and sprinkles for the perfect treat.
Ingredient Notes
Below are some notes on key ingredients for this recipe. For a full list of ingredients, see the recipe card below.
- Salted butter – I only use salted butter for everything I bake. I find that when using unsalted butter most baked goods end up too sweet and I have to add a lot of salt to balance it out. This recipe also calls for softened butter. You can leave your butter out at room temperature for 30 minutes or so, however I prefer to just microwave my butter for 15-18 seconds. You want it just soft enough so when you press with your finger it easily leaves an indent.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have store-bought buttermilk you can easily substitute with milk and lemon juice. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a measuring cup and then add enough milk until you have 2 cups total. Stir and let sit for about five minutes before adding to your batter.
- Oil – You can use vegetable or canola oil
- Vanilla bean paste or extract – I love using vanilla bean paste in all of my white cake and cupcake bases. I love seeing all the specks of vanilla in the cake and the flavor is great. These are a few of my favorite brands: Nielsen-Massey, Heilala and LorAnn. You can also substitute vanilla extract 1:1
Vanilla Cupcakes
For most of my vanilla cake bases I use a technique called reverse creaming. It’s the opposite of creaming which is probably what you’re used to when making cakes. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together first and then mixing in the dry ingredients we are going to reverse that order. Starting with the dry ingredients in the bowl we add chunks of room temperature/softened butter and then end with the wet ingredients. I add the butter one tablespoon at a time and mix on low just until there are no large chunks of butter left. The mixture should resemble wet sand. By coating the butter in flour, this method is reducing the gluten formation and results in a nice, tender crumb.
After adding the butter to the flour mixture, add the eggs and beat to combine. Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat just until the batter is smooth. Line a cupcake pan and fill each 3/4 full with cupcake batter. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
In the large bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup and a time. If you are using organic powdered sugar, you will want to sift it first to get out any large lumps. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add a pinch of salt (to taste) and mix.
Decorating the cupcakes
To decorate the cupcakes I used a disposable piping bag and my favorite tip – Ateco #867 – to swirl the frosting on top of the cupcakes. You can also use an angled spatula or table knife to spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Then top with sprinkles or whatever decorations you want. You can also add a few drops of food coloring to the buttercream to make some colorful cupcakes. Store these cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. Enjoy!
The Best Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks), softened
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks), softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar (1 lb)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream or milk
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer. While mixing on low speed add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue mixing until no large chunks of butter remain.
- Add the eggs and beat to combine.
- Slowly stream in the buttermilk while mixing on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the oil and vanilla bean paste and beat just until combined and the batter is smooth.
- Fill the cupcake liners ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool a few minutes in the pan and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup and a time. **see notes below
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add a pinch of salt (to taste) and mix.
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