These vanilla cupcakes are perfect for any celebration. You will love how irresistibly light and moist the cake is and topped with a luxuriously rich, and decadent vanilla buttercream frosting.
These vanilla cupcakes are incredibly soft, fluffy, and moist. The light, fresh flavor of the cake is perfectly complemented by rich and decadent vanilla buttercream frosting.
How to Make Vanilla Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350° and line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Spray each liner with non-stick cooking spray.
- Sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and whole milk.
- Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Add the batter evenly into each of the cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
Tips for the Best Cupcakes:
- Measure ingredients correctly. Precise measurements are key for successful baking. The spoon and level method is the best way to get accurate measurements. Spoon the ingredient into the measuring cup and then level it off with the flat side of a knife.
- Sift together the dry ingredients. Sifting the dry ingredients gives them a finer texture, resulting in a cake that is extra soft and light.
- Use room temperature eggs. Room temperature eggs mix into batters more evenly and easily. You can quickly bring eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes.
- Don’t overmix. Overmixing batter causes gluten to develop, which can make the cake dense and chewy. Mix your ingredients until just combined.
- Gently tap the pan on the counter before baking. This removes any air pockets that may have gotten trapped inside.
Pure vs. Imitation Vanilla Extract:
With the price of pure vanilla extract skyrocketing these days, it makes sense that more and more people are gravitating towards imitation vanilla in place of pure. So what is the difference between the two, and is pure vanilla extract really worth the price?
Pure vanilla extract is made from Madagascar vanilla beans that have been soaked in a solution of alcohol and water for several months. Imitation vanilla is made with synthetic vanillin, which is the main flavor component in vanilla. Pure vanilla extract has a slightly stronger, more complex flavor than imitation vanilla. Some people are able to detect subtle differences, some people even prefer the taste of imitation. I tested this recipe using imitation vanilla as well as pure, and to be totally honest I didn’t notice a difference. So my advice would be to use whichever you prefer!
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
Vanilla buttercream is very rich, indulgent, and sweet, which makes it perfect for topping the light, airy, and not overly sweet cupcakes. It’s made with softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt. To cream the butter with the powdered sugar it needs to sit out for at least 1 hour to be completely softened to room temperature. If your frosting isn’t thick enough you can add up to 1 cup more of powdered sugar, balance out the extra sweetness with a tiny pinch of salt. My recipe calls for ⅛ tsp. of salt. If you don’t have one that size you can just fill a ¼ tsp. half-way full.
Vanilla Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12-count cupcake/muffin pan
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Spray each with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, room temperature eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and milk. Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined and no more flour pockets remain.
- Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake liners. Gently tap the pan on the counter to get rid of any air pockets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely in the fridge before frosting.
Vanilla buttercream frosting:
- Use a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, starting on the lowest speed, beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the frosting isn't thick enough you can add more powdered sugar as needed. If the frosting tastes too sweet you can add a pinch more of salt.
- Keep the frosting in the fridge, it will need to soften a bit before you can pipe it onto the cooled cupcakes.
