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!) 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 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
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. For a lighter, less sweet option, I love pairing these cupcakes with whipped frosting. You can even fill them with raspberry cake filling before 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 (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 rubber 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
- 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.
Hi Sally! Just curious, if I wanted to get approx 6-8 cupcakes how many eggs would I need to put?
Hi Beccs, you can halve this recipe, yes! When halving, be sure to use 1 egg white, then measure another egg white and use half (which should be about 1 Tbsp).
I made this today as a 6 inch layer cake for my daughter’s fourth birthday with the white chocolate buttercream frosting and raspberry filling. It was so moist and delicious, none of it too sweet at all! Thank you for sharing these recipes!!
Perfect. I need to throw out a lot of recipes in my card file. I. Ended up baking 17 cupcakes with this one batch. …
Can you add colored sprinkles to make these confetti cupcakes?
Hi Bill, sure can! We’d start with 1/2 cup of sprinkles in the batter. Then add a little more if you think it needs more.
One question. I was thinking of filling these with lemon curd. I looked up the method you use to cut in to the cupcake. . Do you think these will be too light and delicate to fill them. I did see the lemon cupcake recipe you have but it seems like that one may be too lemony to add the filling in..then again, you guys are the experts!
Hi Gayle, these cupcakes will work well for filling with lemon curd. Let us know if you try it!
I promise to rate this when I bake it but I do have a question. I usually buy extra large eggs.. is it ok to use them in this recipe?
Hi Gayle, Do you have a food scale? On average, a large egg white typically weighs about 30 grams. If you ensure you’re using the correct amount of total ounces for this recipe, you’ll be all set.
Thank you! Wonderful info!
Can I use some other milk, other than whole milk?
Hi Katie, for best results, we recommend whole milk, but you can substitute another milk in a pinch.
Hi Sally! These taste really good – I did double the recipe, baked per instructions but had to do them in two goes. First cook was 24 (2 x 12 tins) and then second batch was just 4 cupcakes which I baked immediately after. The first batch came out with flat surface and brown spots (as though a grainy element in batter had bronzed, perhaps the sugar). The second batch came out with a perfect dome surface and evenly golden, no spots. Everything (time, temp) was the same. Do you think my issue was too many cupcakes in the oven for the first bake? Thanks so much!
Hi Maddie, it could certainly be that the oven was overcrowded on the first bake. Were the pans on the same rack? You’ll want to make sure they are on the same rack and rotated half way through bake time to promote even baking. Glad you enjoyed the cupcakes!
Holy smokes! Best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever had. First time using a real vanilla bean, amazing and so fluffy! I want to try again with another contrasting flavored icing though.
I’m not sure I’ll have time to make 2 batches of cupcakes one day before my event. If I make them 2 days before and frost them 1 day before, should I leave them covered at room temperature or put them in the refrigerator?
Hi Lisa! We would leave frosted cupcakes covered at room temperature overnight.
I love this recipe use it literally all the time.
Could you please provide the calorie breakdown per cupcake x
Love every recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Need to make vanilla cupcakes for 200 – can I double or triple this recipe without a problem
Hi Karen, for best results (and to prevent over or under mixing), we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
Hi Sally, can I make a double batch
Hi Veronica, for best results (and to prevent over or under mixing), we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
The taste was lovely but they are very dense, almost like a pound cake. Is that the texture they are supposed to have. They were not very light
Hi Marci, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. How are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured—that can significantly dry out the cupcakes. Also, be sure not to over mix by hand or by mixer, as that can make them dense. You’ll want to mix until the ingredients are just incorporated. These cupcake tips will be helpful to review, too. Thank you for giving these a try!
These turned out fantastic! They are so light, but not so delicate that they crumble when I try to get them out of the pan. I filled them with a basic strawberry curd (just strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch). I decorated them with vanilla icing, piped to look like grass to celebrate spring.
hi Sally! I was looking at your recipe and I was wondering what “vanilla beans” are. I’m a wannabe pro baker and I need to know what these things are if I want to become a professional. thatks! 😀
Hi Star! You can learn all about vanilla beans and some of our favorites in this homemade vanilla extract post.
this recipe was great! I used vanilla yoghurt in place of sour cream, and used a DIY cake flour (as it’s not something you can buy in New Zealand ☹️). the cupcakes were perfect in texture and taste, and they were beautifully rounded. I topped them with your American buttercream with some caramel whipped into it. an absolute delight! ♡ well loved by everyone who ate one
Hi, I was reading the ingredients for this recipe and was a little confused. The ingredient list says you use milk but in the description in the above part it says you use buttermilk. Which would should I use? Thanks! Looking forward to trying it!!!
Hi Susan! Use whole milk here. We do offer instructions to replace both the whole milk and sour cream with buttermilk in the recipe notes, if that’s what you’re referring to. We prefer whole milk & sour cream if you have it!
Hi, loving this recipe! If I make these and frost them with your buttercream recipe one day in advance for an event, should I refrigerate them overnight or are they okay to leave on the counter with the frosting on them?
Hi Delaney, they should be fine on the counter overnight, assuming your room temperature is on the cool side.
Um, what’s the point of a 14 cupcake recipe? Wouldn’t it be easy to, say, design it for 12, since every muffin tin is that size?
Sometimes you need more than 12, and sometimes recipes that turn out with excellent taste and texture yield a little more batter.
Sounds good. But do you have good recipes for the remaining egg yolks?
Hi Jumana, here are all of our recipes that call for egg yolks. Lemon curd is always a favorite way to use up extras!
Hope to convert vanilla cupcake batter for mini cupcakes. I have been making different mini deserts. I am learning to make pastries. I give them to hospitals etc. Thanks for your help.
Hi Robert, see step 4: For around 30–36 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11–13 minutes, same oven temperature. Happy baking!
Can I make the cupcakes without 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.
This recipe is the best! I have made these cupcakes soooo many times and they always turn out so good! Everyone always loves them.
Excellent cupcake recipe. Light and not dry at all.
Baking these for a 1st birthday party. I reduced the sugar a little because of that, and I followed the metric measurements as I’m in AUS and know the cup measurements can be different… my testers were just sweet enough and I could probably eat a good handful before I even got to frost them, but have that bitey aftertaste you sometimes get from raising agents (I’ve got aluminium free baking powder). I sifted and whisked the dry ingredients before adding them too. Where am I going wrong?
Hi Cee, reducing the sugar could be contributing to that slightly off aftertaste. You might try a test batch with the full amount of sugar to see if that helps. Be sure, too, that your leaveners are fresh. Hope the cupcakes are a hit at the birthday party!
I just made your vanilla cupcakes and they are amazing! Is there a vanilla cake recipe with the vanilla bean paste like in the cupcakes? That made a huge difference!
Hi Kayla, we’re so glad you loved these cupcakes! You can swap some or all of the vanilla extract in our vanilla cake (or this vanilla sheet cake) if you wish.
These were amazing!
Question for you though!
How can I make these gluten free??
Hi Toni, we’re glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! We haven’t tested this recipe using a gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you give it a try.
Loved these a lot!