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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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Was wondering if this can be cooked and then stored in the freezer?
You could freeze them. Just wrap them well or put them in an air-tight container to freeze them, then thaw them in the fridge.
The batter tasted great. However every cupcake fell before I opened the oven door. I have never heard of adding the wet to the dry – usually its the other way around. I can’t take these to work. They will probably taste good but the fallen center is no good and I think a few are undercooked. I can’t use frosting to fill in the center, it’s sunk too much. Very disappointing and a waste of time and ingredients.
The middle had a rubbery texture
Cupcakes came out lovely and light, totally love this recipe. Wondering if using Cake Flour instead of All Purpose Flour would come out as nice
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I have not tried this recipe with cake flour but I imagine it would be fine.
This by far has to be the worst cupcake recipe in existence. The texture was horrible and it was too sweet.
Can I make this into a two layer cake instead of cupcakes? Can I use olive oil ?
Yes, you can use it for a two layer cake. I’ve never tested it with olive oil, so I’m not sure about that one.
how many cupcakes will this make? I’m baking for a baby shower and I want to have enough for everyone.
24 cupcakes
I want to try this vanilla recipe, I only want to bake one pan (12) of cupcakes, can I halve the recipe? Do you have a moist chocolate cupcake recipe?
Yes, you can definitely cut the recipe in half. And here are my moist chocolate cupcakes.
Moist and light, but these tasted very much like pancakes! Missing the “crumb” mouthfeel of cake
Fantastic recipe!! Just wondering if you have any tips on how to turn this recipe into coconut cupcakes? Would adding decimated coconut give it enough of a coconut flavour?
I’m glad you enjoyed them! For coconut cupcakes, I would recommend using coconut extract. If you add chunks of coconut in some form, it will likely sink to the bottom of the cupcake.
Hands down the best vanilla cupcake recipe. They always turn out so light and fluffy, definitely a crowd pleaser. I have also made in the past substituting the white sugar in the cupcake mixture for granulated Stevia, this was a fail and highly do not recommend doing so. Other than that, I’ve not had issues with the water. It’s worked out every time!
I’m so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed them!
One of the best recipes. Cake was light and fluffy with great flavor!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
The cupcakes were good but they came out a little doughy even though they were completly cooked. What did I do wrong?
So there’s actually a note right above the recipe because some people tend to have issues with this particular recipe and I don’t really know why. You can try reducing the amount of water that is added and see if that helps.
Can you use this recipe for a layered cake?
Yes, you can see it used as a layer cake in this cake.
Loveee this recipe cupcakes came out so good! I wanted to know if you have a similar cake recipe to this? Or can I just double it and use it for cake layers? Thanks 😊
Glad you enjoyed them! You can double it for a cake. If you’d like to see bake time and such, I used it as the layers of this Berry Mascarpone Cake.
Best recipe ever! I have been using it for years now and every body still raves over them. The freeze sooo well!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!