Quick Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

We love to bake from scratch. It not only seems to always taste better, but there's just something about putting in the time and effort into creating something delicious out of basic ingredients. But there's only 24 hours in the day, and 60 minutes in every hour. And no matter how much more time we'd like before the day is over, we never get it - it's always the same... and it's never enough. So when the sweet tooth hits, there are just some days that we simply don't have the time to bake from scratch, even if it's preferred. The solution: We grab the yellow boxed cake mix. But it's not simply following the directions printed on the box... we gotta jazz it up a little. So with this "enhanced" cake mix, plus some quick homemade buttercream (which for the frosting, homemade is a must) you can't go wrong when you find yourself craving something sweet, and short on time. And if you do decide to share these with friends, when they ask for the recipe, we won't blame you if you tell them it's an "old secret family recipe". ;)

Before You Get Started Making Quick Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes

Measure/Weigh all of the ingredients

Take butter out of the refrigerator to come to room temp while making the cupcakes

Line your cupcake pan with the liners of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)

Quick Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes Ingredients And Amounts (Yields 24 cupcakes)

Quick Vanilla Cupcakes

1 box Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix

1 cup (242g) whole milk (instead of the water stated on the package)

1/3 cup (75g) vegetable oil

3 (150g) eggs - slightly beaten

1 tsp (4g) vanilla extract

2 tbsp (74g) mayonnaise

Quick Vanilla Buttercream

1 cup (227g) unsalted butter - softened at room temperature

3 cups (345g) powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)

1 tbsp (13g) vanilla extract

3 tbsp (45g) heavy cream

pinch of salt

Quick Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes Step-By-Step Directions

Quick Vanilla Cupcakes

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer), sift the dry ingredients (box of cake mix) into the bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, slightly beaten eggs, and vanilla.

4) With the mixer on low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

5) Add in the mayonnaise, and then turn mixer to medium-high speed for 2 minutes.

6) Fill liners about 2/3rds full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (avoid over-baking).

Quick Vanilla Buttercream

1) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer), add in the softened butter. With the mixer on medium-high, whip the butter for 3-4 minutes.

2) With mixer on low, add in the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

3) Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. After adding each cup into the mixer, mix on low speed until the powdered sugar is combined well. Once combined, turn the mixer up to medium-high and mix for 1 minute. Then, grab your next cup of powdered sugar and repeat until your 3rd cup is mixed in.

4) With the mixer on low, add in your heavy cream and mix well to combine. Turn your mixer up to medium-high and whip your frosting for 2-3 minutes.

5) Frost your cupcakes.

Quick Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes Sweet Notes

You can jazz up any kind of cake mix. Take the cake mix of your choice, switch out the water for milk, add 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, and 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Sift the cake mix to have a non-lumpy, tender crumb

If you're making mini cupcakes, bake them for about 6-7 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

We added 3 tbsp of heavy cream to our buttercream. You can either start with 2 tbsp and check the consistency, or just add a bit of powdered sugar if the frosting is too thin. Our consistency came out perfect and we used a piping tip to decorate our cupcakes

Quality vanilla extract makes a big difference in the flavor of the quick buttercream