Mini Cupcakes
Mini Cupcakes are the perfect easy treat to make for any holiday, event, party or celebration and take just 15 minutes to make! These vanilla mini cupcakes are moist, light, tender and delicious — plus you can dye the batter or the buttercream different colors to match your occasion.
Cupcakes are the perfect bite-sized treat. Make more of my delicious cupcake recipes like Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes, German Chocolate Cupcakes or my citrusy Lemon Cupcakes!
Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect mini cupcakes. These delicate mini cupcakes are light, moist, tender and delicious! The perfect combination. It’s a classic cupcakes recipe that always wins.
- Easily customizable. Turn these mini cupcakes into the perfect gender reveal dessert by dying them pink or blue! The options don’t end there. You can dye the cupcake batter and/or the frosting any color for any holiday or special occasion.
- Moist mini vanilla cupcakes. I used melted butter and vegetable oil in this cupcake recipe to provide the most amazingly moist texture. Plus, using a full egg instead of just egg whites will help give extra texture and flavor to this vanilla mini cupcakes recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour: Cake flour has less protein than other flours and is finely milled. This provides the cake a lighter and more delicate texture than you’d get with all purpose flour.
- Egg: We’re using the full egg instead of using just egg white because the yolk will add extra fat to the cupcakes, making them richer, and it will provide good stability for the cake structure. Make sure the egg is at room temperature to get the best results.
- Vegetable Oil: Using vegetable oil AND melted butter will give us the perfect moistness to the mini cupcakes while also providing that buttery flavor.
- Sour Cream: The sour cream will add some extra fat to help the cupcakes be nice and moist.
- Melted Butter: Since we are using melted butter, we need to make sure the wet ingredients are room temperature or else the cold will prematurely solidify the butter.
- Powdered Sugar: Sift the powdered sugar for the best and smoothest buttercream to top these bite-sized cupcakes.
- Vanilla Extract: The vanilla extract in the cake and in the frosting will provide a rich and delicious vanilla flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. To a medium bowl, add 3/4 cup cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Mix to combine.
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large liquid measuring cup or a medium bowl, add 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted), 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 up vegetable oil, and 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix until well combined.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Pour the wet ingredients mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and no flour streaks remain. Do not over mix.
- Bake the mini cupcakes. Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners. Fill each liner 3/4 full with the cupcake batter. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cupcake springs back when you lightly press on the center of the cupcake. Remove the mini muffin tin from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 before removing them from the pan to let them cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the buttercream frosting. To make the vanilla buttercream, add 12 tablespoons softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat for 4 minutes on medium high until light in color and texture. Add 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tablespoons heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Beat on medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula halfway through. Add more heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
- Frost the mini cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Place the vanilla frosting in a piping back with a decorated piping tip. Frost each of the little cupcakes with frosting and decorate with sprinkles. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the correct temperature. Don’t always trust the number on the oven!
Add a few drops of food coloring to the cupcake batter and to the vanilla buttercream to make this mini cupcakes recipe suitable for any special occasion.
Create your own assortment of colors for bridal showers, baby showers (dye them blue or pink!), graduation parties, wedding receptions, and more!
You can also serve them for game day parties and dye the cupcakes the colors of your favorite team. Or you can dye them holiday colors for the Valentine’’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and more!
Frosting Recipes
Use any one of my frosting recipes instead of the vanilla buttercream to mix the cupcake flavors up.
- Peanut Butter Frosting
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Whipped Cream Frosting (a less sweet option)
- Buttercream Frosting for Cookies
- Oreo Frosting
- Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting (a lighter, less sweet cream cheese frosting)
- Biscoff Buttercream
- Brown Butter Buttercream
- Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
A favorite variation of mine is to drizzle a lemon juice simple syrup onto the cooled cupcakes then top with some lemon buttercream (with lemon zest of course!) for the most delicious mini lemon cupcakes!
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
You can make the frosting ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for p to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove and let come to room temperature. Then beat until light and fluffy again.
Store the delicious mini cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days for best results.
To freeze frosted mini cupcakes, flash freeze for 10-15 minutes or until hard. Then transfer to an airtight container or ziplock bag (wrap in plastic wrap then put in the bag for best results). Freeze for up to 2 months.
Remove the freezer bag from the freezer and let the classic vanilla cupcakes thaw.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. It will usually always be less time in the oven for mini cupcakes due to them being so small! But all cupcake recipes vary depending on the cupcake so just be sure to check the recipe.
These vanilla mini cupcakes are baked at 350ºF.
How big are mini cupcakes? They are about 1/3 the size of a regular-sized cupcake.
Technically, no. You can spray the mini muffin pan with cooking spray that contains flour. I like using the mini cupcake liners because it makes it easier to remove the cupcakes from the pan AND they look much more presentable.
These cupcakes are pretty small, so I don’t think there would be enough cupcake to core and then fill with filling.
More Cupcake Recipes
Mini Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter - melted
- 1 large egg - room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sour cream - or plain Greek yogurt
Vanilla Buttercream
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream - more or less as needed, to help get your desired consistency
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners, set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar.
- In a large liquid measuring cup whisk the butter, egg, vanilla, vegetable oil, and sour cream. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Fill the cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 10-12 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when you press on the center of the cupcake and it springs back.
- Remove from the oven and let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- Place butter in a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Mix for 4 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, pinch of salt and heavy cream and mix on medium speed for 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Add more heavy cream, if needed, to get your desired consistency.
- Place frosting in piping bag and frost cupcakes as desired.
Recipe adapted from Baran Bakery.
Welcome to this delicious corner of the internet! Here I share the recipes my family loves.
