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Home » Recipes » Cupcakes

French Vanilla Cupcakes

Published: Mar 8, 2011 Last Updated: Apr 27, 2023 by Marye 1009 words. | About 6 minutes to read this article.

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
30 minutes mins
French vanilla cupcakes are moist, fluffy, and packed full of vanilla flavor. Great basic recipe to use for hundreds of your own variations.
Collage of images of French vanilla cupcakes with text overlay for Pinterest.

Don't want to scroll through the page to get to the recipe? Use the table of contents to click on the section you want to go to.

french vanilla cupcakes
Jump to:
  • ❤️ Why you'll love it
  • 🥫 Storage
  • 📖 Variations
  • 💭 Things to know
  • 👩‍🍳 FAQs
  • 📚 Related recipes
  • 🍽️ Serve with...
  • 📞 The last word
  • French Vanilla Cupcakes
  • ✍🏻 A note from Marye...
  • 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love it

  • Moist, fluffy, and they go together fast.
  • Homemade cupcakes are delicious and easy.
  • This recipe has big vanilla flavor.

French vanilla cupcakes are a fantastic base recipe. They are delicious as is or you can add things like sprinkles or mini chocolate chips to change them. up.

Who doesn't love a tender cupcake that's full of vanilla flavor?!

🥫 Storage

Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freeze for up to 3 months.

📖 Variations

  • Add about ½ cup of sprinkles to the batter for funfetti cupcakes.
  • A tablespoon of lemon zest will give a delicate citrus flavor.
  • Add ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Make your own vanilla sugar by burying two or three vanilla beans in a canister of sugar and leaving it for a week or so.

  • Use room temperature ingredients. Take butter, milk, and eggs from the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
  • Don't overmix the batter.
  • Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners and use a ¾ cup cookie scoop to fill them. This will keep them uniform in size and insure they bake evenly.
  • Use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

What is the secret to super moist cupcakes?

(1). Don't overbake. (2). Add 2 extra egg yolks along with the eggs called for in the recipe. (3). Use buttermilk and baking soda instead of milk and baking powder.

What makes a cupcake fluffy?

Proper creaming of the butter and sugar. The process will take 5 to 10 minutes with an electric mixer.

french vanilla cupcakes recipe

📚 Related recipes

  • If you're looking for a layer cake this vintage buttermilk cake recipe has lots of rich vanilla flavor.
  • Vanilla bean bundt cake is an easy dessert for almost any occasion.
  • Closeup of the bee cake pops on sticks for featured image.
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  • Closeup of a single white cupcake showing the texture of the creamy frosting.
    Best White Cupcakes Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • A closeup of a black cupcake with orange frosting.
    Black Velvet Cupcakes for Halloween
  • Close up of the cupcakes on a cooling rack for feature image.
    Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

🍽️ Serve with...

  • This super creamy whipped cream cheese frosting is delicious on these French vanilla cupcakes.
  • Try the whipped lemon buttercream from this lemon sheet cake.
  • Make this rich chocolate mocha frosting from the chocolate mayonnaise cake.

📞 The last word

These French Vanilla cupcakes are moist and very, very vanilla. Not boring, kiss-your-sister vanilla but seductive, exotic, fabulous vanilla. Deep, velvety, luscious vanilla.

If these are still not what you are looking for you're sure to find one on my 50 Best Cupcakes on the Internet post.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and chopped pistachio nuts on top.
4.17 from 12 votes

French Vanilla Cupcakes

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French vanilla cupcakes are moist, fluffy, and packed full of vanilla flavor. Great basic recipe to use for hundreds of your own variations.
Course cupcake
Cuisine American - Vintage
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings:24
Calories:206
Author:Marye Audet-White
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

  • Stand mixer

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups vanilla sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 egg yolks, room temperature
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temp
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 inch piece of vanilla bean

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Heat the buttermilk until it just simmers.
  • Remove from heat and add the vanilla pod.
  • Set aside.
  • Put the paddle attachment onto the stand mixer. Add the butter and sugar to the mixing bowl.
  • Cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
  • Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beat thoroughly after each addition.
  • Blend flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda, in a bowl.
  • Cut open vanilla pod and scrape out seeds into the buttermilk. (You can dry the pod and use it to make vanilla sugar)
  • Add vanilla to buttermilk
  • Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until mixed.
  • Add ½ the buttermilk.
  • Continue to alternate the dry ingredients and buttermilk, ending with the flour.
  • Scoop cupcake batter into the lined cupcake pans. They should be about ¾ full.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes.
  • Cool and frost with desired buttercream

Notes

You can replace 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk with vanilla brandy for a deeper flavor.
Add French vanilla pudding mix (add it dry) to the flour mixture to give the cupcakes more flavor and make them moist.
Storage:
Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips:
    • Make your own vanilla sugar by burying two or three vanilla beans in a canister of sugar and leaving it for a week or so.
    • Use room temperature ingredients. Take butter, milk, and eggs from the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
    • Don't overmix the batter.
    • Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners and use a ¾ cup cookie scoop to fill them. This will keep them uniform in size and insure they bake evenly.
    • Use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 294IU | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

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    ✍🏻 A note from Marye...

