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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 was looking for a great vanilla cupcake recipe for our upcoming Girl Scout Easter party. And I think I have found it. I was wondering if you have tried these as chocolate? If so how much cocoa powder did you add?
This would be the chocolate version. You’ll just have to adjust for cupcakes, since it’s written as a cake.
This recipe is not good at all. The cake turns out super doughy and is not a good flavor. ????☹️????
So I just made these for my son’s sixth birthday party. I was looking for a moist cupcake recipe and stumbled across this one. I have to admit, in the midst of making these I was VERY concerned about how watery they were! I didn’t add all the hot water because the batter was literally like water itself! I ended up cooking them like 10 minutes longer than described in the instructions because of how wet they were. This made them rubbery, but still good. I did a second batch, added all the water and cooked them only a few minutes longer. They definitely came out better. These cupcakes were a hit although I felt they were pretty dense (yet not dry). This will be a go to recipe because of all the compliments I got at the party.
Glad to hear everyone enjoyed them!
I was excited to try this recipe as I am always in search for the best Vanilla cupcake recipes. I baked this today. I liked the flavor and they definitely are nice and moist. Only concern is it seemed to break apart quite easily and when I took baked cupcake out of liner it fell apart. I am curious if anyone else had this happen or if you have any suggestions?
Hi love ❤️ your blog and recipes
Thank you Kaya!
Have you tried this for Mini cupcakes, and if so, what would be the time in the oven? Thanks so much, can’t wait to try these!
I haven’t tried it. I’m going to guess around 8-10 minutes or so.
I made these into tiny little cupcakes (petit-four size) and they worked great. Didn’t take long to cook but I recommend keeping a close eye on them as it doesn’t take long for them to go from cooked to too brown.
Just a another work of art from a nice woman keep going
I followed to a tee and cupcakes were very heavy dense. Not moist or fluffy. Not sure what went wrong. Flavor was good
Thanks for the recipe! I was wondering if I could add berries to the batter and make strawberry cupcakes with this recipe? I’m wondering if this batter would be too thin to hold fruit but I would like to try an oil-based (vs. butter- based) recipe for moist cupcakes. Thank you in advance!
Yes, this batter is very thin so it wouldn’t work very well. I’d suggest trying these Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes.
I added sprinkles inside of these and used them for a kids party and everyone loved them ! Was a bit nervous because they looked very watery but they came out perfect! Thank you
Thank you for the recipe, I was so excited as it is almost similar to your chocolate cake recipe which I use, however I made this cake and it was rather dense and dried out quickly, I then made cupcakes, it didn’t rise and was extremely dense, however I love the flavour, I wonder what I am doing wrong? I am from South Africa and I used your cup measurements and not grams, could this be a possible cause?
Hmm, I actually found it to be similar to the chocolate cake, though maybe a little less crazy moist since that one is freakishly amazing. 🙂 I actually do measure my flour and sugar by weight, so those should be accurate. I’m not sure what it’d be. It’s so hard to say from a distance.
Once, I baked daily for 24 days straight different vanilla cupcake recipes and non of them pleased me. OMG!!! Finally!!!! The best vanilla cupcake ever!!!! Simply perfect. It’s moist and stays moist for days. Great vanilla flavor, perfect texture. I’ve been baking for 12 years and been looking for this ever since. And it’s so simple to make, not a lot of ingredients. My son’s birthday was two days ago, I wanted to make something simple since I didn’t have much time. I wasn’t even looking for something special. I found this recipe, baked them and OMG. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
So glad you hear you are happy with them! Thanks Emily!
Great recipe. I only used 1.5 cups of sugar and these were still delicious and moist. Thank you!
Hello! I would love to make this cupcakes! But i don’t know what is the shortening, could you explain it to me and where can i but it…thanks!????????????????
It’s a butter replacement. You can replace it with butter, if you prefer. I just find it at the grocery store near the vegetable oil and baking sprays.
Hy,my little one is a huge fan of filled cupcakes,After they are completely cooled can i fill them?Have you done this?THANK YOU
I haven’t filled this particular cupcake recipe, but it should be fine. I hope you enjoy them!
Lindsay, thank you for the excellent recipe. Cupcakes
turned out on the first try!))
From Russia with love!))
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed them!
I made these with my 3.5 year old today. WOW! They are so tasty and moist! We may never go back to the box mixes again!
The only thing I did different was cook for 20 minutes, which was surprising for my oven which usually requires a shorter baking time that recipes say. They were cooked perfect! Thanks!
So glad to hear to you enjoyed them! 🙂
So glad to hear to you enjoyed them! 🙂