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–+ servings

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

Light, airy mini cupcakes with a lovely vanilla flavor. Perfect for buttercream piping or chocolate fudge frosting!
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Servings: 48 mini cupcakes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1-3/4 cup Cake flour, spooned and leveled (207 grams)
  • 3/4 tsp Baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature I used Land O'Lakes Extra Creamy
  • 1 cup Granulated sugar (200 grams)
  • 3 large Egg whites at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup Sour cream (full fat) at room temperature
  • 2 tsp Vanilla extract
  • Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean pod Optional but highly recommend!
  • 1/2 cup Whole milk

Equipment

  • 2 Mini muffin pans I love my Nordicware "petite muffin pans"!

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two, 24-cup mini muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg whites, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds (if using) and beat on high speed until smooth and well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream and beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients, and then slowly pour in the milk and beat just until combined. Do not over-mix. You may need to whisk it by hand a few times to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick. Pour/spoon the batter into the liners—fill only 2/3 full to avoid spilling over the sides.
  4. Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (For my oven, this was 13 minutes.) Cool the cupcakes in the pan set on a cooling rack for 20 minutes, then remove them from the pan and return to the rack to cool completely before frosting.
  5. Frost cooled cupcakes with your favorite buttercream frosting!

Notes

I find the easiest way to pour the batter into the mini cupcake pan is to use a piping bag. No piping tip needed! Just fill the bag with some of the cupcake batter, snip the end off, and pipe the batter into the pan. 
I have the best luck piping flowers using American buttercream. Use the best butter you can afford! I am partial to Land O'Lakes butter for all my baking.
If you don't have 2 mini muffin pans, that's totally okay. Just use what you've got!
Recipe source: Sally's Baking Addiction

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