Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting Recipe
This moist vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting recipe will make all your cupcake dreams come true. But seriously, if you can stir a few things together, you’ve got this. They are perfectly moist, light and fluffy, and bursting with that classic vanilla flavor. Paired with my buttercream frosting, these easy vanilla cupcakes are truly melt-in-your-mouth delicious. You’ll love how fast they come together, and won’t believe how quickly they’ll disappear! You can also try these vanilla cupcakes with my funfetti icing recipe, cream cheese frosting, or oreo icing recipe.
INGREDIENTS FOR MOIST VANILLA CUPCAKES:
- Electric Hand Mixer
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or Stand Mixer - Silicone Spatula
- Muffin/Cupcake Pan (I love using a 24-Cup Pan!)
- Cupcake Liners
- White Cake Mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Sour Cream
- Vegetable Oil
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
- Eggs
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
- White Gel Food Coloring
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(optional) - Heavy Whipping Cream
- Food Scale (Optional, but highly recommended!)
TIPS FOR PERFECT CUPCAKES
before baking:
- Precise Measuring: This is so important! It can be so easy to overmeasure dry ingredients. Use a food scale for accuracy, especially when measuring flour. Too much flour can make your cupcakes dry and dense. Spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife for the most accurate measurement!
- Room Temperature: Let the eggs, milk, and sour cream come to room temperature before mixing. This helps the ingredients combine better, resulting in a smoother batter and a perfectly tender crumb. If I somehow forget to let these ingredients sit out (which I do often), I place the whole eggs in warm water for 5-10 minutes. You can also add the milk and sour cream to a separate, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. This does the trick!
MIXING INGREDIENTS & BAKING:
- Mixing Technique: “Don’t over-mix the batter!” This is a common phrase in the baking world. Believe it or not, with box mix recipes, this isn’t the case! When air is beat into a cake mix recipe, something special happens. With that being said, don’t be afraid to use your hand mixer on a medium-high setting until your batter is smooth and all ingredients are fully combined and fluffy.
- Rest the Batter: This is one of my #1 tips for cupcakes! Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes after mixing. I’m not sure about the science behind this, but this hack creates beautifully domed vanilla cupcakes! I like to fill my cupcake pan with liners while I let the batter rest!
- Quality Cupcake Liners: Use higher-quality cupcake liners! This is worth the cost in my opinion. High-quality liners are more grease-resistant and hold their shape, instead of turning wonky as the cupcakes bake!
- How Much Batter? How much cupcake batter per cupcake? Use 1/4 cup of batter or fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. This gives enough room for the cupcakes to rise and create a nice dome, without spilling over the sides.
- Oven Temperature: Start baking the cupcakes at 400°F for 5 minutes, then keep the cupcakes in the oven and move temperature down to 350°F for the remaining bake time. This creates perfectly domed cupcakes!
- Center Rack Success: I always bake cupcakes on the center rack! Rack placement is crucial for an even bake.
- Don’t Overbake: Overbaking can lead to a dry cupcakes! Use a toothpick or knife and insert into the center of the cupcake – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, it’s good to go. You can also gently press your finger into the top of the cupcake, if it springs back slowly, it’s ready to come out of the oven!
AFTER BAKING:
- Cooling: Let your cupcakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. This allows the cupcake to set and prevents them from falling apart or tearing when being moved!
- Storage: Be sure to store cupcakes properly to lock in the moisture! I recommend storing in the freezer in an air-tight container, until you are ready to frost and decorate. Simply pull out of the freezer about 45 minutes before you plan to apply buttercream! Make sure the cupcakes are fully cooled before frosting, if you choose to frost them right away!
- Air Out: If the cupcake tops look too “wet” from moisture and condensation after coming out of the freezer, open the airtight container and let the cupcakes “air out” for about 15 minutes. This should fix the issue!
- Cupcake Boxes: Where to buy cupcake boxes? I usually buy my cupcake boxes from Hobby Lobby (when 50% off) or at Walmart!
REASONS TO LOVE DOCTORED CUPCAKE RECIPES:
- Easy Upgrades: Doctored cake mix cupcakes are so convenient, and can be unbelievably good. A few added ingredients such as butter, vanilla extract, and sour cream, create a homemade taste with the best texture.
- Flexibility: You can customize a doctored box cake however you’d like! Add-ins like chocolate chips, pudding mixes, or flavored extracts can transform a basic cake mix into something truly gourmet. People won’t believe it started with a box cake mix!
