The best vanilla cupcake recipe! Made from scratch with simple ingredients, these vanilla cupcakes are moist with a perfect crumb. Topped with homemade frosting they are the ultimate birthday cupcakes. Ditch boxed mixes and make these homemade vanilla cupcakes instead.
Line two standard muffin pans with liners and lightly grease each liner with cooking spray, set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Set aside
In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat butter and sugar for 1 minute.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat for 1 minute.
Add sour cream, milk and canola oil and stir until combined.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
Fill each cupcake liner with ¼ cup batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 19-22 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
Place the baking pans on a wire cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer the to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cool, frost and serve.
Video
Notes
*nutrition facts calculated for only the cupcakes without frosting.Ingredient Substitutions
All-purpose flour. Cake flour or bread flour can be used in place of all-purpose flour.
Salted butter. Unsalted butter works well too. You can replace up to ¼ cup of the butter with canola oil, if desired.
Granulated sugar. There really isn't a substitute for the sugar. I suggest regular white sugar or organic cane sugar for the best results.
Sour cream. Full-fat, plain Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream. I recommend using full-fat ingredients.
Whole milk. Again, I am an advocate for using full-fat whole milk in these vanilla cupcakes. You could substitute 2% milk but nothing with a lower fat content. Also heavy cream or half and half.
Canola oil. Oil keeps these vanilla cupcakes moist. You can substitute equal amounts of melted butter or another neutral oil if desired, however canola oil yields the best results.
Vanilla extract. You can switch up the extract and use almond, peppermint, orange, etc. if you prefer flavored cupcakes.
StoreStore these homemade vanilla cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Serve at room temperature. FreezeIt's really easy to bake a batch of vanilla cupcakes from scratch and freeze them. Simply follow the recipe and let them cool completely. Then transfer the unfrosted cupcakes to an airtight container and freeze in a single layer until you're ready to frost and serve. Thaw them at room temperature (do not microwave or heat in the oven).