Vanilla Homemade Cupcakes

Vanilla Homemade Cupcakes are tender and moist, and made entirely from scratch. These yellow cupcakes are topped with a sweet and velvety American buttercream frosting. This recipe for vanilla homemade cupcakes makes the perfect birthday cupcake. Made with simple, easy to find ingredients, these cupcakes turn out perfect every time.

They’re incredibly moist, tender, and soft – the perfect homemade cupcake recipe. 

I’ve topped these cupcakes with an American buttercream frosting. Another great option is my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Either would be a great choice when frosting yellow cupcakes.

Cake Flour For Cupcakes

My must for this recipe – cake flour. Yes, this recipe can be made with all-purpose flour.

However, using cake flour will give you a more tender and soft cupcake. Cake flour is made for baking cakes, so why not grab a box to keep on hand in your home?

I like to use Swans Down cake flour, because it’s easy to find in all of my local grocery stores. One box is only a few dollars, and in my experience, makes a world of difference when baking cakes.

In my experience, making a cake flour substitute (measure 1 cup of flour, then replace 2 tablespoons with cornstarch) does not come close to the texture of cake flour.

So if you don’t have cake flour, I’d suggest using all-purpose flour as a substitute. 

How to Make Vanilla Homemade Cupcakes

Preheat your oven, line a cupcake pan with liners, and gather your ingredients.

For this recipe, you’ll need room temperature butter, room temperature eggs, room temperature milk, cake flour (or all-purpose flour), baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. 

Room temperature ingredients are important because your ingredients will cream together smoothly, without lumps.

First, add your sugar and butter to a large bowl. Cream together until smooth and fluffy.

Then, add your vanilla extract and eggs, again creaming together until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, sift together your dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Add half of your dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Then add half of your milk, mixing until just incorporated.

Repeat with remaining flour and milk, mixing until just incorporated and smooth.

Be sure not to over-mix your batter, because this adds extra air to your batter. When your cupcakes bake, they will rise quickly, then sink in the middle due to the excess air. 

If using a hand mixer, mix your batter on low speed. Or, use a spoon or spatula instead.

I use a large cookie scoop to make sure each cupcake is the same size. If you don’t have one, it holds 3 tablespoons of batter. 

This recipe will make enough batter for 15 cupcakes using my measuring method above. If you only have a 12 cupcake pan, do not distribute all of the batter between 12 cupcakes. Your batter will spill over the edges when baking. 

Instead, Evenly fill your 12 cupcake liners, bake, and discard the rest of the batter (or bake a second batch of 3). I like to keep a 24 cupcake pan on hand for these occasions. 

Homemade Cupcake Recipes

Do you enjoy making homemade cupcakes from scratch? Here are a few more of my favorite recipes:

• Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
• Easy White Cupcakes – reader favorite!
• Applesauce Cupcakes with Browned Butter Frosting
• Strawberry Filled Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Cupcakes 

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Vanilla Homemade Cupcakes

Vanilla Homemade Cupcakes are tender and moist, and made entirely from scratch. These yellow cupcakes are topped with a sweet and velvety American buttercream frosting.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time18 mins

Total Time33 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade cupcakes

Servings: 15 cupcakes

Calories: 477kcal

Author: Heather

Ingredients

Yellow Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

American Buttercream Frosting

• 4 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Yellow Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners, set aside.
• In a bowl, sift or whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  
• In a large bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat until creamed and fluffy.
• Add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated and smooth.
• Add half of your dry ingredients to butter mixture. Stir until just combined. Add half of milk, again stirring until just combined. Repeat once more, adding remaining dry ingredients, and remaining milk, stirring until just incorporated.
  
• Pour batter into cupcake liners, filling halfway full (3 tablespoons of batter in each liner). Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
  
• Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.

American Buttercream Frosting

• In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat until creamy, about 1 minute.
• Add confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla extract and heavy cream, then whip until fluffy, another 1 to 2 minutes.
  
• Pipe or spread frosting with a knife onto cupcakes and serve.

Equipment

Cupcake Pan

Cupcake Liners

Measuring Cups

Hand Mixer

Notes

• Over-mixing your batter will cause your cupcakes to rise quickly, then sink in the middle. To prevent this, only mix each ingredient until it is incorporated into the batter. Try using a spoon instead of a hand mixer to incorporate the dry ingredients and milk.
• To perfectly portion cupcake batter, I recommend using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon size), or add 3 tablespoons of batter to each cup.
• Cupcakes are best served the same day of baking, but will remain moist for up to 48 hours when covered in a sealed container.

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 477kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 857IU | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg