This Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes recipe makes six fabulous moist vanilla cupcakes topped with a quick and easy American buttercream frosting.
Happy Friday, friends. How has your week been? Not going to lie, mine has been STRESSFUL. Between all the garbage in the world right now and Baking Mischief breaking itself twice(!!) within 24 hours (Were you around for the site weirdness on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning? It was not pretty.), “chill” has not been a word in my vocabulary this week.
But guess what, the week is almost over, it’s sunny and 70 degrees here in Southern California, and we are all still here. That’s something to be grateful for. I’m grateful for kind popstar quotes, silly unicorn drinks, and all the other small joys in my life, and when I remember that, the world does feel just a *little* less garbage.
Speaking of small joys, who could go for a cupcake right about now? (Guys, I’m so great at segues.)
These Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes have definitely been one of the small joys of my week. I shot the photos for this post a couple weeks ago–those who follow my Instagram stories might recognize them– but I actually made them again this morning because I felt like this week deserved cupcakes to celebrate its end. And since they are small batch, I can totally get away with that.
This small-batch cupcake recipe makes just six cute little vanilla cupcakes. I like the half dozen count because it’s just enough to share if I have a couple of friends over but not so many that I feel like I have to find homes for all of them if I decide to do some cupcake baking on a whim some lazy weekend.
And these cupcakes are perfect for a lazy weekend because they are super simple to make. You just need one bowl, some baking staples, and a cupcake craving, and you are just a tiny bit of effort away from some seriously yummy little cupcakes.
These vanilla cupcakes are on the moist and heavier side (if you want something super light and airy, I recommend my Small-batch Angel Food Cupcakes). They are super soft with an incredibly tender crumb and get topped off with a classic easy American vanilla buttercream and of course, some sprinkles.
If you feel like mixing and matching, you can also use the chocolate buttercream from my Small-batch Chocolate Cupcakes–that’s what I did this morning and it was FAB.
And I will totally admit that a cupcake is not going to cure all the world’s ills, BUT, if you need a small joy in your life this weekend, I heartily recommend one of these.
Small-batch Vanilla Cupcake Recipe Notes
- Be sure to use properly softened butter where called for. Butter that is too cold could result in your cupcakes sinking and melty butter can result in flatter, possibly oily cupcakes.
- For the best cupcakes, use a kitchen scale (my preferred choice) or the Spoon and Sweep Method, spoon flour into your measuring cup and sweep excess off with the flat of a knife, to measure your flour otherwise your cupcakes will be too dense!
- If you plan on spreading your frosting with a knife rather than piping, cut the buttercream recipe in half.
Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- Handheld electric mixer optional but helpful
- 6-cup cupcake pan full size works too!!
Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes
- 3 tablespoons (1.5oz) unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons (87g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour measured using the spoon and sweep method and divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon milk any percentage
Vanilla Buttercream
- 4 tablespoons (2oz) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and line your cupcake pan with 6 liners.
- In a medium bowl combine butter and sugar and using a handheld electric mixer, cream together until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add egg white and vanilla. Beat on medium until smooth.
- Add 1/4 cup (30g) of the flour, baking powder, and salt. And mix on low until incorporated.
- Mix in milk on low. Add remaining 1/4 cup of flour and mix on medium until well-mixed and smooth. Divide batter between prepared cupcake cups, filling just under 2/3 full. This should make exactly 6 cupcakes. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean or with just a couple dry crumbs.
- Transfer to a cooling rack when the cupcakes are cool enough to handle and cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
- In a medium bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar, milk or cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat until frosting comes together, adding milk by the 1/2 teaspoon as necessary.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag and pipe over cupcakes or use a knife to spread frosting. Top with sprinkles if desired, and enjoy!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Nife says
Just made these and wow. They are perfect. Light and fluffy and the sugar rose to the top and formed an amazing hardness. If anyone is a beginner like me and is scared that the butter and sugar look weird when whisking, don’t worry. It’s fine. I’m making these again because do finished all 6. This is amazing. Thank you
Tracy says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them!!
Tracey F says
Just an FYI that I’ve made your recipe for a couple of years now and it’s great. I’ve tweaked it to give it a “wedding cake” flavor, and blogged about it today. https://singlegrrlkitchen.blogspot.com/2020/01/small-batch-wedding-cake-cupcakes-one.html
Thanks again for such a great recipe.
Tracy says
Thanks for the heads up, Tracey! So glad you enjoyed them enough to do a version for your site!!
Fiona says
I made these last night and they are so good! Maybe the best I’ve ever made. Thanks for the small batch recipe, that’s really handy when you’re making for one or two people!
Tracy says
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Fiona!!
Brea Pince says
I made a mini cake in my easy bake oven and it was most likely the best tasting cake that I have ever made (plus the only possible cake that didn’t crumble in my hands).
Sydne says
Finally an awesome small batch cupcake recipe! I have tried quite a few but find they are dense or dry, these are soft and fluffy and just amazing! I made 15 mini’s at 160C fan forced, so roughly 350F, for 13 minutes and they were perfection. About to make strawberry butter cream icing for my daughter’s first birthday. Thanks for the recipe, it will become a go to for me from now on!!!!