    I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.

    We were going to a potluck at church and supposed to bring food. I don't know why this always stresses me out but it does.

    I mean, what food? What will everyone want? What will work? What if I make something and it turns out disgusting?

    It was an especially difficult Saturday because I worked until 3 and then still had no idea what I was making.

    Time frame?

    We were leaving the house at 5. Uh oh.

    Ya know what? Food Network to the rescue. After numerous viewings of Cupcake Wars I realized that I could easily put together 24 cupcakes in 2 hours.

    If I hurried.

    And... they came out perfect, were done in time, and best of all, everyone loved them.

    First published March 8, 2011. Last updated May 10, 2023 for readability and structure.

     

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    About Marye

    With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White is an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Natasha

      April 01, 2015 at 10:43 am

      A client of mine requested a banana cream cupcake this week, so I'm going to be using your vanilla cupcake recipe with a banana custard filling and a banana butter cream frosting!!

      Reply
    2. Demy

      July 31, 2014 at 3:41 pm

      hello. i have made this recipe with 100gr sugar and it turned out better than with the 400gr. The only problem was that they did not rise at all and after i took them out of the oven and the cupcake pan, there was oil on the bottom. Is there a way to fix that?

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        August 01, 2014 at 5:20 pm

        Sugar is important for texture and rising. If you change it then the rest of the ingredients will be off balance

        Reply
    3. Erica

      November 20, 2012 at 11:31 am

      My husband has requested a French vanilla cake for his birthday on Wednesday, and I am definitely going to be making these cupcakes instead of an actual cake! I also don't have any time to order/buy vanilla sugar,but I saw above you posted that you can just double the vanilla. Would I double both the vanilla extract and vanilla bean? Thank you for posting this recipe btw! I can't wait to make these!

      Reply
      • marye

        November 21, 2012 at 10:56 am

        Either way is fine. 🙂 You can just double the vanilla or for more flavor double the vanilla bean.

        Reply
        • Ronna Edwards

          January 25, 2019 at 9:26 am

          And would you use 2 cups of regular sugar in that case that you don’t have vanilla sugar?

        • Marye Audet

          January 28, 2019 at 4:31 pm

          yes. 🙂

    4. Meredith

      August 09, 2012 at 10:21 am

      Is it going to make a big difference to not use vanilla sugar? Or can you find this somewhere in a store? I did read above where it says you can order it online or make your own but I don't have time. Any suggestions?
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • marye

        August 09, 2012 at 10:32 am

        Double the vanilla and you should be good. 🙂 You may lose a little flavor...

        Reply
    5. Tasha

      May 30, 2012 at 7:04 am

      Question while reading the recipe...it says vanilla sugar? can you get that anywhere

      Reply
      • marye

        May 30, 2012 at 12:19 pm

        you can get it online or you can put a vanilla bean in sugar for a few weeks and make your own. 😉

        Reply
    6. Tina

      May 23, 2012 at 12:54 pm

      Hi, I was interested in making these and in the ingredients it has 2 tsp of vanilla extract listed, but it doesnt say where you added that?

      Reply
      • marye

        May 23, 2012 at 1:02 pm

        You can add it in with the buttermilk or with the creamed butter. It really doesn't matter with vanilla. 🙂

        Reply
        • Tina

          May 23, 2012 at 9:22 pm

          Thank you for your response! I made these today and they were a hit! It came out to be 30 cupcakes for me and I frosted them with a Vanilla Buttercream frosting; absolutely delicious and will def make again 🙂

    7. Erin Myers

      March 08, 2011 at 1:49 pm

      You are going to make me some right? Since I didn't get to taste them the first time? oooh yummy.

      Reply
      • marye

        March 08, 2011 at 3:55 pm

        If you would come over here more..... yeah.. I will make some saturday. 🙂

        Reply

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    Marye Audet-White, founder of Restless Chipotle Media

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