My Favourite Vanilla Cupcakes

Hands down, the best Vanilla Cupcakes I’ve ever had. Soft vanilla cakes topped with luscious cream cheese frosting and plenty of funfetti sprinkles, perfect for birthdays.

Party time 🎉

Introducing my favourite Vanilla Cupcakes topped with luscious cream cheese frosting and plenty of funfetti sprinkles. These light and fluffy vanilla cupcakes are buttery and oh-so-sweet.

If you’ve been looking for a good Vanilla Cupcake recipe that you can make for any birthday or celebration, this is for you.

Out of all the cupcake recipes on Sweetest Menu, I can’t believe I haven’t shared my Classic Vanilla Cupcake recipe with you.

This is my go-to whenever I need to make cupcakes for birthdays or celebrations – well, these and my favourite Double Chocolate Cupcakes.

These cupcakes are made with butter for flavour and a little sour cream (or yogurt) for extra moisture, which makes them light, sweet and tender. And the only way to make them completely irresistible is to slather them with thick, buttery, cream cheese frosting.

I’M DONE.

TIPS FOR MAKING PERFECT VANILLA CUPCAKES

• These Vanilla Cupcakes are really easy to make. You will need an electric mixer.
• Start with room temperature butter. It’s really important to make sure your butter is soft – not fridge cold – otherwise it will be harder to beat and your cupcakes won’t be as light and fluffy.
• Start by beating together the butter, sugar and vanilla. You’ll want to keep mixing until the mixture is pale and creamy – it will take a few minutes. Then add your room temperature egg.
• Next, add your flour and baking powder, along with your milk. I recommend using full fat or whole milk. 
• The final ingredient is sour cream or you can use natural Greek-style yogurt – don’t use a light or reduced fat yogurt and don’t leave this ingredient out – it will make sure your cupcakes are soft and moist. 
• Mix until just combined – but make sure you don’t over mix. The batter will be thick and creamy.
• Bake cupcakes for approximately 18 minutes or until golden brown and spring back lightly to the touch. Try not to over bake the cupcakes so they don’t become dry.

TIPS FOR MAKING CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• You will need a hand mixer or stand mixer to make this frosting. Make sure you use a full fat block of cream cheese – not a light version or the spreadable kind. 
• For seriously creamy frosting, make sure both your butter and your cream cheese are at room temperature. 
• Once you beat together the butter and cream cheese, you need to add 3 cups of icing sugar, along with 1 tablespoon of milk.
• The frosting should be smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick, you can add a touch more milk.

MORE CUPCAKE RECIPES TO TRY:

• Double Chocolate Cupcakes
• Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Caramel Cupcakes
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

My Favourite Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield Makes 12 cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 7 reviews

Prep: 20 minutesCook: 60 minutesTotal: 1 hour 20 minutes

Soft vanilla cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.

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Ingredients

Vanilla cupcakes

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) whole or full fat milk
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat sour cream or Greek yogurt

Cream cheese frosting

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, softened
• 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat cream cheese, softened, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Funfetti sprinkles, to decorate

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla together using an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add egg and beat briefly until combined. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add half the flour mixture and all the milk and slowly mix together on a low speed. Add the rest of the flour and the sour cream and mix briefly until smooth and creamy. The mixture will be thick.
4. Spoon out the cake batter into your prepared liners and bake in the oven for approximately 18-20 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
5. To make the cream cheese frosting, add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and continue to beat until smooth. Add milk and beat briefly.
6. Transfer frosting to piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles.

Notes

You can also use this recipe to make mini cupcakes. It will make 24 cupcakes.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 cupcake Calories: 461 Sugar: 46.9 g Sodium: 131.3 mg Fat: 25 g Carbohydrates: 60.3 g Protein: 4.4 g Cholesterol: 79.7 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CakeCuisine: American

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Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.