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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
You might also enjoy:
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 made these cupcakes tonight and they were delicious!
Sorry to say these cupcakes were not as good as they look. I made no changes in the recipe and they have a flour taste and smell.
Mine look just like yours.
Made these last week. They came out beautiful and tasted great. Would like to make this recipe again but in a 9×13 pan. How long would you recommend to bake for?
Glad you enjoyed them! For a 9×13 pan, it should be roughly 30 minutes.
Have you ever tried making mini cupcakes with this recipe? I wanted to make smaller cupcakes for my daughters preschool class!
I haven’t tried with this particular recipe, but I have with this one. I believe I baked them for roughly 8 minutes.
Thank you for this recipe. The cupcakes are wonderful and the recipe is so easy! This is one of the few recipes that I can let my kids do 100% on their own because they are so straightforward and so forgiving.
Today they wanted to add food coloring but we had already poured the batter so we added 1 drop of color to each cup and they made designs with a stick. I didn’t expect that to look good after baking but they came our gorgeous!
Wonderful to hear! Glad you’ve enjoyed them!
Hi! I would like to try this recipe for my sister’s birthday. I’d like to know what kind of milk you are using because it’s hard to find some ingredients in our local stores. Thanks!
I use 2% milk.
Hello, these look great. Do you think I could sub with coconut oil instead of veg oil?
I haven’t tried it, but it should be ok.
Any thoughts on using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
Made these as a trial for a friend’s baby shower cupcakes and I love them!
I’ve never had a go to vanilla recipe and yours is definitely. Lightest cupcakes I’ve ever made, thank you!
Hi Lindsay,
What is the difference between this cupcake and your perfect moist and fluffy vanilla cupcake. They both seem like great recipes, but I’m wondering which one you think is better. I am an experienced baker, so difficulty and ingredients isn’t a problem. Thank you! Addison
Not to throw a wrench in your decision making, but this one is technically my favorite vanilla cupcake. Each has a different method. Generally similar ingredients except that this one has oil, not butter. It’s also a very simple batter to throw together and very thin. The “Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes” are my original one and are the most dense of the options. The other one I linked to is more traditional with the creaming of butter and sugar and make a nice, fluffy cupcake. I hope that helps!
Best cupcake recipe ever! Thank you Lindsay!
L
Will it be ok to use silicon molds ?
I would think so.
Hi! I plan to make Cookie Dough Cupcakes for Christmas and was looking for a good vanilla cupcake recipe that would work. If I use your recipe as base, would it come out light and fluffy with the cookie dough balls or would it be too moist? Thanks so much!
I would think it’d be fine. Another option would be these cupcakes. Both are very good, just a preference thing.
Thanks Lindsay! They just came out of the oven and are indeed, very moist. And they’re so easy to make! I was surprised that I was already done! Definitely keeping this recipe for future use.
Hi!
I wanted to know if the cupcakes with butter cream could be kept out of the refrigerator and if so, for how long?
I use the frosting as the recipe is written – with butter and shortening. I know some people like to use all butter. If you do half and half, I leave them out of the fridge for several days. If you use all butter, I suggest refrigerating them and then serving at room temperature.
Thank you!!
How many cupcake do we bake with this recepie??☺????
It’s listed just under the title in the pink recipe card – 24-26 cupcakes.
Hello am a beginner . What if I separate the egg yolks and white and then whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold it to the rest of the mixture ?
I wouldn’t suggest that in this recipe.