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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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This is my new favorite recipe. I’ve used it for minis for the past but today I was doing regular sized. I was nervous…over NOTHING! They came out SO GORGEOUS!!! **I use 3/4 cup water and not the full cup. In my oven I bake for 19 min and tahdah!!! Perfection 🙂 it’s true the tops are on the odd side (like a sticky/gummy) but we cover that in buttercream so all is well. Rave reviews from this happy Canadian!
So glad you enjoy them!
These turned out great and stood up to buttercream frosting. I only added enough water to make the batter similar to box cake consistency. I can see where the full amount would have been too much. I’m glad I read the tips first. I fixed 1.5x the recipe at once in my 5 qrt Kithenaid to make 36 cupcakes with no problem. I’ll use this recipe again.
I followed the instructions being careful to measure the flour properly and not just scooping it. I added an extra egg and replaced the water with milk adding it very slowly. I used large muffin tins and baked 21 minutes. Perfectly moist and delicious I didn’t even need frosting 🥰
Instead of vegetable oil can I use mashed bananas?
I would not recommend that. It would probably make your cupcakes taste like banana. I’m not really sure that there’s a good substitute.
What else should I use instead of that? applesauce ? I looked up the other things I can use instead of oil and that came up.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this recipe if you want to use something else. Substituting oil can work in some cakes/cupcakes, but I don’t think it’d be ideal in these. If you’d like a different vanilla cupcake that doesn’t use much oil and could be substituted, I’d recommend these vanilla cupcakes. They are primarily butter-based, with a touch of oil, that you could swap for more butter. I always recommend the oil, because it adds more moisture, but they’d be fine with all butter. I hope that helps.
Hi can we use buttercream instead of milk? If so how much buttercream do I use?
I assume you mean, buttermilk, and not buttercream. I have not tried these with buttermilk before. They may be fine, but I’m not sure.
Normally your recipes always end up spot on when I use them, but this one was a miss, I’m really disappointed it didn’t turn out how expected. It was overly sweet and not crumbly at all, baked to specifications and the top was browned and the bottom was almost underdone and the cuppies themselves were kinda gummy. I tried them twice and kinda disappointed both times. I’m not sure what went wrong, I didn’t use all the liquid like you suggested and no avail. I was one of the unfortunate ones but will continue to follow you for more recipes that will hopefully be as good as the others. Much love to you.
I’m really sorry to hear that. I wish I could re-create the problem myself so that I could test it and figure out what the issue is. I’m so glad you enjoy the other recipes though!
what type of sugar do I use?
Regular granulated sugar in the cupcakes and powdered sugar in the buttercream.
ive tried this recipe 3 times carefully following the instructions just to make sure that the cupcakes miserably failing isn’t due to me messing up, every single time i’ve made these cupcakes they have been beyond a disappointment. waste of time and materials. 1/10.
I’m very sorry to hear that. There’s a note above the recipe mentioning that for some reason, some people have this issue. I can’t recreate it so I don’t really understand why. I’m sorry.
i love this recipe but it would be perfect as a cake…could I do this as a cake?
Glad you enjoyed them! And yes, it works well as a cake.
Hi! Did you use buttercream instead of butter? I had a hard time seeing my frosting yellow because of the butter
I’m sorry, I’m confused by your question. I’m not sure what you’re asking.
I love the taste of these! I think perhaps the issues people are having is because in a lot of countries a cup is 250 ml etc, so perhaps it does not add up if your cup size differs … I always use ml and gram values to bae to ensure it works.
Hi Lindsay,
Sending a message all the way from Australia. Absolutely luv these cupcakes. They disappear so quickly wen u make them.
Quick question, if I was to put the batter in 3 8 inch cake pans how long would they need in the oven
I’m so glad you enjoy them! For three 8 inch cakes, I’d say 24-28 minutes.
Is the frosting freezablr if I made more than needed?
Definitely! It can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Raw after 20 minutes. Had put back in oven. Top was brown but maybe type of muffin pan makes a difference??
It’s possible that the pan makes a difference. I use a Wilton muffin/cupcake pan. There are some people that this recipe just doesn’t work for but I have not been able to re-create the issue to be able to fix it.
Hi! I will be making this today. Curious if the water should be warm/boiling? Or just room temp? I assume the batter will be quite thin, correct? Thank you!!
Room temperature water is just fine. It does not need to be hot. And yes, the batter will be very thin.
I Really love this recipe….so much easier than than the creaming method and such a lovely texture,comes out perfectly everytime.
I’m so glad to hear that!
BETTER THAN STORE BOUGHT!
This recipe is incredibly moist, super light and very delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!