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These simple vanilla cupcakes are light and fluffy with homemade ingredients. Skip the box and try out these delicious simple vanilla cupcakes.
Last month, it felt like we were on birthday celebration mode. My little one turned three and I keep asking myself, “where is the time going?” On Wednesdays, he doesn’t have school so many times we are in the kitchen side-by-side baking. It doesn’t matter what we are baking, he loves to help. So we made some simple vanilla cupcakes for his class. Later, we made monster truck fondant toppers because he LOVES monster trucks.
I’m so used to using a “doctored” box mix that I wondered if it was possible to create a homemade version that lived up to my past recipe.
The answer is YES!
After several tries, I got it right! These simple vanilla cupcakes are light and fluffy and go perfect with my buttercream frosting. I love how cupcakes can take on different flavors, but I wanted to go back to the basics. Once you have a perfect vanilla cupcake base, you can really start to get creative and add flavors, fillings and topping, like these candy-corn inspired cupcakes.
Simple Vanilla Cupcake Batter
The batter for the simple vanilla cupcakes start with the dry ingredients. You mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. You then add the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk. This is a really simple batter because it doesn’t involve creaming the butter and sugar together. The oil gives it a nice richness but also keeps the cupcakes light and airy.
How to Avoid “Sunken” Cupcakes
When I first started using my European oven, I was having a lot of trouble figuring out the right settings. Now that I have finally figured out which settings work best for baking, I want to share another tip. A lot of times, you will have cupcakes rising perfectly in the oven. You pull them out of the oven and come back a few minutes later and they have fallen or “sunk” down in the cupcake liner. One thing that helps is to pull the cupcakes out of the pan immediately and on to a cooling rack. I use a spoon to help pop the cupcakes out of the tin and onto to the cooling rack.
Simple Vanilla Cupcake Frosting
For the frosting, you can really use anything. I chose to use my vanilla buttercream to frost these simple vanilla cupcakes. I used a 1M piping tip to create the swirl on the top. The 1M piping tip Is my favorite tip. It can be used to create these perfect swirls on top of a cupcake, rosettes on the sides of a cake, or a pipped border on the bottom of a cake.
Supplies
Things I used to complete this recipe:
Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
1M Piping Tip
Muffin Tin
Digital Food Scale
Piping Bags
Cupcake Liners
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***This recipe yields about 14 cupcakes.
Simple Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cup cake flour (200 g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (7 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil (28 g)
- 6 tablespoons butter (85 g) room temperature
- 1 cup sugar (198 g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs (110 G) room temperature
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk (145 g) room temperature
For the Frosting
- 1/3 cup room temperature butter (85 g)
- 1/4 cup shortening (50 g)
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (450 g)
- 1/4 cup milk (60 ml)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (176 C).
- Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. This recipe makes about 14 cupcakes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt). Set it aside.
- In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine oil and butter and mix on medium speed (4) for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add the sugar and beat on medium speed (4) for 4-5 minutes until it is lighter in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs together and then on low speed (1), drizzle the egg into the butter mixture. When all of the egg is added, increase the speed to high (8) for 1 minute. Then scrape down the bowl.
- On low speed (1) add half of the dry ingredients until barely incorporated. Then add half of the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining milk. Then add the vanilla.
- Once all the ingredients are incorporated, turn off the mixer. Do not over mix the batter or the cupcakes will be tough. You can use a spatula to make sure all of the ingredients from the bottom of the bowl are incorporated.
- Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until they are done. You can tell when you insert a toothpick into the center of the cupcake and it comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and immediately transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack. You can use a spoon to get the cupcakes out of the pan. It is important to remove them immediately, otherwise they may slightly fall/sink.
For the Frosting
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and shortening on medium speed until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).
- Add half of the powdered sugar and beat of low speed for 30 seconds.
- Add a bit of the milk and mix on low.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and milk. Add the vanilla.
- Mix on low for 30 seconds and gradually increase the speed to high and beat for 2 minutes. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If is it too thick, add more milk.
- Once they have cooled, frost the cupcakes with buttercream frosting.
Mona Ramadhan
The recipe is amazingly fool proof. Thank you for doing all the running around and experimenting to get this flawless recipe. I love baking and decorating but never had a good recipe to follow. Being a mother of 5 I have no time to experiment with different recipes. I also got tired of ordering cakes for my kids birthdays which costed lots of money and wasn’t even tasty. Now I’m making my own cupcakes and birthday cakes which are beautiful are well as tasty. People are noticing and asking if I can bake for them😃I have started baking for family and friends with no fee as I enjoy it so much. Once again thank you and keep doing what your doing xxx
Krystal
Thank you so much for this comment! You have no idea what it means to me to hear this. I also started baking my kid’s birthday cakes and that’s how my love of baking grew. It’s so fun to be able to share this journey with you.