These moist and tender vanilla cupcakes are made in one bowl and are topped with the most delicious vanilla buttercream frosting.
This is the perfect recipe for classic vanilla cupcakes with lots of vanilla flavor. These cupcakes come together in 30 minutes from start to finish (just the cupcake part without the frosting) and they come together in just one bowl!
These vanilla cupcakes have a light and airy texture that will simply melt in your mouth along with the silky smooth buttercream frosting. You will never want to make cupcakes from box mix again!
They are perfect for birthday parties, events, family gatherings, and holidays! They always disappear fast, so I always make a double batch.
For more cupcake recipes, check out my banana pudding cupcakes, strawberry filled cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes, and red velvet cupcakes.
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Why this recipe works
- Texture- you will love the texture of these cupcakes, they are soft, tender, and extra moist!
- Frosting- these cupcakes are topped with a silky smooth vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Ease- these cupcakes are really easy to make and come together in just one bowl! They use basic ingredients you can find in any grocery store!
- Vanilla flavor- these are filled with vanilla flavor which is perfect for vanilla lovers. You can use vanilla bean or vanilla bean extract to make the vanilla flavor even more powerful!
- Perfect for celebration- you can make these cupcakes for any celebration as they are always a crowd-pleaser and can be customized to any theme.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and efficiently.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the cupcakes:
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of this dessert.
Eggs- you will need 4 large eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder– baking powder allows the cake to rise. Make sure that your baking powder is not expired.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Milk– gives the cake extra moisture. Use whole milk for this recipe.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Vinegar- is the secret ingredient that makes this cake extra moist and tender. You will need two teaspoons of vinegar for this recipe.
Sour cream- use either sour cream or Greek yogurt. Both will work great.
Kosher salt- you will need about ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the vanilla buttercream
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Powder sugar- you will need powdered sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor. You can use vanilla bean extract or pure vanilla extract for better flavor!
Kosher salt- we like to use kosher salt.
Heavy cream- use full fat heavy cream for this.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 350f (180c) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a big mixing bowl, add the softened butter, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs and mix until a creamy mixture forms.
Add the sour cream and mix until well combined.
Add ½ of the flour, baking powder, and ½ of the buttermilk. Mix until almost combined.
Add the rest of the flour and the buttermilk and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour showing.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill out the cupcake ⅔ full (do not overfill) and bake in a 180 (350f) preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely (don’t frost warm cupcakes)
Make the vanilla buttercream
Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and heavy cream. Mix with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until the buttercream is light in color and creamy.
Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag with a star piping tip and frost each cupcake with the buttercream frosting. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Use an ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the cupcake batter into the muffin tin liners to ensure each cupcake is uniform in size and bakes evenly.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cupcakes, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the batter and frosting.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them with buttercream frosting. This will prevent the frosting from melting and sliding off the cupcakes.
Faq's
We use all-purpose flour for this cake, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Yes! Follow the recipe as written and bake them for about 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.
My biggest tip for this is to do the toothpick test. Insert a toothpick into the middle of 1-2 cupcakes, and if it comes out clean, with a few moist crumbs, the cupcakes are ready!
Make sure that all your ingredients are at room temperature and your butter is softened. The most important ingredients that should be at room temperature are eggs, buttermilk, and butter.
This will ensure that your mixture mixes into a homogenous batter and will bake perfectly.
Storing
These cupcakes will last up to 5 days in the fridge (dairy needs to be stored in the fridge). Cover them with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out. They stay moist for at least 3 days!
Freezing
Freeze these cupcakes after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months.
My tip is not to freeze them decorated or covered with frosting, because it can ruin the decorating of the cupcakes, I suggest freezing the cupcakes and decorating them when you defrost them.
If you’re not looking to impress anyone with your decorating skills, it’s absolutely okay to freeze the cupcakes with the frosting on.
Make it ahead of time
You can make these vanilla cupcakes and bake them according to the instructions, let them cool to room temperature, and store them at room temperature for up to 3 days.
When you are ready to serve the cupcakes, make the frosting according to the instructions and frost them!
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Dairy-free- you can make this cupcake recipe dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter. Also, replace the buttermilk with vegan milk and the heavy cream with coconut milk.
Variations
Frosting- You can use any kind of your favorite frosting on these cupcakes, these are very versatile so you can turn them into whatever you want!
You can use dark chocolate frosting, lemon frosting, mascarpone whipped cream frosting, swiss buttercream, strawberry frosting, caramel frosting, etc.
Sprinkles- you can add ½ cup of sprinkles to the cupcake batter and make these into funfetti cupcakes!
Equipment
- Mixing bowls- best glass mixing bowls.
- Whisk set- our favorite copper whisk set.
- Cupcakes tins- our favorite Wilton cupcake tins.
- Open star piping tip- our favorite Wilton piping tip for cupcake decoration.
More cupcake recipes
Nutella cupcakes- These Nutella cupcakes are made with delicious chocolate Nutella cupcakes, filled with Nutella, and topped with Nutella buttercream and chopped hazelnuts!
Honey cupcakes- These honey cupcakes are made with soft and moist cupcakes, topped with freshly made whipped cream, and more honey!
Chocolate cupcakes- This is the most amazing chocolate cupcake recipe. These chocolate cupcakes are moist, fluffy, and full of rich chocolate flavor, and come together in one bowl.
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📖 Recipe
Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (One Bowl)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter softened
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Sour cream full fat
- 2 Eggs room temp
- 1 ⅔ cups Flour AP or cake flour
- 1 ⅓ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ cup Buttermilk room temp
Vanilla buttercream
- 1 cup Butter soften
- 4 cups Powder sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350f (180c) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
- In a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and mix until a creamy mixture forms.
- Add the sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Add ½ of the flour, baking powder, and ½ of the buttermilk. Mix until almost combined.
- Add the rest of the flour and the buttermilk and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour showing.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill out the cupcake ⅔ full (do not overfill) and bake in a 180 (350f) preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely (don’t frost warm cupcakes)
Make the vanilla buttercream
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and heavy cream. Mix with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until the buttercream is light in color and creamy.
- Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag with a star piping tip and frost each cupcake with the buttercream frosting. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cupcakes, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat and frost these cupcakes as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cupcakes cool for at least 30 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up and prevent from the frosting from melting.
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