This small batch cupcake recipe makes 5 delicious vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. 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 on hand.
Five cupcakes, made from scratch, ready in minutes. It doesn’t get much better!
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These cupcakes are
Quick and easy: Only about 15 minutes of hands on time. No special equipment or techniques needed.
Soft and moist: These cupcakes have a fantastic texture. They bake up soft, moist, and flavorful.
Packed with vanilla: A generous amount of vanilla extract in the cake batter as well as in the frosting gives these cupcakes a classic flavor.
Perfect for small gatherings: If you’re low on ingredients, or only need cupcakes for a handful of people, this is the perfect recipe.
Small batch cupcake recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Whisk egg and sugar until well combined.
Add melted butter and vanilla extract.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) with the milk.
Whisk until fully combined but be careful not to overmix. Transfer the batter into 5 lined muffin cups and bake.
Cool completely before topping with frosting.
Recipe tips
- Make sure your ingredients are measured properly. When making a small batch recipe this is especially important.
- Don’t overmix the cupcake batter, this can make the cupcakes heavy and dense.
- Try not to open the oven during bake time. For even baking and a nice rise, it’s best not to move the pan around too much.
- Prefer a different frosting? You can make a half batch of Strawberry Buttercream or you can add a tablespoon of cocoa powder and a of splash of milk to the vanilla frosting recipe to turn it into chocolate frosting.
Serving and storage
Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or at cool room temperature for up to 2 days. Serve at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.
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Recipe
Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- ½ cup (60g) all purpose flour, see note
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- ¼ cup milk, preferably whole or 2% milk
Vanilla frosting:
- 5 tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1¼ cups (156g) powdered sugar, plus more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon milk, plus more if needed
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. 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.
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 a little milk, if it appears too thin add a little more powdered sugar.
- Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag and pastry tip; I use an open star tip. Top with sprinkles, if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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!
Anne
These are great!! It was just the recipe I was looking for. My family and I loved them! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m happy to hear that! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
A.R
Sounds perfect for my 1 year old great nephew.
Elaine
Well I used lemon juice instead of baking soda I used extra butter instead of a egg. I half doubled it half lowered it instead of a muffin pan I used a pizza pan over all my weirdly shaped burnt on cookies tasted really good XP
jeff jiff
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’d like to know if this is sweet to the point where it is nearly overly sweet. Because I don’t want to waste ingredients on something that’s not sweet, or too sweet. Ahah, please respond. I’m making this for my friends on Christmas and don’t want to waste food.
Celebrating Sweets
It’s hard to say, as everyone has their own taste preferences. I don’t think the cupcakes themselves are too sweet, but adding the frosting definitely makes them quite sweet (the frosting is mostly sugar). You can either frost them very lightly, or swap my frosting for something less sweet, like a dip in chocolate ganache (recipe below). You would need to cut this ganache recipe in half: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-ganache-cupcakes-recipe2-1946472
CARLA JOHNSON
I can’t wait to try this recipe out . . . Just looking at them made me feel happy. ?
Ninon
Hello,
Thank you so very much for this recipe..Just baked the batch and really happy with how they have turned out?
I was planning on baking some more and I would really appreciate if you would please let me know measurements for a bigger batch of 12 or more??
Merry Christmas?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi. I’m glad you liked them! You can try doubling the recipe, that should produce 10-11 cupcakes.
Ninon
Thanks a ton☺️☺️☺️
kaylee seager
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
good you are a great baker great job pat your self on the back
Shevon
Let me start by saying BLESS YOU!
This is exactly what the doctor ordered. This small batch of “vanilla” cupcakes is what i have been looking for all my life. ? They were amazing, light and fluffy.
This was a late night experiment out of boredom. So no store to run to. I made a few adjustments because i was missing the main ingredient (BUTTER) and had to improvise. This is what i did:
– I have no cake flour, i used 1/2 cup all-purpose flour minus 1 tablespoon and added a 1 tablespoon of maizena.
-i didnt have any butter so i used coconut oil. I melted some in a tiny bowl over warm water. I then scooped out 4 tablespoons into the egg mixture. Next time will use only 3 tablespoons.
The Cakes did not have a strong coconut like flavor, it was smooth and balanced out with the vanilla extract.
– i used 1 whole egg instead of only egg whites.
– I also scooped out the center of a couple of cupcakes and filled it with homemade lemon curd. Soooo delicious, this hit the spot.
Oh i also didnt have any butter for the buttercream so i used shortening (Crisco), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. This was very tasty but i think butter will b even better. Im still learning piping. Its kinda hard for me.
This was heaven!!! My after midnight snack made me went to bed smiling?
Allison
Made these at high altitude adjusting how I normally would and they still didn’t turn out properly at all. Don’t recommend for those up near the sky.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Allison. Thanks for sharing your experience. This is a recipe that is a bit finicky (as most small batch desserts are). I live in the Arizona desert, so definitely quite different from you. Bummer that it didn’t convert well for you. Thanks for stopping by!
Shannon McNamara
I made these today to practice my piping. The flavor was so nice, but they were very flat and dense. Yours look so light and fluffy. Any ideas what I could have done wrong? I was really careful not to over mix, but I’m no baker and easily could’ve done several other things wrong.
Thanks!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Shannon. These are actually a fairly dense cupcake. Because we skip the step of creaming butter and sugar, not much air is added which makes for a more dense cupcake. Also, these cupcakes do not have a high rise, mine just barely reach the top of the cupcake wrapper (check out the second photo in the post). If you were careful not to overmix, and you measured your ingredients properly (especially the flour as mentioned in the note), then you probably didn’t do anything wrong. I hope your piping worked out.
Kim Rhineheart
Hi! Any idea on how to make a small batch chocolate butter cream frosting?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Kim. You should be able to add unsweetened cocoa powder to this frosting. Just add it with the powdered sugar. Maybe start with 1 tablespoon, and increase it as needed (to taste). You might need a bit more milk, just play around with it until you get the right consistency. Enjoy!