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These Moist Vanilla Cupcakes are super easy to make and so moist – for days! They are my new favorite vanilla cupcake!
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Moist Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’d be bringing you some new basic favorites and I started with my easy moist chocolate cake. Today, we are talking about these moist vanilla cupcakes and I’m pumped! One of the things that I’m always messing with is vanilla cake/cupcakes. It’s the never ending quest for all the best versions. I’m a believer that if you don’t have a good vanilla cake, you have NOTHING! 🙂 Ok, dramatic, but it’s like the “tell”. If you don’t have a good vanilla, can anything else really be that good? There are so many ways to vary a vanilla cake and I want the best of all of them! I’m greedy like that. Plus, I know not every has the same idea of the perfect cupcake, so I like to have options.
You may or may not have tried my original vanilla cupcakes. They are loved by many and were my favorite for some time. I still remember the batches upon batches of cupcakes I made while testing those and the fabulous friends that lined them up and tasted tested them all to help me find the best one. If you haven’t tried them, they are worth checking out. But while I still love them, these are my new fave. Sorry “OG cupcake”, there’s a new star in town. 😉
So let’s talk a bit about these cupcake. There’s no need for creaming to get involved, which is kind of a plus. Creaming butter and sugar together makes quite a fabulous cupcake, but sometimes you just want quick and easy and to barely even need to use a mixer. I mean, basically like a box mix but not, you know? These are those cupcakes. The “OG cupcake” was that way too, but used butter and were a little denser. These cupcakes use oil and are lighter.
We’ve got the usual suspects in this cupcake, starting with the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Easy, common ingredients that you should totally have in your pantry already. Mix ’em all together and set ’em aside.
Next are the wet ingredients: milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs. The oil is the fat component instead of butter and in my opinion, tends to make a more moist cake that stays moist for longer. Totally true for these cupcakes. The milk (I typically use 2%) adds to the structure of the cake, in addition to adding moisture. Milk adds fluff and I love some fluff. 🙂 I used a full tablespoon of vanilla extract to make sure there’s plenty of delicious vanilla flavor. Then the eggs add more moisture, structure and flavor. I switched it up in these and went with whole eggs instead of egg whites. No more egg yolks getting wasted here!
Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, the water is added.
There’s so much moisture in these cupcakes! I love them! I’m a big, big fan of their ease of making, their flavor and moisture. They use such simple ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry too – score! When topped with my favorite vanilla buttercream, these vanilla cupcakes really are a dream! They were a big hit in our house and I hope you love them as much as we did!
Watch How To Make These
Read Transcript
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Moist Vanilla Cake
Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cake
Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
Easy Moist Chocolate Cake
NOTE: Some people have reported having trouble with this recipe, while others love it. I have no idea why some people have trouble. There could be any number of factors – improper measuring of ingredients, oven type, altitude, etc. I have never had an issue with these and cannot troubleshoot a problem that I cannot recreate. If you’d prefer a more traditional vanilla cupcake that uses butter and a little bit of oil, as well as the creaming method, and seems to be less finicky for people, try out these Easy Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes. They are currently my favorite vanilla cupcake.
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Moist Vanilla Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24-26 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made with oil instead of butter, this Moist Vanilla Cupcake Recipe makes cupcakes with a light, tender crumb that’s super moist without being dense or heavy. The batter comes together in just a few minutes, making these an easy dessert to whip up anytime.
Ingredients
VANILLA CUPCAKES
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) water*
VANILLA FROSTING
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tbsp (30-45ml) water or milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.
- Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
- Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined. Please note that the batter will be very thin.
- Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large mixer bowl until smooth.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of water or milk and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining water or milk, as needed, and salt and mix until smooth.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844.
Notes
If you’d prefer a more traditional vanilla cupcake that uses butter instead of oil, and the creaming method, try out these Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes.
*Some people report having issues with these cupcakes. If that happens to you, could try leaving out the water entirely.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 31 g
- Sodium: 129.2 mg
- Fat: 12.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 41 g
- Protein: 2.7 g
- Cholesterol: 25.1 mg
Enjoy!
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I saw your vanilla cup cake. It looks so soft and lovely. I am going to try that during this weekend. I will let you know how it comes. I am from Sri Lanka. Our measurements wont make any difference i think.
Best cupcake recipe EVER!!!! Simple measures and it’s so yum and moist!! Saving this for sure
I love this vanilla cupcake recipe, it’s my new go-to! I’m thinking of using this recipe to make eggnog cupcakes for the holidays. I was wondering your opinion – do you think it would be better to replace some of the water or some of the milk in the recipe with eggnog? Thanks!
I’d suggest replacing the milk. You can also check out these recent Eggnog Latte Cupcakes I shared. The recipe is a little different, but very good!
This is my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe ever! Would it hurt to add lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter as well? I want to make lemon cupcakes but don’t want to change the recipe because it’s so good!
I’m so glad to hear that! You might be able to add a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, but more than that would likely alter the way the cupcakes bake. The zest would definitely be fine. You could also check out this Lemon Raspberry Cupcake. A little different, but also yummy.
I’m not exactly sure what I did wrong, but the cupcakes turned out to be very dense and grainy, even though my batter was runny to start with. However, still a great recipe, may try it again in the future 🙂
Perfect,thanks a lot ????
Made these today, came out beautiful and moist. However they did not rise much at all, the batter was a little over half way and they didn’t even rise to the top.
This is now my absolutely FAVOURITE cake recipe in the world! It came out perfect! I so love the texture of the cake. It cant fail! Thanks so much!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
I tried this as a cake recipe but it came out really dense and spongy. Didn’t hardly rise at all and I followed rhe recipe to a T! ???
Does it matter what kind of milk? I only have low fat and skim?
I typically use 2%. The higher fat content is good for baked goods.
How much does this make????????
You can find the amounts that recipes make just underneath the recipe title in the pink recipe card.
I was looking for this recipe for a looong time!!! Grams and ml measurements were very helpful also. I need to thank you a lot!!!!
hi can i use self raising flour instead of all purpose
I haven’t tried it in this recipe. Since self raising flour already has a leavening agent in it, you’d need to reduce or remove the baking powder as well.
I made this recipe last night to see how my family would like it during our get together today. I had a little bit of a problem though before I got there though. Let’s just say this recipe only makes 20 shall we? 😉
Ha! I’m glad you enjoyed the extra few! 🙂
Can I make mini cupcakes with this recipe and how long do I bake them for?
That should be fine. I usually start mini cupcakes around 7-10 minutes.
I just made these and they are very easy and FABULOUS!!! I used gluten free flour as I can’t have regular and they are super moist and fluffy…same texture as regular cake! I also added cinnamon and rum extract for a more fall flavor. Great base for many flavors and so versatile given it works with gluten free flour. Thank you so much!
If I don’t want to use all the batter right away can I freeze some?
How well do the cupcakes freeze?
I’ve never tried freezing batter, but I’d say you’re better off freezing the finished cupcakes. Just wrap them well and defrost in the fridge.
Hi Lindsay,
Your cupcakes look great! I’m planning to bake it for a colleague’s birthday. However was wondering, can I replace 1 cup of water with 1 cup of plain yoghurt instead?
I haven’t tried that specifically in this cupcake, but I’m not sure that’d be a great swap. If you’d like to use yogurt in a cupcake, I’d suggest trying this one and swapping out the sour cream for the yogurt.