The Best Vanilla Cupcakes

Our favourite, optionally dairy-free, vanilla cupcakes. Dress these up any way you’d like – we’ve gone for a sweet Christmas cupcake with rosemary trees, but they’re equally good plain!

Even though we try to keep things pretty interesting around here, a baking blog needs a few really solid basic recipes. These excellent vanilla cupcakes fit into that category and make a great little cake as is, or a good jumping off point, if you want to go crazy with toppings.

Over half of the collective members for Baked don’t/can’t eat dairy – that’s a big reason why almost all of our recipes offer non-dairy substitutions in them. These are great dairy free cupcakes if you need that but can also be made with dairy butter and milk.

Decorated with our vegan vanilla buttercream in an elegant flat-top look (see the how-to video here) and topped with rosemary trees, they’re beautiful for winter holidays. Alternatively, try a coconut snowman topping!

If you need a quick treat with smaller portion sizes (most of us can’t handle a giant cake on our own!) cupcakes are the best option. And vanilla cupcakes are the best of the best!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips and Notes
• Substitutions
• Recipe

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Add the flour, baking powder, vanilla, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Mix on high speed with an electric mixer for about three minutes, or until light and fluffy.

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Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, until very smooth and light in texture.

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Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Pour in the milk and mix again, then add the remaining flour and whisk it in by hand. Don’t over-mix – a few lumps are fine.

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Scoop the batter out into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly golden in colour and the cupcakes pass a toothpick test. The cakes will fill the cups but not mound too much (a flat top is easier to decorate).

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Cool the muffins for about 10 minutes in the tin before removing to cool fully on a rack.

The cupcakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, and freeze well. If frosted, it’s best to refrigerate (take them out half an hour before serving to soften the icing).

To decorate the cooled cupcakes as pictured, pipe buttercream with a large round tip about 3cm (1.25 inch) high. Use a small spatula or dough scraper (or flat side of a butterknife) to smooth the frosting on the sides, then move from the outside in on the top to form a flat top.

Don’t worry if it’s perfect, as the sugar will hide small imperfections. Chill for 10 minutes, then roll the outer edges of the frosting in coarse sugar. Dip the top in the sugar.

Place sprigs of rosemary, upside down, into the frosting.

Tips and Notes

Pictured is a coarser cane sugar going into the cupcakes. It works well, but regular sugar is a better option if you have it. Note that using coarse sugar in the cupcakes will result in slight spotting (light dots) after the cakes sit overnight. This isn’t an issue, just the bits of sugar showing through the top of the cake.

We haven’t tried making these fully vegan, but you can probably make our vegan vanilla cake into cupcakes. It won’t make a full dozen – just fill the muffin cups three-quarters full anyway.

If you don’t like buttercream, try cream cheese frosting! Go all out on decorating with different piping tips – or do buttercream roses for a special occasion (they make the sweetest door-delivery for a birthday or new baby).

As with most baking recipes, you want room temperature eggs here. Cold eggs will cause the butter to seize when they’re added and can make it curdle. Just leave your eggs out at room temperature for a couple of hours before adding.

Substitutions

Raw cane sugar and regular white sugar can be used interchangeably in the cupcakes.

Use either dairy butter or a good vegan butter, and whole milk or non-dairy. We used oat milk in the cupcakes pictured.

Vanilla powder adds a very nice speckled look and good vanilla flavour, but extract can be used in its place (vanilla powder is expensive and harder to find). This is noted in the recipe card.

If you want to use a vanilla bean instead, cut down the centre as usual and scrape the seeds out. Add to the sugar, butter, and egg mixture after the second egg has been beaten in (the same as with the extract).

More Small Treats

Raspberry Financiers
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Maple Butter Tarts
Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Blueberry White Chocolate Scones

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.