Olivia says
My nearly three year old had been begging me to make watermelon cupcakes for a while but I only wanted to make a small batch because sugar and toddlers don’t mix..lol. I came across this recipe and decided to cook it in a mini muffin tin and they were delicious! It’s hard to find a vanilla cupcake recipe with such a light and airy texture so this will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Tracy says
LOL, thanks, Olivia!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes!
Myra Niphoratos says
UGH, I don’t know what happened but I was in the mood for a small batch and found your recipe and it looked easy and yummy! Came out AWFUL! And I mean awful! Cupcakes sank in center, then got hard, batter looked funky as well,( probably shouldn’t have used it) Baked it exactly as directions specified. And I am not at a high altitude either. Ended up using another recipe.
Tracy says
Sorry these didn’t work out for you, Myra! Is it possible your butter wasn’t soft enough to cream completely with the sugar? That could definitely account for the odd looking batter and sinkage.
Imelda says
Funny, this happened to me, but the other way around, I tried other recipe and it overflowed and sunk and were very crumbly, then I tried yours and it came out so perfect, i think i like this better than my other regular vanilla cupcake recipes, and yes, this small batch is a life saver! I lost count on the extra cupcakes I had to throw away just because I couldnt finish them all, so thank yo for saving me ingredients, calories, and guilt (for throwing the extras away) what i would do differently if probably reduce the sugar just a tad <3
Tracy says
Thanks, Imelda!! I’m so glad to hear that these worked out for you!!
jane says
Made these for my dog’s 10th birthday. They are delicious. The dog had a tiny piece. He loved them. I’ll make the ultimate sacrifice and eat them over the next few days. Thanks for writing the recipe in grams. No chance of adding too much or not enough of ingredients when you’re working in grams.
Tracy says
LOL thanks, Jane! I’ll admit, Ella, my lab mix, was also a taste-tester on these. And I so agree, baking by weight is the way to go!
Reba says
Thank you for the small batch frosting recipe, I just made some and it came wonderfully. I used salted butter and didn’t add the pinch at the end.
Sephonnie says
Dude. I am steadfastly anti-cake. I am of the mind that every other dessert in the world is better. But. I made these for my two year old’s birthday. (She’s kid Number 5. We do last minute desserts for them. )
Anyway. We made these for her, with your chocolate buttercream. Um, I ended up eating 5 of the 6 cupcakes. I’ve made this recipe three times since then. I’m still not a cupcake fan, but I’m a THESE cupcakes fan. You’ve created something spectacular here, and I cannot get enough.
Tracy says
LOL, so glad these managed to find a place in your anti-cupcake heart! 😉 Thanks for reporting back. This comment made my day!
Amanda says
I don’t know what the problem is but this is the worst cupcake recipe I have ever used. It failed not once, but twice. Cupcakes overflow and then sink. I live at altitude but have never in my entire life had a recipe fail me as spectacularly as this one, especially not something as simple as cupcakes. Beyond disappointing 🙁
Tracy says
Hi, Amanda. Sorry to hear your cupcakes didn’t turn out. If you’re baking at altitude, particularly with cakes/cupcakes, you’ll need to make altitude adjustments to the recipe to ensure it bakes up correctly. You might find this article helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Alicia says
I have a problem with vanilla cupcakes sticking terrible to the liners…. but when I spray the liners they fall away from the cupcake which looks terrible. Do you spray your liners? (I’m planning on trying this recipe. Love that it’s for a small batch!)
Tracy says
Hi, Alicia, I don’t spray the liners (and the double liners in the photos were added after baking so they’d look prettier).
Do the liners stick on different vanilla cupcake recipes or just one recipe you’ve made multiple times? If it’s just one recipe, I’ve never had a problem with these cupcakes sticking, so you should be okay. If it’s all vanilla cupcake recipes you’ve tried, it might be your pan or your liners. This is a really helpful video on liners sticking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miW5AexCLWE
Hope that helps and you enjoy the cupcakes! Please let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Samara says
These cupcakes only took me a few minutes to make.. and oh my.. they were definitely worth it! I didn’t have time to make the frosting for them but I tried them without and they were so good! Great recipe! I got discouraged at first cause they seemed sooo thick.. I had to double check that I wasn’t going off of the frosting recipe anyways they turned out wonderful. Can’t wait to make more!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Samara!!
Latasha Payne says
This is a good recipe but i wonder could i use this for a snickerdoodle recipe or do you have a recipe for it in this size version
Tracy says
Hi, Latasha, do you mean a snickerdoodle cupcake? You could definitely turn these into snickerdoodle cupcakes if you wanted to. I would sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the tops before baking, and then maybe use cream cheese frosting (https://bakingmischief.com/2017/09/29/small-batch-cream-cheese-frosting/). Hope that helps!
Dris says
Hi there, im hoping to try these cupcakes out but i was just wondering why you used granulated sugar instead of caster sugar? Is there a difference?
Tracy says
Hi, Dris, here in the US (I’m guessing you’re in the UK?), granulated sugar is much finer and what people usually use for baking. Caster sugar should work just fine. Hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
no one says
love this recipe, its very delicious. the only thing that i changed was that i added more sugar.
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed it!!