My favorite homemade very vanilla cupcake recipe. Ditch that boxed mix, these are 1000% better!
What a week it has been!Yesterday was a bittersweet day for me—my last day at my office job. My job in the corporate financial world has been a part of my life for 4 years. Without the experience learned in my career, I would not be where I am today with my website. I am so thankful for my time there!
A new chapter is about to unfold and you may be seeing a lot more of me. I am a full time website publisher, cookbook author, photographer, and sprinkle lover.
Today I’m bringing you something simple. No frills, nothing fancy, just pure tasting goodness.Don’t get me wrong, I love anoverloaded cookiemore than anything. But sometimes you just need to keep things simple.
After I shared my Easy Homemade Funfetti Cupcake recipe with you, I had many readers write to me and ask for a plain vanilla cupcake recipe. How do I not have one of those on my website?Challenge accepted!
I took the funfetti cupcake recipe, tossed the egg yolk, added in an extra egg white, used vanilla yogurt, and loaded the batter with fresh vanilla bean. I topped the pretty white cupcakes with extreme vanilla frosting, which is also loaded with fresh vanilla bean.Look at all the pretty vanilla bean specks!
I bought a jar of vanilla beans at Whole Foods for only $6. The are sold in the spice aisle of most major grocery stores. You can also buy them online. 3 large vanilla beans came in the bottle and today’s recipe will only use one. Their fragrance is unparalleled by anything (pure or imitation) vanilla extract will give you.
Wait until you smell these cupcakes baking in your kitchen…
Today’s cupcakes come from a very simple batter that can be mixed by hand. Yes, there is no mixer required for the cupcakes! There are 4 ways I included vanilla flavor today: vanilla beans, vanilla extract, vanilla yogurt, and vanilla almond milk. Don’t worry, the only two very important ones are the vanilla extract and vanilla beans. Feel free to use regular yogurt and milk if you need to.
They’resweetened with granulated sugar, left moist and soft from butter and yogurt, and their color remains impeccably white from using 2 egg whites. The presence of an egg yolk made these cupcakes a bit too yellow, so I subbed an egg white the second time I made these today. The yogurt I used is fat free vanilla flavored greek yogurt. Even though there is only 1/4 cup of yogurt in the batter, I still feel good knowing I’m getting a teeny tiny protein punch from its addition. That makes these “healthy”… right? Of course.
Like I mentioned above, I added vanilla extract to the batter as well as pure vanilla bean. I simply scraped the seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean into the batter. In order to scrape the seeds of a vanilla bean, simply cut it down the middle length wise and use a knife to scrape out all of the black seeds, aka the intense vanilla flavor specks.
After the cupcakes cool, make your frosting. The frosting I used is my very favorite fluffy vanilla frosting. I recently swirled this frosting on top of homemade lemon cupcakes. If you are a fan of lemon, you don’t want to miss those! I made the fluffy vanilla frosting again today and added fresh vanilla bean as I mixed the frosting ingredients together. Yes, I am now in love with vanilla bean seeds.
Pure, unadulterated very vanilla flavor. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are a vanilla fan, you are going to love these. If you are a chocolate fan, you are still going to love these. If you have any sort of tastebuds whatsoever, you are going to love these.
Love cupcakes? Add these to your baking list: chocolate cupcakes, ultimate birthday cupcakes, , pistachio cupcakes, party piñata cupcakes, mocha nutella cupcakes, , ultimate Snickers cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, and red velvet cupcakes.
Very Vanilla Cupcakes
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.9 from 17 reviews
- Author: Sally
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Save Recipe
Description
My favorite homemade vanilla cupcake recipe. Ditch that boxed mix– these taste way better!
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 and 2/3 cup (209g) all-purpose flour ()
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup (60g) vanilla Greek yogurt*
- 3/4 cup (180ml) vanilla almond milk*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- seeds scraped from 1/2 split vanilla bean*
Vanilla Bean Frosting
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4–5 cups (480-600g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- seeds scraped from 1/2 split vanilla bean*
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar—mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg whites, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Split 1 vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise. Scrape seeds from half of the vanilla bean into batter. Reserve other half.
- Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.
- Divide batter among 12 cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.
- To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if mixture is too thick. Add salt if frosting is too sweet (1/4 teaspoon). Frost cooled cupcakes (I used Wilton 1M piping tip). There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator up to 7 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip | Cupcake Carrier (for storage) | Vanilla Beans
- Yogurt: You can also use plain Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, or sour cream.
- Milk: You can also use regular milk, soy milk, or plain almond milk.
- Vanilla Beans: If you can’t get your hands on vanilla beans, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract instead.
- Frosting: Strongly urged to use heavy cream. You may use milk or half-and-half, but heavy cream will give the frosting a thicker texture. I recommend it!
- Mini Cupcakes: For about 24 mini cupcakes, bake for 8-9 minutes at 350°F (177°C) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Vanilla Cake: Simply bake in a 9-inch cake pan (I recommenda springform pan because this will be a taller cake) and bake for 30-34 minutes. Or try my white layer cake for a double layer cake.
- Be sure to check out my10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakesbefore you begin!
