This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These Moist Vanilla Cupcakes are super easy to make and so moist – for days! They are my new favorite vanilla cupcake!
Table of Contents
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.
Print
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!
This post contains affiliate links.
Hello I would like to know can I use almond milk instead of regular milk, or will that mess up the cupcakes?
I haven’t personally tried it, but I believe others have commented saying that they have and it worked out well.
These cupcakes are AMAZING!!! So light and fluffy, and just the right amount of sugar. If I could give 10 stars I would!
Delicious!!! 😋😋😋
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I just wanted to say that these have become my go to cupcake recipe. I hate working with butter and more often than not people request dairy free. I have made them vanilla, almond, butter flavored, nutmeg and lemon. Today I will be making them whiskey walnut. They have never let me down. I am not a trained professional baker, but I have worked in professional kitchens and am often asked to bake for events. For a non chocolate, this is the best.
I’m so glad to hear that!
Tried this cupcake recipe today, following the measurements and instructions carefully. The cupcakes’ texture was dense and gummy, although the flavor is pleasant enough. I’m not throwing them out as they are adequate to give to the kids as a snack, but I wouldn’t serve them to guests at a party we’re hosting tomorrow because of the funky texture.
Yes I agree, was like a hard goop. Not impressed!
I have the same experience, dense and gummy outcome though i followed exactly the recipe
This was a delicious cupcake recipe. I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and used coconut oil. The cupcakes came out light and airy with a beautiful crust. I devoured 3 immediately! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Lindsay i love this recipe! Wanted to know if I can use this recipe to make a rainbow cake. I live in Nepal, and we don’t get cake flour here, and for some reason my butter based cakes or cupcakes turn out super dry but not this recipe! So wanted to make rainbow cake, and wondering if I could use this recipe 😊
I’m glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! The batter is actually very thin, so it wouldn’t work if you were trying to layer colors in the same pan. If you were doing individual cake layers and coloring those different colors, that would work. If you’re looking for more of the rainbow swirl look though, check out this recipe. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/rainbow-swirl-cake/
Hi, I have a quick question on these tasty looking cupcakes. I am making cupcakes that will have a filling. Will these be sturdy enough to hold up to a filling? To be honest I usually use a cake mix and am used to that texture for filled cupcakes. How do these compare to cake mix texture? Ha! I really want to be able to make true homemade cupcakes. 🙂
Yes, you can definitely use a filling. You could also try this recipe and swap out the filling I used for yours.
Hi, what would be a less sweet frosting/icing?
You could try swiss meringue buttercream.
how would you make these diabetic?
I did not like the cupcake recipe at all. The cupcakes are way too sweet and dense. Definitely not light and fluffy.
I made these cupcakes, right to the recipe. They were very dense and heavy. Not much flavor to them considering the amount of vanilla in the recipe. Very oily, I would never make them again.
I wanted to love this recipe as it seemed so easy but sadly they turned out far too sweet and stuck to the cake cases as some other posters found! I followed the recipe in grams as I find it to be more accurate. Hoping I can adjust this in some way to lessen the sugar content
Just tried this recipe for a party I am doing and it is perfect. The icing tutorial was fabulous. So happy I know the recipe will work for my event. And perfect number of cupcakes too, I will only need to do one batch!
I’m so glad to hear that!
I’ve tried these and they are delicious! Made them quite a few times now. Curious how I would change this recipe to be moist chocolate cupcakes instead? 😁
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed them! You can find the chocolate version here.
Thanks for the recipe I was desperate. Some of my family members do not consume dairy and that represents a challenge for me when it comes to baking a vanilla cake or cupcake. I have tried some vanilla dairy free cakes and cupcakes before and they were a little tough and/or they tasted like a pancake. Yours are the best so far. they are moist and they taste like a vanilla cake should. Thanks so much 🙂
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I baked this cupcake for the first time a few years ago, and my family requests them all the time now. They’re so yummy! I’m making them for my nieces birthday party this upcoming weekend and wanted to try to use some kind of filling in them. I’m still doing a buttercream frosting, because it’s always a hit, but any suggestions for a creamy filling that’s not too tricky to make? I searched through your recipes but was overwhelmed with the options! (It’s a unicorn theme party)
Thanks!