Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes

Yesterday was National Vanilla Cupcake Day…. omgoodness how did I not know this day existed before now?  Alas, I didn’t have time yesterday to make any cupcakes, but I do have an amazing recipe to share with you.  It starts with….drumroll please…. boxed cake mix.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Boxed cake mix.  Hands down, it is the tastiest and most moist and soft cupcake I’ve ever made, and yet it holds up very well to buttercream frosting.

I know you may not be too crazy about boxed cake mix, but let me assure you… no one will know.  I’ve made these countless times and have been told over and over again that they taste better than cupcakes from a professional bakery!

Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

Not Your Average Vanilla Cupcakes

4.29 from 7 votes

Author: The Chunky Chef

Servings: 24 -30 cupcakes

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There's not much I can say, other than you just have to try these!

Ingredients

• ▢ 18-19 oz box of white cake mix
• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup white sugar
• ▢ 3/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 1/3 cups water
• ▢ 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream
• ▢ 4 egg whites
• ▢ VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 cup butter room temperature
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans.
• In a large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add
• all remaining ingredients and beat with mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.
• Use ice cream scoop (or spoon that has been sprayed with cooking spray) to fill prepared
• cupcake tins- fill about 3/4 full.
• Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
• In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed.
• Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
• Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding
• more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.
• Scoop into a piping bag and pipe decoratively onto cupcakes, or spread onto cupcakes as desired.

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Chef Tips

** A lot of companies have downsized their cake mix boxes (grrrrrr), so you can make it with a slightly smaller mix, or get 2 boxes and add in a little from the second box to make it the stated size. I added a little extra, but I think overall, you'd be just fine if you wanted to use a slightly smaller box.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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