The nostalgic yellow cake flavor in cupcake form. If using a darker muffin tin, keep an eye on the edges—those pans encourage more browning, and you might end up removing these from the oven a few minutes earlier. Get the recipe for vanilla cream cheese frosting here. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 24 Servings
Ingredients
3⅓
2
1
1
½
1
1
2
7
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 400°. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Step 2
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add butter, buttermilk, and oil and beat on medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until smooth.
Step 3
Whisk egg yolks, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add egg mixture to flour mixture in 2 additions, beating well between additions. Continue to beat on medium speed until mixture is homogenous and very thick, about 2 minutes.
Step 4
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling two-thirds full (a level ⅓ cup batter per cupcake). Bake 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°. Continue baking, rotating pans halfway through, until cupcakes have domed and spring back when touched in the center, 20–25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
Step 5
Do Ahead: Cupcakes can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
Leave a Review
Reviews (7)
Back to TopTop tips: (1) be very mindful of the time! I only baked my cupcakes for 15 min at 350 and they were done (I used a darker muffin tin). (2) do less than 1/3 c of batter per cupcake (I got perfect cupcakes with a slight dome when it was abt 2/3 of a 1/3 c). Other than that perfectly moist, buttery, and delicious.
Anonymous
Madison, WI
3/29/2023
These probably would have turned out near perfect had I not overbaked them. My oven bakes very evenly so swapping them up or down in the oven halfway through baking is probably unnecessary. My cupcakes were very tasty! But VERY dry and crumbly. Once I moved the cupcakes I couldn't see them as well so I didn't see how toasty they were getting. They seem like there is a very fine line between under and overbaked regardless, but next time I make them I will just try to bake them on the middle rack so the top doesn't get so dark.
Anonymous
Seattle, WA
4/4/2021
I didn't have good luck with this recipe. I had to sub AP flour because of Covid-related shortages, so I expected they would not come out perfectly. However, my cupcakes were incredibly dry and tasted more like a corn muffin than a cake. If I tried this recipe again I would try to track down cake flour and probably use the beater attachment v. the recommended whisk attachment.
Anonymous
Brooklyn
5/20/2020
For all those wondering, I used all-purpose flour and these still came out fluffy and delicious! I matched them with the suggested cream cheese frosting topped with some rainbow sprinkles. 👌🏽!! The texture isn't your boxed mix standard, it's sooo much better. Imagine a crunchy exterior casing an angel-sponge interior. Delicious 😋 Here are a few things I noticed: 1. This makes more than 24 cupcakes. I divided the batter evenly into a standard cupcake tin and the cakes got extremely large, overflowing over the edges of the paper liners. Not a huge issue (they tasted delicious!), but I'd fill the tin with slightly less batter for a more traditional cupcake appearance. 2. Love how this recipe makes for a delicious crispy exterior, but 5 minutes at 400° was a little too much for my cupcakes and they seemed slightly burnt. I tried again at 3-4 mins and they crisped nicely 🙂. For all my high altitude people: I decreased the baking soda + powder slightly and they rose beautifully with a domed top. I also added a little more oil than was called for because the first batch was slightly dry (I live in SLC which can get dry!) Overall, a delicious and easy recipe that I'll use time and time again!
Gemma Grover
Salt Lake City
1/20/2020
Would replacing the cake flour to A.P flour make a major difference in the cupcakes?
Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
8/28/2019
This batch came out amazing--so light and delicate in the middle (thank you cake flour!) with a taste that is akin to a pound cake. Yeah, airy pound cake is a good comparison. It doesn't have the same flavor as a box yellow cake, but that is 100% okay because if I want that flavor, I can just get a box mix. They're definitely addictive!
MissMystra
Austin, TX
10/9/2018