Everyone needs a staple cupcake recipe in their kitchen! These divine vanilla cupcakes are moist and fluffy without needing an electric mixer.
There's two tricks here: using oil instead of butter, and whisking boiling water through the batter for a magically fluffy and moist result.

I have included my favourite vanilla buttercream recipe (heads up: the frosting does need an electric mixer) but you can also use your favourite home-made or store-bought frosting too.



Easy Vanilla Cupcakes (No Electric Mixer)
These moist and fluffy vanilla cupcakes are a staple recipe for every household! The batter can be whisked together by hand without an electric mixer, meaning these cupcakes are both easy and delicious! Top these off with my delightful vanilla buttercream or your favourite frosting.
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cup plain flour / all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup whole dairy milk
- 1 tbsp vinegar (any kind) OR lemon juice
- ½ cup canola oil (or any vegetable oil)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence OR 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup boiling water
For the Vanilla Buttercream (large quantity, see notes)
- 250 g (9 oz / 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups icing sugar / powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla essence OR 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp milk, as needed
Instructions
For the Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F (fan-forced/convection) or 180°C / 355°F (standard). Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper cases.
- Sift flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in caster sugar and salt until well combined.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk and vinegar. Stand for 5-10 minutes or until thick and curdled. Whisk in canola oil, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk together until well combined. Whisk in hot coffee/water. The batter will thin out.
- Distribute the batter evenly among the paper cases. Do not fill more than half-full. Overfilling the cases will cause the batter to spill over when baking. Depending on how you measured your ingredients, you may have enough batter for an extra 1-2 cupcakes.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add 1 tbsp of milk at a time, beating well in between, until the frosting is smooth and of piping consistency.
- For swirls: ensure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting. Fit a piping tip with a star-tip nozzle. Fill the piping bag ¾ full with frosting and twist the top to secure. Pipe a small mound of icing in the centre of a cupcake. In one fluid motion, pipe a ring around the mound then continue to pipe in a circular motion towards the centre of the cupcake to create a hi-top swirl.
Notes
Storage
- You can store the frosted cupcakes unrefrigerated for up to 3 days (they will stay moist). They will last 4 days without frosting.
Substitutions & Tips
- Half quantity of vanilla buttercream frosting: the frosting recipe makes enough for large swirls on each cupcake. If you just want to spread a bit of frosting on the top of each cupcake instead of swirls, halve the frosting recipe as follows: Beat together 125 g (4.5 oz / ½ cup) of softened butter, 1 ½ cups of sifted icing sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla essence together until fluffy. Beat in up to 2 tbsp of whole dairy milk until pale and smooth.
- Measuring the cupcake batter: I use a ¼ cup measurement to scoop the batter. This will fill a standard paper case half full (take care as sizes differ).
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 Cupcake with FrostingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 500Total Fat: 27.6gSaturated Fat: 11.7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5.6gCholesterol: 75.6mgSodium: 330.3mgCarbohydrates: 60.5gFiber: 0.4gSugar: 50gProtein: 3.4g
Yusun says
I just made your chocolate cake recipe (into cupcakes) and it was amazing!!! Was just thinking I need a good vanilla cupcake recipe. Can’t wait to try this!!!!!
Chloe says
So so glad you loved the chocolate cake recipe Yusun! Hope you love the vanilla cupcakes as well!! 🙂