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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 love this so much
I use this recipe all the time and always perfect even as a 3 tire cake best compliments from all .l have a question has anyone tried this with a gluten free flour and if so how did it go .
Glad you enjoy it! I haven’t tried it with gluten free flour but I think others have commented that they’ve had success.
I used this to make Pineapple cupcakes by adding pineapple to the cake and frosting. So perfect!! I love it!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
How much pineapple did you use?
Yum! Reduced water to 3/4 cup and worked really well!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Have made these and love them but was wandering can I make a 3 layer cake out of it
Yes, you can. I used it as the cake layers in this cake. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/berry-mascarpone-layer-cake/
The cupcakes turned out amazing but I left the water out completely! I also put half the sugar and it was still sweet!
These have been my go-to vanilla cupcakes for a while now and I’ve made them many times with perfect results. Lately, however, they aren’t working out quite as well for me. Was there always a tablespoon of baking powder in these? My cupcakes keep having tons of tiny, uniform bubbles in them. Yes, I tried banging the pan to release the bubbles. I wondered if the recipe had been updated at all, because I made these at least 10 times with 0 issues and now suddenly they just aren’t the same the last few times I’ve made them. Could be just me of course, but just thought I’d check. Thank you!
Nothing about the recipe has changed. How measurements are still the same. Have you may be moved and now use a different oven or something? These are the strangest cupcakes in that they work beautifully for some people and not at all for other people. There is a note above the recipe about trying it without the water if you’re having trouble with them. You could certainly try that.
This recipe is amazing! I’ve made it once before without the frosting, but today I made it with the frosting and it was amazing! 10/10
So glad you enjoyed them!
Will this recipe make a ¼ sheet cake?
Yes. You can find that version here. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/homemade-vanilla-cake-mix/
Little bit eggy. Very very moist. I liked it.
can i fill these cupcakes?
Sure!
This recipe was so nice I love tells the frosting and cupcakes turned out thank you so much for this recipe
I loved loved this cupcake recipe!! I came across so many complicated recipes and I was getting extremely frustrated it shouldn’t be so difficult to make a vanilla cupcake. This recipe is perfect , I personally did add only 1/3 of water to the batter and that worked for me however most people probably would need the full cup I didn’t mix the dry and wet Ingredients separate I added them all in the same bowl at the same time and I used self rising flour so that is probably why I only needed 1/3 a cup of water.
Thank you so much for this recipe super simple and absolutely delicious! 🙂
I love this recipe but I have one question how can I change the measurement to bake 12 cupcakes
Just cut it in half.
Can you leave the water out of this recipe and will change the cupcake
There’s a note above the recipe about the water. Some people have trouble with this recipe and so I recommend leaving out the water in those cases. It’s a little hard for me to say how it will affect it for you since it seems to be different for some.
My daughter has been asking me to make her something rainbow for ages. We have tried 3 separate recipes that have all ended up a crumbly mess, and tears from my 3 year old.
We decided to use this recipe, but adapt it to rainbow muffins. (Essentially just divide the batter into 7 bowls, color each batter, and then drop in a spoonful of each into each muffin.)
They turned out great! They are beautiful! They are easy to make with kids! I see you guys have done rainbow recipes before, but for the sake of struggling parents everywhere, I strongly suggest doing the rainbow version and labeling it kid friendly for SEO.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! With the batter for these being so thin, I’m surprised they turned out and the layers stayed separate. Glad it worked!