• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Celebrating Sweets
  • All Recipes
  • Dessert
    • Brownies & Bars
    • Cake & Cupcakes
    • Cookies
    • Ice Cream/Frozen Desserts
    • Pies & Tarts
  • Drinks & Cocktails
  • Main Dishes
  • Breakfast
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Fall Favorites
  • Holiday Recipes
  • Drinks & Cocktails
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
×

Home » Cake & Cupcakes » Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes

Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes

Published: Jan 22, 2018 · Modified: Jul 19, 2019 by Allison · 536 Comments

  • Share
  • Email
Jump to Recipe

Small Batch Cupcake Recipe – An easy and delicious recipe for 5 vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. VIDEO below!

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Sometimes you just need a cupcake. This is life, friends. Cake, topped with frosting and sprinkles is a necessity in my world, and it should be in yours too.

For those times that you’re craving a cupcake, you need a quick dessert, or you’re baking for just a few people – this is the recipe to have at the ready. Five cupcakes, made from scratch, ready in minutes. It doesn’t get much better.

Vanilla cake batter and freshly baked cupcakes in a pan.

I have to tell you that these are some of the best and easiest vanilla cupcakes I have ever made. They are soft, moist, and flavorful. I top the cupcakes with a quick vanilla buttercream which is the perfect addition. My family goes crazy for these.

And since we don’t really need a reason to make these, I whip these up more often than I’d like to admit.

Vanilla cupcake with a bite taken out of it.

 Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes

  • This recipe is super simple
  • It creates only a few dishes
  • The cupcakes taste amazing – they’re loaded with vanilla
  • No extra cupcakes sitting around to tempt you

For those times when you need a little sweet pick me up, look no further. This small batch vanilla cupcake recipe will have you diving in to a perfect vanilla cupcake in no time.

Prefer a small batch of chocolate cupcakes (here)! Want to top these with Strawberry Frosting, check out this recipe (cut it in half).

Vanilla cupcakes in a pan with a bowl of frosting and a bowl of sprinkles.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: SMALL BATCH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Chocolate chip cookies

HOMEMADE VANILLA CAKE RECIPE

Slice of vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles.

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes

A simple and delicious batch of 5 vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream frosting.
4.63 from 189 votes
Print Pin SaveSaved!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 5
Calories: 318kcal
Author: Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

  • ½ cup all purpose flour, see note
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • ¼ cup milk, preferably whole or 2% milk

Vanilla Frosting:

  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1-2 teaspoons milk, I used whole milk

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 5 muffin cups or place 5 liners in a muffin pan.
  • In a small bowl, combine flour (see note), baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the egg and sugar for about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and melted butter and whisk until well combined.
  •  Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add the milk, and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk until combined (being careful not to overmix).
  • Divide the batter evenly between 5 muffin cups (each cup will be between ⅔ and ¾ full). Bake for 14-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

  • Beat powdered sugar and butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of milk. Beat on medium speed for several minutes, until light and fluffy. If the frosting appears too thick, add an additional teaspoon of milk, if it appears too thin add a little more powdered sugar.
  • Frost the cupcakes using a butter knife. Top with sprinkles, if desired.

Video

Notes

Proper flour measuring: Fluff the flour with your measuring cup several times to lighten it. Scoop the flour and level off with a knife.
This frosting makes enough to spread a moderate layer on top of each cupcake. If you would like a generous amount of frosting, or if you want to pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes, double the frosting.
Cupcakes adapted from How Sweet It Is

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 79mg | Potassium: 83mg | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 560IU | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 0.7mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
« Easy Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Nutella Stuffed Oatmeal Cookie Bars »

Never Miss a Recipe

Get NEW POSTS delivered to your inbox!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. L

    February 12, 2023 at 6:52 pm

    5 stars
    Made these in a mini cupcake tin, they were delicious! It made 2 batches of 12 mini cupcakes each. They took about 12 minutes to bake.

    Reply
    • Allison

      February 13, 2023 at 8:30 am

      I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kassie

    February 18, 2023 at 1:55 pm

    5 stars
    Hello all,

    I tried this cupcake recipe, as well as, the chocolate cupcake recipe! My only wish is I could get 6 cupcakes out the recipe. I did try and advice for anyone wanting to try 6 just know they will come out very short and underfilled looking in your cupcake liner! Next time I will just double batch.

    Reply
  3. Smor’e

    March 10, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    5 stars
    Well this was like the best cupcake I’ve ever had and it was so simple I would make this every day in my life it was so easy I would I love this thank you so much for sharing this recipe like there’s nothing to change about it are you saying everything is so so so so so good everyone who’s reading this please try this it is over the top delicious and you would love it for the rest of your life it’s better than your moms

    Reply
« Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

About

aboutHi, I'm Allison! I'm a busy wife and mom with a passion for cooking and baking. This is where you'll find my favorite homemade recipes, designed to help you make every day delicious! Read more....

Dessert Recipes

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Closeup of a brownie next to a knife

Small Batch Brownies

Donuts covered in chocolate glaze and colored sprinkles.

Baked Vanilla Donuts with Vanilla and Chocolate Glaze

Banana Pudding dessert in a white casserole dish.

Homemade Banana Pudding

Closeup of berry cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Berry Cobbler

Peanut butter brownie cookies on a white plate.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

More Dessert Recipes...

Popular Recipes:

Stack of three brownies on parchment paper

Fudgy Homemade Brownies

Stack of three banana pancakes on a white plate.

Brown Sugar Banana Pancakes

A sandwich sitting on top of a wood cutting board.

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Jam Filled Oatmeal Bars

Jam Filled Oatmeal Bars

Closeup of a lemon blueberry muffin with crumb topping and white icing

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Closeup of an M&M cookie topped with chocolate chips and M&M's.

Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies

More Popular Recipes...

Never Miss a Recipe

Get NEW POSTS delivered to your inbox!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.
Logo for country living, food network, buzzfeed, msn, delish, good housekeeping

Footer

Connect With Me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright 2013-2023 Celebrating Sweets

All images and content are copyright protected. Please contact me for permission to use my original images. If you want to republish a recipe, please re-write it in your own words, or link back to my post for the recipe.