Vanilla Cupcakes (The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)
By Addie
Everyone is always asking us which is the most popular cupcake at the bakery. Most people are surprised that it is what we call the Vanilla Vanilla -- the vanilla cupcake with the vanilla icing (and the most popular color for the icing is pink). Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter on high until soft (about 30 seconds). Add sugar and continue beating on medium-high until light and fluffy (3 minutes). Then add eggs one at a time as usual, beating slightly in between.
Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Measure milk and vanilla. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 1/2 of the milk and so on and so on ending with flour. I added 1/2 a cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter on a whim. A good decision.
Be sure you scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl. Pour batter into cupcake paper-lined muffin tins filling them 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
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VANILLA BUTTERCREAM ICING:
The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners' sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 to 4 cups confectioners'
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Yield: enough for 1 dozen cupcakes
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CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM ICING:
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoons milk
4 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup sifted confectioners sugar
To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5-15 minutes, or until lukewarm.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the milk carefully and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and of a desired consistency. Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes.
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REVIEWS:
The best yellow cupcake I've ever made and the frosting was delicious. I made them into minis which made popping them into your mouth so easy(not necessarily a good thing once you have a small pile of wrappers on your plate.) Definitely a must try.
I really loved this cupcake. It was not too sweet. The flavor was really good but when I first made it following the exact recipe, I found it lacked flavor so I added a teaspoon more of vanilla. I will definitely make it again. The recipe also stated the bake time as 40 minutes but my cupcakes cooked in 20 minutes so I would recommend checking them at about 18-22 minutes instead of the 40 minute cook time. I also made my own self rising flour instead of buying it: For every cup of flour needed add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, mix and presto ....self rising flour.
The absolute best vanilla cupcakes!!! Soooo easy to make, they are my go to cupcakes!! Haven't tried the frosting but I'm sure its just as wonderful.
Great recipe! so moist and soft when cooked correctly!! My family loves the frosting too! perfect ratio of powdered sugar to butter to milk! Love it!
This is the perfect vanilla cupcake!! I used 1%milk because that's what I had on hand, and it was missing just a bit of moisture, which it would have had, if I had used whole milk. This will be my go to recipe for vanilla cupcakes from now on. Also, I did have to adjust the baking time because I was using the nonstick cupcake pans, which tend to get hotter, and I have a convection oven. So, I baked them for 17 minutes at 325 degrees and they came out perfect. They're not too sweet, and they are just the right degree of fluffy.
These cupcakes were moist, fluffy, and tasted delicious. To the other reviewers who complained of no leavening ingredient, I'd like to point out that self-rising flour has just that: baking powder and salt. If you don't have it on hand, you can add it to regular all-purpose flour to create your own self-rise flour. Take a second and Google it. I think this is a great basic double vanilla recipe, and a definite keeper!
Made this for a friend's birthday party and it was a great hit! I made it in my giant cupcake cake mold and everybody thought it was very delicious and moist. The icing was great, not too sweet and not too buttery.
When I made them they weren't that nice, but when my friend made them they were light, fluffy and amazing! Maybe if I practice more my cupcakes would be nicer!
I made these for a birthday party and they were very good! I followed the recipe exactly as instructed, making sure to layer the dry ingredients with the wet and I didn't over mix. They are are slightly dense but moist and the flavors are wonderful with the butter and vanilla in the icing and the cake
Soo good! The cake is now my staple vanilla cake recipe. Everyone loves it. A little word on the buttercream though: it may taste very buttery and/or sweet at first. I found that the longer the buttercream sits the better it tastes, such as a day or two after making it.
Delicious. Just follow the recipe. Have everything at room temperature and don't over beat! They'll turn out great.
This recipe turned out GREAT! Very yummy flavor. After reading some of the negative reviews, I really believe they are due to user error; i.e. overfilling, texture. This baking thing is an art & it takes practice - LOL. I used a 1/4 cup scoop to fill cups. Texture could have been better but next time I'll be sure to not OVER beat (just as recipe states. It's a keeper & sooo much better than vanilla cake mix in a box! Thanks for sharing. (PS still working on the icing.
These are the best cupcakes that I have eaten including those from a bakery. Several of the people who ate them said the same. The icing has a very strong vanilla smell and taste that brings you back for more. I don't understand what some other reviewers are talking about . . . how hard could it be to set a timer a few times??? Just follow the instructions and this will be a keeper for you too. Update: I have made these at least 10 times - they are always perfect
Great texture and very buttery and flavoursome!
I just made these today and they were wonderful! Very light and SO smooth. Thanks for sharing!
The cupcakes taste amazing! The buttercream tastes great as well, but found that with 6 cups of icing sugar, it was still a bit too soft and I had to refrigerate the cupcakes right away as the icing was slipping off. The iced cupcakes also lost the definition of the icing tip I used. I would add a bit more icing sugar next time, but over all this is a 5-star recipe.
I've made Magnolia's vanilla cupcake recipe several times now and I think they are delicious, though a tad on the very sweet side. The frosting is DEFINITELY too sweet for me, so I don't think I'll be making it anymore.. .I much prefer a more traditional buttercream that is fluffier and less heavy feeling and tooth achingly sweet tasting. But the cake recipe is good and tastes much better than any box mix.
I love this cupcake recipe, I make them all the time & they really taste like the cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery!!! In the cookbook the icing recipe calls for a total of up to 8 cups of confectionary sugar!! That's a lot of sugar but the kids and adults always go crazy over these cupcakes. It's a keeper