These fluffy vanilla cupcakes are so soft and moist, they literally melt in your mouth! With a classic vanilla flavour, you can frost and fill these cupcakes with almost anything!
What makes these vanilla cupcakes so soft?
There are a few reasons behind the fluffy, soft texture of these cupcakes! Firstly, this recipe uses the creaming method, where you cream together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This helps to incorporate air into our batter, giving us a lighter and fluffier cupcake!
Secondly, this recipe uses oil and yoghurt, which help tenderise the crumb of the cupcake. The oil also helps to keep the cupcake moist as oil is liquid at room temperature.
What is the shelf life?
You can store these cupcakes at room temperature in an air tight container for up to a week. If you stay in a really humid climate, then you may want to refrigerate these after a few days, but wrap them in foil or cling wrap to prevent them drying out in the fridge.
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) flour - regular all purpose
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter - room temp
- ¾ cup (150 g) white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt - omit if using salted butter
- 1 tbsp unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- ½ cup (122 g) greek yoghurt - unsweetened
Instructions
- All your ingredients should be at room temperature before beginning 🙂
- Preheat your oven to 165 °C (329°F) with the fan on (see note 2 if you don't have a fan function) and place cupcake liners in a cupcake tray. Set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream your butter and sugar together on a medium speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Make sure your butter is soft, but not melted (see note 1).
- Add in your first egg, and mix for about 15 seconds, and then add in your second egg and mix for another 15 seconds.
- Add in your vegetable oil, vanilla and yoghurt and mix that in until well combined.
- Finish off by sifting in your flour, baking powder and salt, and then mix on a low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake liners about 2/3rds of the way up (do not overfill them), and then bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let them completely cool before frosting 🙂
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
136 Comments
Hi MK, Just curious to know if i can replace greek yogurt with buttermilk. If so, can you please tel how much of buttermilk is needed for the same set of 11/12 cupcakes
Hi Shobi! 🙂 I haven’t tried using buttermilk as a substitute myself, but other readers have and said that it worked great! I would use 1/2 cup (about 120g) of buttermilk in place of the yoghurt :). Enjoy!
It is hard to find a from scratch vanilla cupcake recipe that won’t leave you disappointed. Love the flavor and texture of these cupcakes! I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Awesome! So happy to hear you loved the cupcakes Amy, and hope you enjoy the other recipes just as much 😀
Perfect !! Thank you so much for this recipe & came out very well.
Used sour cream instead of the Greek yogurt and baked for 25 minutes at 170°C. Yield 10 cupcakes with nice flat tops.
Next time I will swop with the Yoghurt with mayonnaise, I sort of like the tenderness that mayo brings to cakes – I quite often swop the yogurt or buttermilk with it.
Thank you so much for the feedback André! So happy to hear you loved the recipe 🙂 I have never tried baking with mayo before – I’ll have to give it a go 😀
To make it funfetti (birthday sprinkles) cupcake version, can I just fold jimmies or sprinkles at the very end before transferring the batter into the cupcake liners?
Hi Kat! Yes that should work totally fine 🙂 just keep in mind the sprinkles will add a bit of extra sweetness so you may want to reduce the sugar ever so slightly in the batter (or keep it the same if you don’t mind a bit of extra sweetness). Enjoy!
I just saw that you have a funfetti cake recipe, would that translate well to cupcakes. or would I need to tweak a little bit? Thanks! I love how soft and delicious and moist
your cakes/cupcakes are!
Which is the best frosting to use for these cupcakes, MK?
Hi Fiona 🙂 Because these are vanilla flavored, you could use any frosing really! I love pairing these with a chocolate Swiss meringue or even a plain vanilla buttercream. You can check out all my frosting recipes here: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe-category/frostings/
Hope that helps!
I just saw that you have a funfetti cake recipe, would that translate well to cupcakes. or would I need to tweak a little bit? Thanks! I love how soft and delicious and moist
your cakes/cupcakes are!
Hi Kat! 🙂
Yes that recipe will be great as cupcakes – you’ll just need to reduce the cook time to about 18 mins or so 🙂
So so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes Kat, thank you so much for the feedback 😀
This is a fun cupcake to make for someone special.
Thanks Faye! Happy to hear you enjoyed the cupcakes 😀
I’ve made these multiple times before. The first couple times I actually used nonfat plain Greek Yogurt without knowing, and I think they were still good, and last few times I used full fat regular. How would the nonfat plain yogurt affect the cupcakes? Thank you and God Bless 💕
Hi Fi! 🙂 Fat adds additional moisture to the cupcakes and prevents them from drying out, so using full fat yoghurt will make for a moister cupcake 🙂 hope that helps!
I tried your recipe the cupcakes cake out amazing. Everyone loved them!. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome! So happy to hear that Kishona, appreciate the feedback 🙂
Hi can I use raw sugar and grind it? Instead of white sugar and use vanilla flavoured yoghurt as these are in my pantry?
Hi Majit! I haven’t tried these substitutes myself so I can’t say for sure sorry, bit I think it would work fine, you may just need to reduce the sugar slightly if the yoghurt is sweetened 🙂
Hi I made your cupcakes last night and they are delicious. If I add mashed bananas to the cupcakes will it affect the texture? What can I remove or add to the recipe? Thank you
Awesome! So so happy to hear you enjoyed them Cathy 🙂 and I haven’t tried that myself so I’m not too sure how it’ll affect the texture sorry! I do have a banana muffin recipe though which is super soft and full of banana flavour 🙂 you can check out the recipe here: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/banana-crumble-muffins/