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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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Thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe!!! I made mini cup cakes halving the recipe… Mini Cupcakes came out so perfect!!! In fact my kid, 8 years old made the batter… Such a breezy recipe… Thanks a ton for sharing!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I LOVE this recipe. My son and nephew had a joint christening plus and sisters 40th in the same weekend and I made 190 of these cupcakes (yes 190). Afterwards I said I didn’t want to see another vanilla cupcake for at least a month and I didn’t even last a month before I was back at it again. EVERYONE loves these cupcakes and I get asked to make them often and have also made layer cakes with this recipe too.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe!
I’ve made this a couple times and they’re a huge success. They’re so moist and fluffy, with tons of vanilla flavour.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Have you doubled this recipe at all? I would like to try but nervous that it won’t work.
I haven’t tried doubling it.
Delicious! My daughter and her friend made these on their own this afternoon. They are really lovely – very moist. It made 18 regular cupcakes and several bite size ones as well.
I used foil liners AND paper ones as well. Both worked like a charm!
I tried your recipe today–step by step with no substitutions. I did add a Bailey’s chocolate truffle into each cupcake before baking. Simply awesome. Great texture! I outdid myself!! Wow!! 🧁🧁🧁
That sounds delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
SO TASTY
Thank you for this recipe. First time I made cupcakes and the boys LOVE LOVE LOVE them. We will definitely make again. I´m trying your Apple Crumb Cheesecake recipe this weekend coming up. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! That pie is a winner too. I hope it’s a hit as well!
Hi Lindsay,
Your recipe is fantastic. My daughter and I can’t stop eating them! I am appalled at some of the comments on here. I am a professional baker and know how much time and love goes into trying to find the perfect recipe. You rock!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I havent tried yet, but have a question:
Can you freeze them? Have you tried?
Im making huge amount of them and need to make some in advance.
I don’t think that I have tried freezing these before. But I think they would be fine.
Can this recipe be use to make lemon cupcakes?
Sure. I added some lemon zest to them to make these cupcakes. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/lemon-meringue-cupcakes/
I’ve just baked these and this is my fav vanilla cupcake recipe from now on! I can’t wait to try this in pans as a layer cake with sprinkles in the batter for my daughters birthday next!
thank you so much
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! The batter is very thin so I’m not sure if sprinkles would sink all the way to the bottom.
Really moist and lasted well for days. Making again today.
I impulse decided to make cupcakes this evening and wanted to find a simple vanilla that didn’t use buttermilk, sour cream, or only egg whites. I found this recipe and it made PERFECT cupcakes. I have to admit, I unintentionally made two mistakes – I used half all purpose and half cake flour and doubled everything else but accidentally only used the one cup of water. Luckily, they came out super fluffy and with perfect little domes. Excellent!
Hello,
Is it possible to change from vagetable oil to canola oil? Will it be any different in term of texture etc? Thanks for your help 🙂
I haven’t tried canola oil but I imagine it would be fairly similar.