- Consistency: Box cake mixes provide an extremely reliable base, no messing with baking powder or baking soda, and the end result is always consistent. Doctored cake mixes allow you to add your personal touch, and shows off your unique flavor and texture!
- Time-Saving: Doctored cake mix cupcakes are absolutely delicious, without spending hours in the kitchen. With a few simple tweaks, you won’t believe how good the finished result is!
MORE RECIPES TO TRY NEXT:
- 8 Cake Mix Cake Recipes Everyone Will Love
- Giant Peanut Butter Cookies
- Fudgy M&M Brownies
- Chocolate Icing Recipe
And that’s a wrap on these easy vanilla cupcakes! Whether you’re baking for a special occasion, or just craving a sweet treat, this vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting recipe always hit the spot. They’re everything we love about a good cupcake, and fits right in the palm of your hand. Be prepared to be the new go-to cupcake baker for gatherings with friends and family, they are that good!
Continue below for the easy-to-follow recipe, dig in, and enjoy every bite!
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Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 36 cupcakes 1x
Description
This easy vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting recipe is perfectly moist, light and fluffy, and bursting with that classic vanilla flavor. Paired with my vanilla buttercream frosting, these cupcakes are truly melt-in-your-mouth delicious. You’ll love how fast they come together, and won’t believe how quickly they’ll disappear!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 1 Box White Cake Mix (Duncan Hines)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (melted)
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 7 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream or Milk
- 2 Teaspoons White Gel Food Coloring
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(optional)
Instructions
For the Vanilla Cupcakes:
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Egg Prep: If eggs are not room temperature, add whole eggs into a bowl with warm water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Crack eggs into a separate bowl, and set aside. Doing this gives you a chance to fish out any unwanted egg shells!
- Melt Butter: In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter at 15-30 second intervals until completely melted. Set aside until ready to incorporate into the recipe.
- Wet Ingredients: Measure sour cream and milk into a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds to bring to room temperature and set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: Add the all purpose flour, granulated sugar, box cake mix, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk or spoon to gently combine the ingredients until they are evenly distributed.
- One Bowl: Combine all ingredients into the larger bowl containing the dry ingredients. Don’t forget to add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract (or imitation vanilla)!
- Mix It Up! Mix ingredients together with an electric hand mixer
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, starting on low and increasing speed to med-high. Scraping bowl periodically to make sure all ingredients are incorporating and not sticking to the bottom of the bowl. Mix until batter is smooth and fluffy, usually 1-2 minutes! - Let Batter Rest: Set batter aside to rest for 15 minutes.
- Prep Cupcake Pan: Prepare the cupcake pan by lining with cupcake liners while the batter is resting.
- Fill Em Up! Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with cake batter.
- Bake: Bake at 400°F for 5 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 350°F for 7-8 minutes. Use a toothpick insert into the center of a cupcake – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, it’s good to go. You can also gently press your finger into the top of one of the cupcakes, if it springs back slowly, it’s done!
- Cooling: Cool in pan for 5 minutes, and transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
For the Buttercream Frosting:
- Whip It Up! Start by adding the room temperature butter to a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip the butter on a medium speed for about 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once.
- Vanilla & Salt: Add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk to the butter, along with the vanilla extract and salt.
- Start Mixing! Turn mixer on medium speed until these ingredients are incorporated. This should only take about 30 seconds. Again, scrape that bowl.
- Powdered Sugar: Lower mixer speed to the lowest setting and start adding the powdered sugar in increments. Adding a tablespoon of heavy cream or milk between each.
- Mix on Low: Slightly increase the mixer speed to help mix these ingredients, but do not turn on too high or you will whip too much air into the buttercream.
- Scrape, Scrape, Scrape: Remember to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated.
- White Gel Food Coloring: After adding all powered sugar and heavy cream, finish by adding 2 teaspoons of white gel food coloring. (This step is optional, and only necessary if you want a bright white buttercream)
- Finish: Mix on low-medium until all ingredients are incorporated, at this point you should have perfectly white, smooth and fluffy buttercream frosting!
Notes
Powdered Sugar: 7 1/2 Cups or (1) 2 lb bag of powdered sugar. I always use the full 2 lb bag.
Stiffer: For a stiffer buttercream, add less than recommended amount of heavy cream.
Ultra-Creamy: For an ultra-creamy buttercream, add a maximum of 10 tablespoons of heavy cream.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
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