Are you looking for the perfect yellow cupcake recipe that yields moist, delicious, and easy to frost cupcakes? This.is.it!
My youngest turns four this week, and I can’t help but wonder, where did the time go? How did it pass so fast? When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted to frost cupcakes with his siblings. So, today I invite you to check out this easy video where my “baby” and I make yellow cupcakes together.
For today’s recipe, I’ve partnered with Bob’s Red Mill to make these cupcakes from my cookbook, The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet. In this video, I answered the most frequently asked questions regarding which flour to use when baking to yield fluffy and soft cakes and cupcakes.
I’m a big fan of Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-Free Baking Flour when I want to make a recipe that can accommodate my other son’s gluten-free needs. I love that they have a dedicated 100% gluten-free facility, so it’s one brand that I often recommend my readers use. Plus, their baking flour makes amazing cupcakes, cakes, pancakes, waffles, and cookies, for example.
When baking with regular flour, I typically use their all-purpose flour for moist baked goods. I know some of you want to make recipes with whole-wheat flour, so for baking, you want to look for “whole-wheat pastry flour” on the label. The “pastry” means that it comes from white whole-wheat and when milled it’s a much finer and softer flour than regular whole-wheat flour. Regular whole-wheat flour comes from red whole-wheat kernels and will yield dense baked goods (especially cakes).
I am often asked by my readers how do I adapt my “original” recipes to suit my gluten-free needs (both my middle son and I don’t eat gluten). My answer is always the same: find a great all-purpose gluten-free flour and stick to that one brand. The more you use it, the more you’ll become familiar with any modifications you might need to make in your recipes.
So these cupcakes. They are the perfect yellow cupcake recipe. I prefer the rich, buttery taste in my baked cakes and cupcakes rather than oil. With this recipe, you’ll never have to buy boxed yellow cake again. I modified this recipe so it would come together in a single bowl, as opposed to a two bowl wonder. The fewer dirty dishes in the sink, the better.
Of course, my kids love to frost anything, and since I’m a recipe purist at heart, I chose an easy buttercream frosting for the recipe.
Whether you are celebrating a birthday or baking delicious cupcakes for your family and friends, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my children have.
What’s your favorite thing to bake?
PrintPerfectly Birthday Yellow Cupcakes
I love this recipe because it uses ingredients readily available in your pantry and comes together quicker than you can go to the store to purchase a box of cake mix! This recipe is from Laura Fuentes’ book, The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet.
- Yield: 12
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour, sifted
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons (25 ml) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Line standard cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In the bowl of your standing mixer, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter, Greek yogurt, eggs, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber a spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
- Divide thick batter evenly among cups (about ⅔ full) of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool down for five minutes before removing them from the pan and transferring to a wire rack. Cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.
Notes
Kitchen Note
The batter will be thick, so I found that the easiest way to scoop into liners is by using an ice cream scoop.
Make these gluten-free by using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. They come out wonderfully!
Simple Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk sugar and butter, on low speed 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.
Lisette
Do you use whole milk, 2% or non fat Greek yogurt?
Laura Fuentes
I usually buy 2% Greek yogurt. Enjoy!
vanessa
Hello, could I use oil instead of butter?
Laura Fuentes
you could, would change the flavor a bit. Enjoy!
Lori McGinley
I love making “dump” cake. It uses pineapple, pie filling and a butter-yellow cake mix. I am looking forward to trying a more healthy version with Bob’s!
Jen
Laura, I’m hoping to use this delicious sounding recipe to make my son’s birthday cake. Could I make this into a cake instead of cupcakes? Would I just increase the cooking time a bit? Thanks for any help you can provide!
★★★★★
Laura Fuentes
Hi Jen! Yes, you can make this into two 9″ rounds. Same baking temperature, about 27-ish minutes, until it’s golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Kelli
I love to bake anything pumpkin, muffins, brownies, bread. You name it!
Christine aka happyvballgirl
Your cupcakes are gorgeous! Hmmmm, what would I bake? I’ve been in the mood for some of your yummy blueberry muffins. Those and these cupcakes, of course! 🙂
Mari
Bobs red mill really is the best. We like their gluten free flour. But recently we’ve been grain free and their baking soda and arrowroot powder and tapioca starch are all key to making anything decent. Paleo Mexican chocolate cake beats any gluten filled concoction hands down!!!
Becky
There are lots of things I enjoy baking, but by sheer volume what I make the most are whole grain mini muffins for my kids’ (mostly my kids’) snacks. The ones I make most often are pumpkin spelt (Bob’s Red Mill) with chocolate chips, and cinnamon raisin. They also like peanut/soy nut butter banana muffins, but we go through bananas really fast and don’t often have the overripe ones we need to make them.
Ingrid
I love baking cookies, maybe because the dough is so good to eat as I’m baking! I’ve sometimes eaten so much dough by the time the cookies are done that I don’t want any!
Gina
I LOVE baking.. Anything. 🙂 But especially cookies, muffins, cakes, and brownies. Basically anything sweet! My husband enjoys baking as well, so we bake together most of the time, which is a lot of fun for us. We love trying new recipes, and sharing our favorites with our family and friends. Over the last few years I’ve developed some food sensitivities, gluten being one of them. Since having to be gluten free Bob’s Red Mill Flours have helped make my transition to gluten free much easier and definitely more tasty then I thought possible. I especially love his buckwheat, sorghum, and almond flours. A heartfelt thank you to you Laura for also helping me on my food journey over the last couple of years. Your recipes and advice have really blessed our home. Many blessings to you.
Lisa
Banana bread, pumpkin muffins, and blueberry muffins, all from scratch, are my favorites to bake. I believe that is mostly because of how they make the house smell while cooking them! I will try Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten-free baking mix next time, as I actually just saw it yesterday at new local WM market. I just feel better eating gluten-free. Thanks for the post & the fun cupcake mix recipes.
Dinah
I love baking brownies — my mom’s recipe!
Kelly
I love baking pumpkin cake, homemade cinnamon rolls, and chocolate chip cookies! I love Bob’s Red Mill Flours! So glad they make gluten free flours!
Tanya W
I love baking oatmeal muffins and chocolate chip cookies 🙂 My daughter is wheat sensitive so I often use Bob’s Red Mill Spelt flour for her baking. Can’t wait to try these cupcakes!