Name: Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 165 g self-raising flour; 1½ tsp baking powder; 3 medium eggs; 165 g soft margarine; 165 g caster sugar; A few drops of vanilla extract; 1½ tsp milk; 12 cupcake cases

These vanilla cupcakes are so easy to make, simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake. They’re perfect for birthdays, cake sales, tea with your friends and any other celebration you can think of.

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I mentioned when I shared my recipe for caramel cupcakes a couple of weeks ago that I’m working on creating a mix-and-match cupcake index with all my sponges, buttercreams and fillings in one place so you can create your own cupcakes using any combination you can think of. However, when I made a start on it I realised that two of my go-to cupcakes recipes (vanilla and chocolate) didn’t exist on here in cupcake form (they’re only on here as larger birthday cake recipes). Whilst it’s really easy to convert these particular recipes from large cakes, to save you the trouble of working out what to adjust I decided that I’d publish them as cupcakes too.

One of the reasons I started this website is that I’ve got a terrible memory for recipes and I wanted somewhere to write them down so I could make them again and again. Whilst I remake my own recipes all the time (this one in particular gets made a lot), it’s not often that other people make my recipes for me to eat. I think it only happened for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was a slightly nervous moment for me (because I always worry that someone reading a recipe won’t interpret it how I’d intended), but I have to say that I think they cooked them better than I do 🙂

Have you ever cooked someone else’s recipe for them to eat, or vice versa? How did it go?

Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

5 from 7 votes

Print Rate

Active Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

165 g self-raising flour
1½ tsp baking powder
3 medium eggs
165 g soft margarine
165 g caster sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract
1½ tsp milk

Extras

12 cupcake cases

RECIPE VIDEO

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
Place your cupcake cases into a muffin tin.
Sift the self-raising flour (165g) and baking powder (1½ tsp) into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (3 medium eggs, 165g soft margarine, 165g caster sugar, a few drops of vanilla extract and 1½ tsp milk) and mix until fully combined (either by hand or using an electric mixer on a low speed).
Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases (I use a cupcake scoop to help split it evenly).
Bake for 18-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool fully before decorating.

NOTES

If you’d like to top them with vanilla buttercream you can find the recipe here.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of the page to let others know what you thought.

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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.

Free From/Suitable For…

The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.

Suitable for Vegetarians
Tree Nut-Free
Peanut-Free
Sesame-Free
Soya-Free
Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
Lupin-Free

I’m sharing this recipe with the following blog challenge… #CookBlogShare with Easy Peasy Foodie.

Comments

Lauren says
May 29, 2020 at 9:43 am
Amazing amazing recipe! Would I be able to use this recipe for a two tiered cake?
- Charlotte Oates says
  May 29, 2020 at 9:19 pm
  Yes. The cupcakes are adapted from my vanilla birthday cake recipe which is fine to make as two tiers. If you take a look below the recipe you’ll find a link to my calculator which will tell you the quantities you need for different sizes of tins.
Kristy says
April 26, 2020 at 7:59 pm

This has become my go-to recipe, so simple and pretty much idiot proof! Everyone I share them with loves them…
Lucy Corrin says
April 26, 2020 at 4:51 pm
These are amazing. However I’m not a fan of marg, what butter could it use as a sub? Salted or not?
Also the dreaded dome…it’s like a mountain! Any pointers on what to try to get it level?
Thank you! Great website for a first time baker!
- Charlotte Oates says
  April 26, 2020 at 6:47 pm
  Butter is fine. I’d use unsalted. Make sure you allow it to soften at room temperature so it’s easy to mix into the other ingredients.
  I’m surprised your getting doming as I tend to find mine are always pretty flat. Some things that I know can cause more of a dome are:
  * Temperature too high in the oven.
  * Too much flour added to the cake mixture.
  * Using larger eggs than the recipe suggests.
Kerrie says
March 12, 2020 at 5:51 pm

Great recipe. Have used several times and everyone always compliments my cupcakes. Will try out the chocolate recipe next! Thanks!
Gina says
February 27, 2020 at 9:37 pm
I’d like to make these with dark chocolate chips. How many grams of chips would you suggest for one batch?
- Charlotte Oates says
  February 28, 2020 at 3:48 pm
  I would really recommend adding chocolate chips to this sponge as it’s quite light so you tend to find the sink to the bottom.

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