These vanilla sour cream cupcakes have a soft, buttery texture and rich vanilla flavor, a made from scratch recipe for the best homemade cupcakes.
Top these cupcakes with delicious buttercream frosting and they’re perfect for birthdays, holidays, or any celebration. They really are a crowd pleaser.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
These cupcakes are based off my other sour cream vanilla cake recipes. My Favorite Vanilla Bean Cake and my Moist Vanilla Cake recipes.
I have a special fondness for sour cream and love how it works in cakes and cupcakes. It just gives them a good amount of moisture and the texture just comes out perfect. I hope you love these cupcakes as much as I do.
What’s special about these cupcakes?
- Soft texture
- Rich vanilla flavor
- Buttery and moist
- Easy from-scratch recipe
- Perfect for any celebration
How to make these cupcakes:
(The full printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and add cupcake liners to two (12-count) cupcake pans.
Step 2:
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
Step 3:
In another bowl, add the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk well and set aside.
Step 4:
In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter, oil and the sugar and mix with an electric mixer on medium-high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low-medium for about 15-20 seconds after adding each egg.
Add half the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix only on low-medium speed and only until everything is just combined and you don’t see any dry flour.
Add the liquid ingredients and mix on low-medium speed only until just combined.
Add the second half of the dry ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined.
Step 5:
Add the batter to the cupcake liners. Fill each about ⅔ of the way full. Be careful not to overfill the cupcake liners or it makes the cupcakes more cumbersome to get out of the pan and they may end up very flat on top.
The batter may be a little thick when you add to the cupcake liners.
Step 6:
Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for approximately 14 – 18 minutes.
Do not overbake, or the cupcakes can turn out dry.
Step 7:
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and set the pans on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. The tops of the cupcakes will level out a bit as they sit.
After about 10 minutes, lift the cupcakes out of the pans and set them onto the cooling rack to cool completely before adding frosting.
Step 8:
Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting of your choice. Here’s my vanilla buttercream recipe: Vanilla Buttercream
Step 9:
Make sure the cupcakes are cooled down before you add the buttercream.
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Vanilla Sour Cream Cupcakes from Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour (Measured correctly: Spooned into the measuring cup and leveled off – don't scoop and pack the flour into the cup, that will add too much flour.)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup sour cream, near room temperature
- ½ cup milk, near room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, near room temperature (1 ⅓ sticks)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add cupcake liners to two (12-count) cupcake pans.
- Make sure to set the cold ingredients out, so they can come closer to room temperature before making the batter. This will keep the batter from clumping up and will help it mix better.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter, oil and the sugar and mix with an electric mixer on medium-high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low-medium for about 15-20 seconds after adding each egg.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again on medium speed for another 10 seconds.
- Add half the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix only on low-medium speed and only until everything is just combined and you don’t see any dry flour.
- Add the liquid ingredients and mix on low-medium speed only until just combined.
- Add the second half of the dry ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined.
- Use a silicone spatula and scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl, then use the spatula to mix the batter just a bit more by hand to finish mixing without the electric mixer.
- The goal is to try and use the electric mixer the least amount that is needed. If scratch cake batter is mixed too long or at too high of speed, the cupcakes will turn out dense and rubbery and may fall in the middle.
- Add the batter to the cupcake liners. Fill each about ⅔ of the way full. Be careful not to overfill the cupcake liners or it makes the cupcakes more cumbersome to get out of the pan and they may end up very flat on top. The batter may be a little thick when you add to the cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for approximately 14 – 18 minutes.
- Do not overbake, or the cupcakes can turn out dry. These cupcakes are finished baking when they are firm on the top, are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a couple of them, comes out when either a few moist crumbs or clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and set the pans on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. The tops of the cupcakes will level out a bit as they sit.
- After about 10 minutes, lift the cupcakes out of the pans and set them onto the cooling rack to cool completely before adding frosting. Be very careful when lifting them out of the cupcake pan as the cupcakes are quite delicate.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, cover with buttercream or your choice of topping. See notes for a link to my favorite buttercream recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Share
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FAQs:
Sour cream is best, but if you can’t get it, you can use full-fat plain yogurt instead.
Yes, these will still taste great even when using vanilla extract. That works perfectly fine.
Unsalted butter is best because salted butter can have a different water content leading to a different result. If you can’t get unsalted butter, just use salted and omit the salt that the recipe calls for.
These cupcakes are finished baking when they are firm on the top, are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a couple of them, comes out when either a few moist crumbs or clean.
Yes, they can be frozen. Add them to a freezer ziplock bag and pop into the freezer for up to two months. Defrost at room temperature.
Store these cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. If you add a perishable frosting or fruit to them, then they’ll need to be stored in the refrigerator.
I have not tested this recipe out to make layer cakes. If you’d like a recipe specifically written and test as a vanilla layer cake, see these options instead:
Favorite Vanilla Bean Cake
Moist Vanilla Cake
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Supplies used:
- Mixing bowls
- Cupcake pans
- Cupcake liners
- Silicone spatula
- Hand mixer or Stand mixer
- 1M piping tip or 2D piping tip (optional)
- Piping bags (optional)
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