Name: Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 38 min
Ingredients: 15.25 ounces box white cake mix; 3.4 ounceS box instant vanilla pudding mix; 4 large eggs, (room temperature); 1 cup sour cream; ¾ cup vegetable oil; ½ cup whole milk; 2 cups unsalted butter, (softened to room temperature); ½ teaspoon salt; 7 cups powdered sugar (sifted); 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract; 4-5 tablespoons heavy cream ((start with 4 tablespoons, then add the additional 1 tablespoon if needed for consistency)); Rainbow colored sprinkles, (optional garnish)

A tall swirl of buttercream standing straight up on a soft vanilla cupcake is the kind of thing that looks like it belongs behind bakery glass. It does not have to. These vanilla cupcakes start with a box of cake mix and one bowl, and they come out looking like I spent all afternoon on them. They do it every time, too, which means I can promise to bring cupcakes somewhere and actually relax about it.

A yellow Vanilla Cupcake with fluffy white frosting sits on an opened paper liner. The cupcake has a large bite taken out, revealing its soft, airy interior. More frosted Vanilla Cupcakes are blurred in the background.

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes from one bowl of batter. The frosting is enough to cover all 24 and pile the swirls higher, so they’ll look like they came from a bakery.

Read Before You Start

The cake mix and the instant pudding each come with directions on the box. Ignore all of them.

This is the step people miss, because making boxed cake trains you to follow the back of the box without thinking.

For this recipe you do not add the water, oil, or eggs the cake mix calls for, and you do not cook or prepare the pudding. Both powders go into the bowl dry, along with the eggs, sour cream, oil, and milk listed in the recipe.

Ingredient Notes

A variety of baking ingredients for vanilla cupcakes on a counter, including eggs, sour cream, milk, butter, vanilla extract, whipped cream, cake mix, sugar, sprinkles, pudding mix, and vegetable oil against a white tile background.

Set out your eggs, sour cream, and milk ahead of time: Cold ingredients do not mix in evenly when the batter is thick. When everything is at room temperature, the cupcakes rise evenly.
Instant vanilla pudding mix: Use instant, not the cook-and-serve kind, and add it to the bowl dry. You are not making the pudding first.
Butter for the frosting: You want it at cool room temperature, soft enough to press with your finger, but still a little cool. If yours has gone soft and oily, chill it for 10 minutes before you start.
Heavy cream in the frosting: My recipe tester, Angela, found she only needed four tablespoons of the heavy cream instead of the full five. Start with four, check how the frosting looks, and only add the last tablespoon if it still feels too stiff.
If you would rather a lighter, less sweet topping than buttercream, my Cool Whip frosting work on these too. Or if you’d like a flavor swap, my lemon cream cheese frosting.

This batter is supposed to be thick.

A lot of vanilla cupcake recipes use a thin, runny batter, so people worry when their batter looks heavy. This one is not runny. It should be thick enough to scoop with a spoon and hold its shape.

A hand uses an ice cream scoop to fill a paper-lined muffin tin with vanilla cupcakes batter on a marble countertop.

Do not add milk or water to thin it out. Thinning the batter is what gives you flat, gummy cupcakes instead of a soft, rounded top.

How To Know It’s Done

Dry cupcakes are the number one thing people complain about with vanilla cupcake recipes online, and leaving them in the oven too long is how it happens.

Stick a toothpick in the center of a cupcake. It should come out with a few moist crumbs on it, not wet batter and not totally clean. A clean toothpick usually means they baked a little too long.

These cupcakes bake at 325 degrees, which is lower than a lot of cupcake recipes. That lower heat is what gives them an even rise, a flat top and moist crumb.

A muffin tin with twelve freshly baked vanilla cupcakes sits on a white marble countertop. — The tops should also spring back when you press them lightly.

A flat top is what you want here, because it gives the frosting a steady base to sit on.

A batch of Vanilla Cupcakes is being decorated as one cupcake gets topped with white icing from a piping bag. Nearby, unfrosted cupcakes, a bowl of colorful sprinkles, and a white napkin rest on the marble surface.

If you have one, the USA brand muffin pan baked up the cupcakes the best. I have Nordic Ware brand and the 12 that were baked in that were a smidge less uniform.

Make-Ahead

For a party, split the work over two days. Bake the cupcakes a day ahead, cool them completely, and store them unfrosted in an airtight container at room temperature.

You can make the buttercream ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. The day of, let it come back to room temperature, beat it for a minute so it pipes smooth.

A close-up of Vanilla Cupcakes topped with swirled white frosting and colorful rainbow sprinkles, beautifully arranged on a white surface. — I always frost the day I serve, since the swirl looks best fresh.

If the cupcakes have been in the fridge, set them out about 20 minutes before serving so the buttercream softens and the crumb is not cold.

If you’d like to serve a tray of cupcake flavors, explore these recipes:

This post was originally published in May 2021.

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Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

5 from 17 votes

You'll love these amazing, quick vanilla cupcakes — they taste gourmet because they're made with instant vanilla pudding resulting in a rich and creamy texture.

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 18

Total Time 38

Servings

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Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcake Batter

15.25 ounces box white cake mix
3.4 ounceS box instant vanilla pudding mix
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup whole milk

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
7 cups powdered sugar sifted
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons heavy cream (start with 4 tablespoons, then add the additional 1 tablespoon if needed for consistency)
Rainbow colored sprinkles, optional garnish

Instructions

Vanilla Cupcake Batter

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two standard (12-count) muffin pans with parchment cupcake liners and set aside.
To a large mixing bowl add the white cake mix, instant vanilla pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, and whole milk. Using a handheld mixer on medium speed, blend together for 1-1½ minutes or just until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thick.
Fill each cupcake liner ⅔ full (approximately 3 tablespoons batter in each cup).
Bake for 18-22 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Stop and scrape the bowl and paddle as needed.
Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another minute. Stop and scrape the bowl and paddle to ensure the butter is an even consistency.
Add the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of the heavy cream. Start on low, until the cream is fully incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is very light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and paddle as needed to be sure the frosting is being evenly beaten. If needed, add the remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream and beat again just until desired consistency.
Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a decorative piping tip. Pipe a decorative swirl of frosting onto each of the cooled cupcakes and garnish with rainbow colored sprinkles if desired before serving.

Notes

The recipe for the vanilla buttercream frosting will yield enough to generously frost all 24 cupcakes or a 2-layer round 9-inch cake. You can cut the amounts in half if you do not want a lot of frosting on each cupcake.
You can add a few drops of gel food coloring to change the color of your frosting to match a party theme for any special occasion.
You will not follow the directions on the back of the box for the cake batter or for the instant pudding. You are adding the powdered mixes to the bowl dry with the other ingredients called for in the recipe.

Nutrition

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Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Read Before You Start