Vanilla Cupcakes
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Made with buttermilk and topped with cream cheese frosting, these are the most luscious vanilla cupcakes.
When my kids were little, I started a baking business specializing in cakes and cupcakes, mostly for children’s parties. Before I began, I spent weeks testing every type of cake recipe under the sun, often baking into the middle of the night. Michael would wake up in the morning to find the kitchen overflowing with all flavors of cakes and cupcakes. He thought I’d lost my mind—little did he know I was just discovering my passion for developing recipes, which was the motivation for starting my blog. These are the vanilla cupcakes that won me over. They have a fluffy, downy texture and rich vanilla flavor. Top them with swirls of cream cheese frosting or rich chocolate buttercream.
If you’d like to make the recipe as a layer cake, it works beautifully; simply divide the batter into two 8-inch cake pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The recipe also works in a 9×13-in cake pan, baked for 30 minutes.
What you’ll need to make vanilla Cupcakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
Whisk well and set aside. The mixture will start to look curdled as it sits; that’s okay.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine.
Add the soft butter and half of the buttermilk mixture.
Mix on low speed until moistened but still a little crumbly, about 1 minute.
With the mixer running on low, gradually add the remaining buttermilk mixture,
Increase the speed to medium and mix for three minutes, stopping once to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter should look pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, making sure the batter is evenly mixed.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pans, filling the cups almost full.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, switching the pans from top to bottom and back to front midway through. Remove from the oven when the cupcakes are set, lightly golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean (note that one pan may finish cooking before the other). Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Frost the cooled cupcakes with icing and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
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Vanilla Cupcakes
Made with buttermilk and topped with cream cheese frosting, these are the most luscious vanilla cupcakes.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 cup buttermilk (see note)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2¾ cups cake flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off (see note)
- 2 cups sugar
- Heaping ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pans
- Cream cheese frosting or rich chocolate buttercream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Lightly grease the top of the muffin pans with butter so the cupcake tops don't stick.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Set aside. (Note that the mixture will start to look curdled as it sits; that's okay.)
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. Add the soft butter and half of the buttermilk mixture and mix on low speed until moistened but still a little crumbly, about 1 minute. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the remaining buttermilk mixture, then increase the speed to medium and mix for three minutes, stopping once to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter should look pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, making sure the batter is evenly mixed.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pans, filling the cups almost full. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, switching the pans from top to bottom and back to front midway through. Remove from the oven when the cupcakes are set, lightly golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean (note that one pan may finish cooking before the other). Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Frost the cupcakes and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. The cupcakes are best served fresh on the day they are made, but they will keep nicely for up to 2 days.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Note: Cake flour gives the cupcakes a fine texture. All-purpose flour can be substituted, but the cupcakes will be a bit heavier. To make your own cake flour, you can whisk together 2½ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cupcakes can be frozen without the frosting for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and then in foil. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving. (Wait until the cupcakes are defrosted to ice them.)
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 379
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 49 g
- Sugar: 37 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 155 mg
- Cholesterol: 83 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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My daughter is requesting yellow cake with chocolate frosting for her birthday. I’ve been searching and reviewing recipes online but know I can rely on your recipes. Loved your vanilla birthday cake. Is your buttermilk cake a “yellow” cake? And have you ever made it with chocolate frosting?
Hi Molly, the cake is a pale yellow. Does that count? 🙂 And you can definitely use chocolate frosting here if you prefer. Happy birthday to your daughter!
What are your suggestions for high altitude adjustments?
Hi Jenny, I don’t have any experience baking at high altitudes, but these tips should be helpful. Hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
Hi – My daughter and I made these cupcakes and loved them. Can we use these same buttermilk cupcake ingredients and make a cake?
Definitely– this works beautifully as a layer cake– just divide the batter into two 9-inch cake pans (buttered and lined with buttered parchment paper) and bake for 30-35 minutes.
This recipe is the perfect example of why you should learn to bake using a scale instead of measuring by cups. So you want to half this recipe? Quick, whats half of 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour? But it’s simple to half 340 grams. Life would be so much simpler if more sites presented recipes like Jenn does!
I baked these cupcakes for the very first time last night and they were delicious!
The only thing I did different was combine all the dry ingredients together, then I added the butter until it was a sand like texture, then I added my wet ingredients. Either way it’s a great recipe and a great base for any cupcake?
“Happy Baking”!
Have just made these cupcakes will they keep uniced in an airtight tin for 2 days? They seem alright but contain a lot of sugar was 400grammes correct?
Hi Christine, Yes, they should keep fine and 400 g is correct. Hope you enjoy them!
This looks amazing and am going to make them this weekend for a baby shower! Would it work to substitute lemon juice instead of vanilla for the icing? And filling the cupcakes with a bit of lemon curd? Or would these flavors not work well together? I’m a novice 🙂
Yes Mollie, both the lemon juice and the lemon curd should work– hope you enjoy!
Hello Jenn,
I will be making my daughter’s first birthday cake this week-end and have decided to use your vanilla buttermilk cupcake recipe which sounds great. I will be making it x1.5 and using three 9″ pans and adding food coloring for a pink and orange cake 🙂 I noticed there is no baking powder in your ingredients and I am used to always seeing that ingredient in cake recipes so I wanted to check with you before I make a cake fail…! Thank you in advance!
Hi Arianna, Sounds like it will be a pretty cake! This recipe doesn’t require baking powder because it contains buttermilk which helps with the leavening. Happy 1st birthday to your daughter!
Jenn,
Do you think I could halve this recipe? All of the ingredients would seem to divide well except the flour — any thoughts on that? Thank you!!
Sure, this could be halved. For the flour you would need 1 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. Hope that helps!
Can a 2 layer cake be made with this recipe?
Definitely– Just divide the batter into two 9-inch cake pans (buttered and lined with buttered parchment paper) and bake for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!