The Best Moist Vanilla Cupcakes From Scratch! Simple, Quick and Easy Recipe
This recipe will teach you how to make the best basic moist vanilla cupcakes from scratch. A lazy girl’s easy recipe - no buttermilk to keep it simple to follow and bake with ease!
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The recipe I’m sharing with you all today is the one I’ve been using consistently for a few years now. Following this recipe has become muscle memory at this point. Not just because I’ve made it so many times, but also because it’s the easiest recipe ever. The quantities are the same for all the major ingredients, and the process is: throw everything together in a bowl, and whisk. Baking from scratch doesn’t get much easier than this.
I have this recipe completely committed to memory because of how simple it is, and that’s why it quickly became my go-to recipe. I hope it becomes your too! It’s also so versatile, you can experiment adding different things to the batter, and it pretty much always works! I’ve tried adding different kinds of chocolate chips, and even whole chocolate pieces in the centre of each cupcake. You can also try different nuts or sprinkles or dollops of chocolate/peanut butter spreads added to the batter or the middle of each cupcake. The possibilities are endless.
Here are a few tips or notes to keep in mind before we get into the recipe:
Make sure you sieve all your dry ingredients. It really makes a difference to the consistency of the batter and eventual texture of the cupcakes, in my opinion.
Let your eggs and butter come to room temperature before you use them. This again helps with consistency of the batter and the final product, as well.
The pinch of salt does help cut the sweetness in this recipe. Salt brings out the flavours of the other ingredients, and also helps add some depth to them. It also helps balance the sweetness without letting your taste buds pick up on its presence. So, don’t omit it thinking it’s unimportant!
Don’t over-whisk your batter. This can cause too much air to be incorporated into your batter, resulting in cupcakes that fall flat in the oven.
Don’t overfill your cupcake cases. They need enough space to rise well and get that beautiful dome shape on top! Two-thirds of the way filled is perfect.
Image credit: Eiliv-Sonas Aceron, Unsplash
Here is some of my favourite baking equipment that I highly recommend:
Yield: 12-14 scrumptious cupcakes. (Depending on whether you add chocolate chips.)
Ingredients:
All purpose flour (sieved) - 175 grams
Butter (softened) - 175 grams
Caster sugar - 175 grams
3 Eggs
Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon
Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4th teaspoon
Chocolate chips (optional) - as per your preference
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit.)
In a large bowl, add softened butter. If your butter is cold, just pop it into the microwave for a few seconds.
Add caster sugar to the butter and whisk.
Next, add the eggs one at a time and whisk each time.
To this mixture, add the sieved all-purpose flour in three parts, just so it’s easier to whisk.
Now add the vanilla, baking powder and salt and whisk one last time.
That’s it! Your cupcake batter is ready. If you’d like to add some chocolate chips (I usually do), just put in as many as you’d like and lightly fold them into the batter.
Line your cupcake tin with cases and scoop in the batter until they’re each two-thirds full.
Pop the cupcake tin into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
Every oven is a little different, so keep checking on them after the 15-minute mark. You can poke a skewer (or knife) into the middle of one of them to check. They’re done when the skewer comes out dry.
I used mini chocolate chips!
Voila! You have some delicious cupcakes that are crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.
These cupcakes can be topped with some Nutella or shaved chocolate! You could even make some simple, delicious buttercream frosting to top it with. I love the combination of chocolate and vanilla. So, I would recommend you to go for a chocolate frosting or spread to top these cupcakes with. You could also serve them hot with some ice cream. Hot and cold is also a great combination.
I hope you enjoy them. If you try this recipe, let me know how they turn out in the comments below. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them below too.
Hope you all have a happy tummy full of cake!