This vanilla cupcake recipe is moist and tender with lots of vanilla flavor. Top with different frostings (suggestions below) to create the cupcake of your dreams!
Table of Contents
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
🗝️ Key takeaways
- These tender, homemade cupcakes are full of big vanilla flavor. Moist and fluffy - they go together fast.
- Cupcakes are perfect for potlucks, birthday parties, bake sales, and weekday treats!
- French vanilla cupcakes are a fantastic base recipe. They are delicious as is or you can add things like sprinkles or mini chocolate chips to change them. up.
This recipe uses whole eggs as well as egg yolks
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Add about ½ cup of sprinkles to the batter for funfetti cupcakes.
- A tablespoon of lemon zest will give a delicate citrus flavor.
- Add ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips.
- Add French vanilla pudding mix (add it dry) to the flour mixture to give the cupcakes more flavor and make them moist.
🤫 Cook's secrets -
Make your own vanilla sugar by burying two or three vanilla bean pods in a small canister of sugar and leaving it. The longer you leave it the stronger the flavor will be.
🍴 Equipment
- muffin tin
- stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- measuring cups and spoons
- large bowl
- medium bowl
- wire rack for cooling
🥫 How to store leftovers
Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
Marye's Tip
Use room temperature ingredients. Take butter, milk, and eggs from the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
💭 Things to know
- Don't overmix the batter.
- Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners and use a ¾ cup cookie scoop to fill them. This will keep them uniform in size and insure they bake evenly.
- Use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Use room-temperature butter and mix with sugar at medium speed to cream the butter.
- Scrape the bottom of the bowl often when creaming butter and sugar.
🍨 Types of vanilla
There are a lot more types of vanilla than what you see at your local grocers. Most of the lesser known types will need to be ordered and then you'd make your own vanilla and vanilla sugar.
| Type | Flavor profile |
|---|---|
| Madagascar (aka "Bourbon" | Most well known. Rich and creamy. |
| Tahitian | Second most popular. Flowery and delicate. |
| Mexican | Bold, robust flavor. Mellow. |
| Indian | Sweet, creamy, and aromatic. |
| Tonga | Earthy and richly aromatic. |
| Indonesian | Deep, smoky vanilla flavor. |
👩🍳 FAQs
(1). Don't overbake. (2). Add 2 extra egg yolks along with the eggs called for in the recipe. (3). Use buttermilk and baking soda instead of milk and baking powder.
Proper creaming of the butter and sugar. The process will take 5 to 10 minutes with an electric mixer.
Just use regular sugar and double the vanilla.
📚 Related recipes
🧁 Frosting suggestions
What's a cupcake without a luscious frosting? Choose any of these frostings for a delicious finish!
📞 The last word
These French Vanilla cupcakes are moist and very, very vanilla. Not boring, kiss-your-sister vanilla but seductive, exotic, fabulous vanilla. Deep, velvety, luscious vanilla.
They're the best vanilla cupcakes for all kinds of variations - from adding toasted pecans to adding chopped up Oreos!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
French Vanilla Cupcakes
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups vanilla sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 inch piece of vanilla bean
- Frosting of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Heat the buttermilk until it just simmers.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla pod.
- Set aside.
- Put the paddle attachment onto the stand mixer. Add the butter and sugar to the mixing bowl.
- Cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beat thoroughly after each addition.
- Blend flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda, in a bowl.
- Cut open vanilla pod and scrape out seeds into the buttermilk. (You can dry the pod and use it to make vanilla sugar)
- Add vanilla to buttermilk
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until mixed.
- Add ½ the buttermilk.
- Continue to alternate the dry ingredients and buttermilk, ending with the flour.
- Scoop cupcake batter into the lined muffin pan. They should be about ¾ full.
- Place pans in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when they register 205℉ - 210℉ on an instant-read thermometer.
- Cool and frost with your favorite frostings.
Notes
-
- Make your own vanilla sugar by burying two or three vanilla beans in a canister of sugar and leaving it for a week or so.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Take butter, milk, and eggs from the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
-
- Don't overmix the batter.
-
- Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners and use a ¾ cup cookie scoop to fill them. This will keep them uniform in size and insure they bake evenly.
-
- Use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
We were going to a potluck at church and supposed to bring food. I don't know why this always stresses me out but it does.
I mean, what food? What will everyone want? What will work? What if I make something and it turns out disgusting?
It was an especially difficult Saturday because I worked until 3 and then still had no idea what I was making.
Time frame?
We were leaving the house at 5. Uh oh.
Ya know what? Food Network to the rescue. After numerous viewings of Cupcake Wars I realized that I could easily put together 24 cupcakes in 2 hours.
If I hurried.
And... they came out perfect, were done in time, and best of all, everyone loved them.
First published March 8, 2011. Last updated April 29,2024 for readability and structure.
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Natasha says
A client of mine requested a banana cream cupcake this week, so I'm going to be using your vanilla cupcake recipe with a banana custard filling and a banana butter cream frosting!!
Demy says
hello. i have made this recipe with 100gr sugar and it turned out better than with the 400gr. The only problem was that they did not rise at all and after i took them out of the oven and the cupcake pan, there was oil on the bottom. Is there a way to fix that?
Marye Audet says
Sugar is important for texture and rising. If you change it then the rest of the ingredients will be off balance
Erica says
My husband has requested a French vanilla cake for his birthday on Wednesday, and I am definitely going to be making these cupcakes instead of an actual cake! I also don't have any time to order/buy vanilla sugar,but I saw above you posted that you can just double the vanilla. Would I double both the vanilla extract and vanilla bean? Thank you for posting this recipe btw! I can't wait to make these!
marye says
Either way is fine. 🙂 You can just double the vanilla or for more flavor double the vanilla bean.
Ronna Edwards says
And would you use 2 cups of regular sugar in that case that you don’t have vanilla sugar?
Marye Audet says
yes. 🙂
Meredith says
Is it going to make a big difference to not use vanilla sugar? Or can you find this somewhere in a store? I did read above where it says you can order it online or make your own but I don't have time. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
marye says
Double the vanilla and you should be good. 🙂 You may lose a little flavor...
Tasha says
Question while reading the recipe...it says vanilla sugar? can you get that anywhere
marye says
you can get it online or you can put a vanilla bean in sugar for a few weeks and make your own. 😉
Tina says
Hi, I was interested in making these and in the ingredients it has 2 tsp of vanilla extract listed, but it doesnt say where you added that?
marye says
You can add it in with the buttermilk or with the creamed butter. It really doesn't matter with vanilla. 🙂
Tina says
Thank you for your response! I made these today and they were a hit! It came out to be 30 cupcakes for me and I frosted them with a Vanilla Buttercream frosting; absolutely delicious and will def make again 🙂
Erin Myers says
You are going to make me some right? Since I didn't get to taste them the first time? oooh yummy.
marye says
If you would come over here more..... yeah.. I will make some saturday. 🙂