Looking for an easy homemade vanilla cupcake recipe that tastes delicious. Look no further. These simple vanilla cupcakes are fluffy and moist (and can be made into healthy cupcakes with a few substitutions).
Why this recipe
There are a million and one vanilla cupcake recipes out there on the interwebs but here's why you can stop searching for recipes:
- This is an all-in recipe. You throw it all in the bowl, mix and bake. Practically fool-proof.
- They're light and fluffy and delicious.
- Vanilla cupcakes that still taste fresh two days later? Yep that's these.
Ingredients
These simple vanilla cupcakes are pretty standard in their ingredients but have one surprise.
Bare with me, the first time I saw it I doubted it but now many many, many batches in, I know it might be the key to their success.
- ORANGE JUICE - Yep the secret ingredient. Don't worry, you can't taste the orange juice.
- EGGS - help bind the ingredients and add richness
- BUTTER - I'm not a fan of using margarine or vegetable oil in my baking. I prefer pure ingredients.
- SUGAR - Caster sugar or if you want to make them a little healthier, use Rapadura sugar.
- FLOUR - You can use regular flour or for a healthier version, wholemeal or spelt flour.
- BAKING POWDER - don't forget this one, it helps the cupcakes rise.
- VANILLA EXTRACT - You can't make vanilla cupcakes without vanilla. Go for extract (or scrape the inside of a vanilla bean) over vanilla essence &
Tips
- Room Temperature Ingredients – look I have to admit, I am often guilty of using ingredients straight from the fridge, but if you want them to be perfect, it helps if everything is at room temp - eggs, butter & OJ
- Precise Measuring – it's best to be precise when measuring the ingredients for perfect vanilla cupcakes.
- Don’t Put Too Much Batter In – If you fill them more than ⅔ of the way they will overflow and make for messy tops (you can always cover it with icing though).
How to ice
The best thing about these simple cupcakes is that they are incredibly flexible.
You can change up the icing for whatever you like.
Buttercream icing is my favourite for classic vanilla cupcakes. Don't have icing sugar? You can make your own icing sugar with just 2 ingredients in 60 seconds.
There are some flavouring ideas below the recipe.
Chocolate fudge icing is perfect if you want to make them a little fancier.
Substitutions
Rapadura Sugar is the pure juice extracted from the sugar cane (using a press), which is then cooked to evaporate off the water, whilst being stirred with paddles.
It is then seive ground to produce a grainy sugar. It has not been cooked at super high heats and spun to change it into crystals, and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar.
It is produced organically, and does not contain chemicals or anti-caking agents.
Spelt flour is flour made from spelt - a species of wheat, Triticum spelta, that is believed to have been cultivated for thousands of years, and is sometimes considered a subspecies of ordinary wheat rather than a separate species.
It has a nutty, slightly tangy flavor, but not so much that it changes the taste of things.
Recipe
Super quick wholefood vanilla cupcakes
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 free-range eggs
- 125 g unsalted butter
- ½ cup rapadura sugar or use caster
- 225 g wholemeal spelt flour or wholemeal flour
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan forced and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases.
- Throw all the ingredients a food processor or blender and blitz until combined and smooth.
- Scrape down the sides and then blitz again for a couple of seconds.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake cases.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Ice as desired.
Claire says
Our very favourite cupcake recipe. We love that you just throw all the ingredients in a mixer/blender! They last a few days too so great for making in advance.