Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting are the ultimate combo. You get that soft, fluffy vanilla cake that melts in your mouth, and then the rich, smooth chocolate frosting on top takes it to another level. It’s simple, but always hits the spot, whether you’re treating yourself or sharing with friends!
Who doesn't love an easy cupcake recipe that you can whip up in a few minutes? I already have a Chocolate Cupcake recipe, but it was time to add an easy Vanilla Cupcakes recipe. These Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting will be your new go-to. They feature a delicious base vanilla cake recipe that is moist, light, and fluffy, and then topped with my tried-and-true chocolate cream cheese frosting that creates the perfect swirls atop these cupcakes. A perfect way to celebrate a birthday or to make just because!
This Vanilla Cupcakes recipe uses the same base as my Vanilla Sheet Cake recipe and and I paired it with the chocolate frosting from my Chocolate Sheet Cake.
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Vanilla Cupcake - The base vanilla cake is absolutely delightful! It's a fluffy, yet moist cake.
Easy - It's easy to make. You can have cupcakes in less than 30 minutes!
Chocolate cream cheese frosting - This recipe for my chocolate frosting is super easy to make and has the perfect piping consistency! It creates beautiful swirls of frosting, and is such a crowd pleaser!
Exactly 12 cupcakes - This recipe makes only 12 cupcakes. Want more? Use my Vanilla Sheet Cake recipe (which is double this recipe) and that creates 24 cupcakes.
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Flour: I have made this base vanilla cake with bread flour, cake flour, and all purpose flour. The bread flour was a mistake of me not paying attention to what I was grabbing from the pantry, but I'm glad I tried it because it made me see that it wasn't the type of flour I wanted in this cake. Cake flour didn't turn out as well as I would have thought! I loved the texture with all purpose flour the best!
- Butter: Creaming butter and sugar together gives the cake an airy and light texture. Make sure it's softened to room temperature.
- Oil: Use any kind of neutral oil. I alternate between vegetable or light olive oil. Whatever I have on hand.
- Eggs: I use whole eggs + eggs whites. Make sure to only use 1 egg + 1 egg white. By leaving out 1 yolk, the cake comes out more fluffy.
- Leavenings: Both baking soda and baking powder are used. The acid from the buttermilk activates the baking soda, but baking powder is also essential for a fluffy and risen cake.
- Buttermilk: I love what buttermilk does to cakes. It creates a beautifully moist cake!
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Butter: Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature. Unsalted works great in this cream cheese frosting.
- Cream Cheese: Full fat block cream cheese straight out of the fridge. I always make sure to use cold cream cheese so that the frosting isn't too soft.
- Cocoa Powder: You can use Dutch Process cocoa powder or natural, but for more intense and deeper flavor, I suggest Dutch Process.
- Salt: Balances the flavors and sweetness.
- Powdered Sugar: Gives the frosting sweetness and also creates a stiffer cream cheese frosting.
- Milk: This ingredient is optional, depending on how much you need the frosting to thin out.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Cupcake pan: You'll need cupcake/muffin pan.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
Mixer: You can use a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer for the frosting.
⇄ Substitutions
Oil - Use any type of neutral oil you have, like vegetable, canola, light olive oil, or avocado oil. Anything that won't come through in the cake.
Buttermilk - I personally don't suggest substituting since I think buttermilk substitutions aren't as great as the original. But if you have to, add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to regular whole milk.
✨ Variations
Frosting - Switch up the frosting to a plain cream cheese or vanilla or turn make a strawberry frosting or chocolate fudge frosting.
Flavorings - Add flavorings to the cake like emulsions or extracts to jazz up the cake, like Vanilla Almond Cake.
Sizing - This cake can be made in three 8 inch pans for a layered cake. It can also be turned into a vanilla sheet cake or an 8x8 Vanilla Snacking Cake.
Cookies - Feeling creative? Try making these Tie Dye Cookies using vanilla cake mix!
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Prep
Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 178℃
Line a 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.
Cream butter & sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could also use a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, light in color, about 3 minutes. Then add the oil and mix for 30 seconds.
💡 Hint: Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature to help the batter mix properly.
Add eggs & vanilla
Add in the eggs + egg whites and vanilla extract and beat well until completely combined.
Alternate dry & wet
Sift in half the dry ingredients and slowly mix, then add all the buttermilk and mix for 20 seconds, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. You don't want to over mix this batter.
Bake
Divide into the prepared standard 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan. I use a. 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to divide the batter evenly.Bake for 15-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Make the frosting
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light in color, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the salt, cocoa powder, then powdered sugar ½ cup at a time and beat on low until completely combined. Then increase the speed and beat until smooth and fluffy, for 2-3 minutes.
You can smother the frosting on each cupcake or place in a piping bag and pipe rosettes. I used a 1M Wilton tip.
🎩Trick: To achieve perfect swirls of frosting, make sure your frosting isn't too thick or too thin. If you aren't sure, try adding a small amount in a piping bag to test out if it will pipe beautifully. If it's too thick, add a splash of milk, beat it together, then try again. It takes a little patience and practice!
💬 FAQ
Yes! Double the recipe and turn it into 24 cupcakes.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a quick substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to your milk, then let it sit for about 5 minutes before using it in the recipe.
Once frosted, they should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Room temperature ingredients: When called for, it's always best to use room temperature ingredients. This helps the ingredients mix together properly.
Correct pan: Make sure to use the correct type of pan. Baking with metal pans yields better results.
Don't over mix: Once dry ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking the cupcakes at 15 minutes to ensure you don't over bake.
❄ Storage
Room temperature: These vanilla cupcakes can be stored unfrosted in an airtight container at room temperature.
Refrigerator: Once frosted, the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting must be stored covered, in an airtight container for 4-5 days in the refrigerated. When ready to eat, Let come to room temperature.
Freezer: Unfrosted, you can wrap the cupcakes individually with saran wrap, then aluminum foil and place in the freezer for 2-3 months. When ready to eat, defrost in the fridge over night, or you can leave it on the counter for a couple hours.
📖 Recipe Card
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Equipment
- 1 standard muffin/cupcake pan
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon (84 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon (28 g) neutral oil
- 1 (56 g) whole egg room temperature
- 1 (30 g) egg white room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups (150 g) all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon (3 g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1 g) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
- ½ cup (125 g) buttermilk room temperature
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 8 oz. (226.8 g) full fat brick cream cheese cold, straight from the fridge
- ¼ cup (25 g) dutch process cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 178℃Line a 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan with liners and set aside.In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could also use a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, light in color, about 3 minutes. Then add the oil and mix for 30 seconds. Add in the egg + egg white and vanilla extract and beat well until completely combined.6 tablespoon unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon neutral oil, 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Sift in half the dry ingredients and slowly mix, then add all the buttermilk and mix for 20 seconds, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. You don't want to over mix this batter.1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ cup buttermilk
- Divide into the prepared standard 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan. I use a. 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to divide the batter evenly.Bake for 15-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light in color, about 2-3 minutes.½ cup unsalted butter, 8 oz. full fat brick cream cheese
- Add the salt, cocoa powder, then powdered sugar ½ cup at a time and beat on low until completely combined. Then increase the speed and beat until smooth and fluffy, for 2-3 minutes.¼ cup dutch process cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 cups powdered sugar
- OPTIONAL: If the buttercream is too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time until the buttercream is smooth. Beat an extra 2-3 minutes until it's a fluffy and a smooth consistency.
- You can smother the frosting on each cupcake or place in a piping bag and pipe rosettes. I used a 1M Wilton tip.
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