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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 made this recipe today so good. I had to adjust the time 2-3 minutes. I didn’t even need to tweak it. I did use Cream Cheese Frosting instead 😋. I didn’t have any issues with adding water at all. I have a chocolate cake recipe also that’s thin. I don’t use boxed cake mixes. Thank you for sharing 😊
So glad you enjoyed them!
I make these for all birthday party’s for the kids. You will want to do another half of iceing I’m always short for 3 to 4 cup cakes. The recipe makes 24. Also I found mixing water into the wet ingredients and added it all at once, my cupcakes had more hight.
I love the recipe so much. This helped me to make last-minute cupcakes for my little brother’s birthday!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Takes okay. More of a pancake flavor
Are they supposed to be sticky to the touch after baked?
The tops can get a little sticky after a day or so from the moisture in the cupcakes.
How long can you keep the batter if you have some leftover
I’ve never testing holding onto cake batter. You could give it a try and see if it’s ok for a day or so.
I got to say. I was seriously concerned with how thin it was. And a little sad since it wasn’t conducive to licking the bowl. But both the cupcakes and the icing were so dang tasty!
So glad you enjoyed them!
These are the best cupcakes I have ever baked on the fly! I left out the water. My coworkers called them “heavenly.” Such a beautiful recipe. Thank you.
So glad they were a hit!
I love this recipe and have been using it for a while now. Recently I have noticed that when I am mixing my dry and wet ingredients I am getting an extremely lumpy batter. I have tried sifting my dry ingredients, but it did not seem to help. I would love to hear your thoughts
Are you adding the water after mixing in the rest of the wet ingredients? Or adding it with them? It should help to add the water after and keep it from being lumpy.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! Actually ALL your recipes!
I made mini cupcakes for my daughter’s bday with your strawberry buttercream icing.
I baked mini pan(24) at 350° for 10-11 min. (mine were done at 11 min).
You and your recipes are the BEST!!🤗❤️
Turned out perfect
Thank you so much! It’s great to hear you enjoy everything!
These are a big hit! Just wondering if I could make them chocolate by just adding unsweetened cocoa powder?
No, but you can find the chocolate cupcake version here.
This worked great thanks. Easy to follow for my 9 year old daughter and her friend. We tweaked it a bit by adding melting butter instead of oil. We also did one for one with our homemade gluten free flour and subbed in soy milk instead of regular milk. These were perfect.
Glad you enjoyed them!
My grandsons and I have made these for many family get together. Best cupcake recipe I have tried!
So glad you enjoyed them!
I halved the recipe and followed it perfectly…not sure why it came out tasting like play dough!
it tastes really good and my kids did by themselves 9 and 10 so you can imagine how easy it is🤗
Glad you enjoyed them!
Can this recipe be used to make a cake rather than cupcakes.
Yes, you can see it as a layer cake in this cake recipe.