Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe (Moist & Fluffy!)

Hi everyone, I'm Whitney from Sugar and Sparrow and today I'm showing you how to make my favorite vanilla cupcakes. If you've been looking for a from scratch vanilla cupcake recipe you can turn to again and again, this one is it. The cupcakes turn out beautifully moist with rich vanilla flavor and the ideal fluffy structure. I originally published this recipe in 2018 and I'm so happy to find that many of my readers love them as much as I do. Here's how to make them. I always start by sifting the cake flour and the best way to do this in my opinion is to sift the cake flour right into a bowl on my kitchen scale so I'm weighing as I go. You'll want to weigh 265 grams of sifted cake flour or two and a half cups if you're not using the metric system. If you're not weighing your flour just sift it into a bowl and then spoon the sifted cake flour into a measuring cup before leveling it off. Cake flour is essential for getting that super light fluffy texture in the final baked cupcakes. To the cake flour I add two teaspoons of baking powder, a half teaspoon of and one teaspoon of salt. Then I whisk these dry ingredients together and set them aside. Now we're going to cream the butter. This is three quarters of a cup or 170 grams of butter at room temperature that I'm beating for about two minutes either in a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. We just want it creamy before adding in one and three quarters cups or 350 grams of granulated sugar and beating that together with the butter on medium high speed for about two minutes or until it's light and fluffy. If you're using a hand mixer like I am in this video feel free to crank the speed all the way up to high for this part. Once the butter and sugar are light and fluffy add three large eggs at room temperature. I add the eggs one at a time mixing on low speed until each egg is pretty well incorporated before adding the next one. Now I add a half cup or 120 grams of sour cream at room temperature and one tablespoon of pure vanilla extract and beat the mixture on high speed for one full minute. The sour cream in this recipe adds tons of moisture and richness and I love to use lots of vanilla to really amplify the flavor. The batter might look a little curdled at this point because of the sour cream but don't worry it will come together into a smooth batter by the end. Finally add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until it just starts coming together at which point I slowly add the milk in a steady stream. Continue mixing on low speed until things are starting to look uniform and then to prevent over mixing give the batter a few stirs by hand while you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. This vanilla cupcake batter ends up fairly thin so I like to add it into a measuring cup to help me pour it into the cupcake liners. It's a little easier than spooning the batter in. This recipe makes about 32 cupcakes so feel free to half the recipe if you need less but just look at how beautiful they look coming out of the oven. Perfect rise, not too flat but not totally domed either. I love topping these cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and some pretty rainbow sprinkles to make them look extra celebratory but vanilla is such a versatile flavor so feel free to change up the frosting pairing. This is my forever go-to vanilla cupcake recipe. I just love how soft and moist they bake up and the vanilla flavor is undeniably delicious. They are bound to be a hit at any event. If you love cake, cupcakes, and desserts in general head to my blog at sugarandsparrow.com for all of my recipes, cake decorating tutorials, and ideas for your baking. You'll also find lots of recipe videos and tutorials here on my YouTube channel. Hit the subscribe button while you're there so you never miss a new video from me. Thanks for watching!