Easy Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Take your boxed cake mix cupcakes to the next level with a few simple additions. These Easy Vanilla Cupcakes taste like they are from scratch and are fluffy, moist and bursting with vanilla flavor. Topped with chocolate buttercream–these will be gone in no time, every time.

Easy Vanilla Cupcakes–A new baker’s dream

These days I find myself wanting more and more to be a baker. I guess you could say I am a wannabe baker, or something like that.

Slowly but surely I am upping my game and even enjoying it so much more than I ever have. I am taking baby steps to going all out into my own from scratch cupcakes and cakes but not quite there. Close, but still not quite.

These easy vanilla cupcakes have been a fun and super duper simple way to up my boxed cake mix cupcakes and to be honest, not sure I ever need another cupcake recipe in my life ever. Simple, super moist, bursting with vanilla flavor, and spot on texture–but seriously, it all started with a cake mix, a bowl and a spoon.

Now, some would say this is cheating and if you are going to make cupcakes, then make them for real.

Made from scratch is not always best:

1. Time–not everyone has the time to do it all. But with a recipe like these super simple cupcakes, there is really no extra time needed. So you can have something even better than the cake mix but without spending loads of time.
2. Resources–perhaps you don’t have a mixer, or even a hand-held mixer. You should still get to have some fun too, right?
3. Patience–this one goes for those who have little ones. Sometimes they want the fun of making cupcakes but they also don’t have quite the attention span to do it from scratch. Or they may be super duper messy so only a few stirs are necessary in the help department.

After making my very first dump cake, aka the easiest cobbler like cake recipe you will ever make, I realized that there is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to baking from a box. There really are lots and lots of ways to take a basic boxed cake to a whole new level. The Blueberry Lemon Dump Cake I have on the blog is a prime example.

So I started my own form of research to find out how to up the cupcake game. I found several ingredients listed as things to add to a cake mix to make them taste even more like from scratch.

Easy Add ins to make your cake taste homemade:

• add sour cream
• toss in a pudding mix
• use milk instead of water
• add a couple egg yolks
• use melted butter instead of oil

Now, I guess I could have easily gone all out and tried every single one of these options, but I decided to test out a few shifts to the mix and see how it went.

Let’s just say these doctored up Easy Vanilla Cupcakes turned out very VERRRY well. And I mean, VERY.

So let’s talk a bit about cupcakes before we move on.

What makes an amazing cupcake?

I am sure this can change slightly from person to person but there are certainly a few things that stand out over all when it comes to getting your cupcakes just right.

1. First and foremost: INGREDIENTS! Using the best ingredients will surely help make the best tasting, highest quality cupcakes. Using ingredients that are fresh is a big deal for sure. You don’t need baking soda or powder in this recipe, but having one of these that is expired can make your baked goods not so lovely at all.
2. Making sure that you don’t over mix. Not really gonna get into the science of this, but over mixing basically lessons the amount of air bubbles and that sets off a not great domino effect that in turn messes up the density of your cake. You want to mix to incorporate, not mix for 10 minutes straight. Promise.
3. Temperature–things like eggs and butter should be at room temperature. I have also read that a lot of ovens are not 100% accurate and to use an oven thermometer if possible, but I am gonna be real here, I am not doing that one. Good on you if you do!
4. As for presentation, I find it important not to overfill the cupcake liners. This is what makes for lop-sided cupcakes that bake over the edge. No one wants that!
5. Finally, I am a big icing fan, so I think so much of the perfection of a cupcake is the best frosting to compliment the cake flavor. I also believe there should be a LOT of icing, but that is me. And if you are not a fan, I will just take all of your frosting please and thank you!

What you need to make this recipe:

For the cupcakes:

1. yellow boxed cake mix
2. eggs
3. sour cream
4. vanilla–I add it to give it even more vanilla flavor
5. vanilla instant pudding
6. milk
7. oil

For the chocolate buttercream frosting:

1. butter
2. powdered sugar
3. cocoa powder
4. vanilla
5. milk or cream

Feel free to add sprinkles or any other fun topping to make these a tad more fancy. Other than that, whip these easy vanilla cupcakes in no time and let everyone think you spent hours in the kitchen.

Oh, and check out this simple, creamy Chocolate Whipped Cream for another great cupcake topper!

Try these other baked good recipes:

• Gluten Free Blondies
• Blueberry Lemon Dump Cake
• Kahlua Cream Cheese Brownies
• Small Batch Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Rosemary Orange Almond Cookies
• Double Chocolate White Bean Brownies

DID YOU MAKE ONE OF MY RECIPES? LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW! I ALSO LOVE TO SEE YOUR LEMONS + ZEST RECIPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA–TAG ME @LEMONSANDZEST ON INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK!