These never-fail bakery-style gluten free vanilla cupcakes are incredibly moist and tender. They can even easily be made dairy free, too! And don't forget that creamy frosting — cupcakes like these are made for an incredible frosting.
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Why you'll love this gluten free cupcake recipe
I like a cupcake with a nice, flat top, so it’s easy to pile on a nice, fluffy frosting. You can see for yourself that this recipe for gluten free cupcakes is the perfect frosting delivery system.
My recipe for the very best gluten free vanilla cake is truly perfect in every possible way—and it does happen to make very nice cupcakes. But it requires some sifting and other fussiness in the method, and the cupcakes don’t bake up as flat.
These easy gluten free vanilla cupcakes effortlessly rise into a flat top, and they don’t require any sifting of the dry ingredients. And they're so light, fluffy, and moist, they really do taste like something you'd pick up at a fancy bakery.
They're also perfect for nearly any occasion. Birthday party? Game night? Wednesday night? Celebrate events big and small with cupcakes. You can even freeze these delicious little treats, so you can enjoy them later.
Gluten free vanilla cupcake ingredients
- Baking powder and baking soda – these ingredients help your cupcakes rise and give them that light, airy texture that's just perfect
- Salt – the ultimate flavor enhancer, salt really brings out the taste of the sugar and vanilla
- Butter – also helps with the texture and aroma of the cupcakes, but also adds richness and serves as a flavor delivery system
- Granulated sugar – these cupcakes are sweet thanks to the sugar, but this ingredient also works as a tenderizer
- Eggs – egg gives the cupcakes structure and contributes to the rise
- Vanilla extract – this is what gives the cupcakes that awesome flavor that reminds you of birthday cake
- Milk – use regular milk or buttermilk, though I find that buttermilk results in the most tender cupcakes with the crumb you want to press into the tines of a fork
Tips for making these gluten free cupcakes
Use room-temperature ingredients
Room-temperature ingredients just mix better, so pull out the cold ingredients about an hour before you're ready to bake. If you haven't planned ahead, try immersing your eggs in warm water for 10 minutes to increase their temperature gently, and chop up your butter so it warms faster at room temp.
Don't over-beat your cupcake batter
Mixing introduces air into your batter. This is fine because the air helps these cupcakes come out light and fluffy. But when you over-mix your batter or mix it using a high setting, you're going to introduce a lot of air — and during the baking process, it's going to develop big air pockets that form holes in your cupcakes.
Don't over-fill the wells of your muffin tin
Just be sure not to overfill the wells of the cupcake tin (2/3 of the way full is absolutely perfect). This prevents the dreaded cupcake explosion, where your cupcakes spill over the edges of the wells of the muffin tin.
An easy way to get uniformly sized cupcakes is to use a greased ice cream or muffin scoop. It ensure a perfect portion every time.
Don't over bake your cupcakes
Bake your cupcakes at no more than 325°F, and only until the tops spring back when pressed very lightly in the center. The toothpick test is not the best test for doneness here, and can easily lead to overbaking.
Let your cupcakes cool before frosting
If you're going to frost yours, you really do have to let them cool completely first. If you don't, your frosting will melt and make a sticky mess.
Properly measure your gluten free flour
When people tell me that they've had problems with gluten free baking, I can typically trace their problem back to the gf flour they're using. Sometimes, it's simply not appropriate for the recipe. But many other times, it's because they haven't used the right amount, despite using a measuring cup.
That's because a measuring cup isn't a reliable way to measure flour. I know what you're thinking: “how can that be?!” Let me explain.
Think about how you measure flour. If it's by sticking the measuring cup into the bag or storage container, you're already off to a bad start. When you do that, you pack the flour into the cup. This means you're going to end up with more than the recipe calls for.
Plus, dry measuring cups aren't standardized in size. Even if you spoon the flour into your measuring cup, your “cup” might be different from mine, even if we were both to measure perfectly right every time (which, of course, we can't).
The best way to measure gluten free flours is to use a kitchen scale. You'll notice that all my recipes also include ingredients in grams, so use that to ensure you're baking cupcakes precisely the way I have.
The best gluten free frosting for the best gluten free cupcakes
I've included a recipe for traditional vanilla buttercream frosting, and it's always a favorite. If you'd like something a little lighter, and a bit less expected, try our “Best” Vanilla Frosting. It's a cooked flour frosting that can be made in stages.
Instead of relying upon confectioners' sugar for the proper consistency, a cooked flour frosting has significantly less sugar than buttercream. And it's soft and velvety, but still stable at room temperature.
I haven't ever tried making it with dairy-free butter, I'm afraid. I bet it would work with butter-flavored Spectrum nonhydrogenated shortening, though.
How to store your gluten free cupcakes
Because these gluten free cupcakes don't contain preservatives, they won't last for weeks on your kitchen counter. I generally find that they're good for a couple of days before they start to go stale.
If you make more cupcakes than you can eat in that time frame, I suggest freezing them for longer-term storage.
Whatever you do, don't put them in the fridge. That just speeds up the drying process.
Freezing gluten free vanilla cupcakes
Once they're cool, unfrosted cupcakes freeze very well. Just wrap each of them individually in freezer-safe wrap and store them in a sealed container or zip top freezer bag. They'll stay fresh as frozen for up to 3 months.
Defrost at room temperature or speed them up by microwaving them for 20 seconds at low power. You can freeze them after they've been frosted, but whatever you do, don't microwave a frosted cupcake or the frosting will melt everywhere!
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
These cupcakes and buttercream can easily be made dairy free by using vegan butter (my favorite brands are Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen), or butter-flavored nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening in place of butter.
Any unsweetened nondairy milk works well in place of cow's milk. I like unsweetened almond milk because it has some fat and is less watery than some nondairy milks.
These cupcakes are more tender with buttermilk. If you're dairy free or don't have buttermilk, you can make a buttermilk replacement with half milk (dairy or nondairy) and half plain yogurt (dairy or nondairy) by volume.
Egg-free
It's a little tricky to replace the egg and egg white here than it would be if the recipe called only for whole eggs. I haven't tried it, but you can try replacing the egg and egg white with 1 1/2 chia eggs.
Be sure to use ground chia seeds, not whole seeds, though. And avoid flax eggs, particularly in a recipe as simple as this, as flax has a strong flavor.
Vegan
While it may be tricky to substitute the eggs in this simple gluten free cupcakes recipe, dairy is easy. And as the dairy and eggs are the only non-vegan ingredients, you can follow my substitution advice for each above to make vegan-friendly cupcakes. Just be sure your sugar isn't made with bone char, if you're a strict vegan.
FAQs
I recommend that you use a mixture of Better Batter and corn starch in the ratio provided in the recipe. Adding cornstarch lightens the gluten free flour to give it a consistency that's more like traditional cake flour. The flour blend you choose must be one of my recommended blends, or the recipe won't work.
No! Like a good chocolate cake, your cupcakes certainly shouldn’t have a strange aftertaste or a gritty mouthfeel. They should have a moist and tender crumb, just like you’d expect from a cupcake in a bakery. If you’ve had gluten free vanilla cupcakes in the past and found them to be “good, for gluten free,” you weren’t eating the right cupcake, made with the right recipe and ingredients.
A gritty mouthfeel is from an all purpose gluten free flour that contains a gritty rice flour. A strange aftertaste or mouthfeel likely means the flour wasn’t good quality and well-balanced.
A dry cupcake might be made with the wrong recipe, so the ingredients were poorly balanced. Or, again, the flour blend wasn’t good quality.
Yes, you can use vanilla bean paste instead, just note that it's going to have a stronger flavor than the vanilla extract. When substituting, include the same amount of paste as you would vanilla extract.
Yes — just adjust your baking time as mini cupcakes don't need as much. And testing for doneness is the same: Press lightly on the top of a cupcake. If it springs back up, the cupcakes are ready.
No, this recipe isn't quite right for making a cake. Instead, try my Classic Gluten Free Vanilla Cake recipe. The ingredient ratios are much better for baking in a larger pan.
These gf cupcakes will keep at room temperature for about two days, so if you're making them for a party or other event, I'd recommend making them only the day before.
If you need more time, go ahead and bake them, but then freeze them until needed. To defrost, just leave them on the counter for a couple of hours, covered with a dome so they don't dry out.
The most common reason that gluten free cupcakes sink is that your oven ran too hot, so the outside cooked before the center developed the proper structure to support it. So when the cupcakes cool, they cave in.
If your oven temperature is too low, your cupcakes will probably rise reliably, but won't rise very high. The only really reliable way to gauge oven temperature is with a standalone oven thermometer that you replace often. That's what I do!
Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe | Bakery-style
Equipment
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
Ingredients
For the vanilla cupcakes.
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I like Better Batter here)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- 2 tablespoons (18 g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 (50 g, weighed out of shell) egg at room temperature
- 1 (25 g) egg white at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (5 ⅓ fluid ounces) milk or buttermilk at room temperature
For vanilla buttercream frosting.
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar plus more as necessary
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Milk by the teaspoon as necessary
Instructions
For the cupcakes.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line 16 wells of standard muffin tins with cupcake liners or grease the wells, and set the tins aside.
- In a small bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, place the butter, sugar, egg, egg white and vanilla, and beat at medium-low speed to combine. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until it appears whipped (about 2 minutes).
- To the large bowl with the butter mixture, add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the milk or buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat lightly after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter should be light and fluffy.
- Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tin about 2/3 of the way full of the batter. Shake the tin back and forth to evenly distribute the batter in each of the wells.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cupcakes are very lightly golden brown and spring back when pressed lightly in the center (about 20 minutes). Don’t over bake.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for at least 5 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cupcake batter. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting and/or decorating.
For the frosting.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter. Beat on medium speed until creamy (about 30 seconds).
- Add the 1 cup (115 g) of confectioners’ sugar, the salt, vanilla, and 1 teaspoonful of milk, and beat on medium speed until well-combined (about 1 minute).
- Beat in more confectioners’ sugar until the consistency is thick but not stiff. Turn up the mixer speed to high and beat for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip. Pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes, or use two spoons to scoop a dollop onto each cupcake.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Lindsey says
This recipe is so delicious but I can’t seem to get the cupcakes to stop shrinking while cooling. They puff up while cooking above the pan and then shrink to like half the size they should be when cool. I’ve made the recipe exactly as written, including weighing the ingredients. I am using cup 4 cup brand flour. After reading the above info on the oven temp I tried making them again last night. I’ve never had trouble with oven temp before but I will say I usually cook most things 1-2 minutes less than called for. The first batch I cooked at 315 degrees, rotating the pan half way through. The second batch I cooked at 300 degrees, rotating the pan half way through. Same result. Little shriveled cupcakes 😅. Please help! Any feedback appreciated!
Nicole Hunn says
It sounds like your cupcakes are consistently underbaked, and I’m afraid that guessing at how hot your oven is running isn’t working, which is why you need a standalone oven thermometer to gauge oven temperature. With an oven temperature of 300°F, you won’t get any oven spring, which would also lead to problems with your rise. Are you making any ingredient substitutions? Swapping out the egg and egg white for another combination or an egg replacer? Beating the butter mixture until it’s whipped? That’s how you incorporate air into the batter to make it light and fluffy. You may also be overmeasuring your milk. In addition, doneness is never a strict factor of baking time as there are so many variables. The center of the cupcakes should spring back when pressed lightly in the center. If not, they’re not done baking. In addition, your oven temperature is dropping when you rotate the pan, so I wouldn’t recommend that. There are so many factors and we all have habits in the kitchen that we don’t realize can affect the outcome but do. I hope this has given you some ideas!
Lindsey says
Thank you for the quick reply. Most appreciated. The first time I used the recipe I cooked at 325 but they did the same thing so I thought I’d try the lower temp. I will have to get a thermometer and see what it is doing. I only rotated the pan because I saw that for this issue it can help with hot spots. I don’t normally do that. No substitution of ingredients. I did not weight the milk like I did the other ingredients but I will on the next batch. I feel like the butter is whipped well but I can let it go a little longer next time too. I will keep trying. I appreciate the feedback! When you bake yours does the batter rise at all above the cupcake liner? They look so perfect in the picture. Thanks!
Lindsey says
I was wondering if it was the cup4cup flour. I can get that at my local store and it is about $10 cheaper than the better batter. But I will buy the better batter if I need to. Thanks.
Fran Coughlin says
I have tried so many cup cake recipes but this one is fabulous, the trick definitely is not to over cook soft and fluffy
by far my favourite 💜 Fran
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes, Fran. There’s nothing like a soft and fluffy vanilla cupcake. My favorite!
Stephanie says
Loved this recipe!! Using it again for my son’s birthday party. I wasn’t able to find Better Batter but used King Arthur measure for measure. I think the trick was weighing the dry ingredients because it seems to be a denser flour than better batter, when I weighed it out 1.5cups would have been way too much but in grams it was perfect! Moist, not crumbly at all. My favorite is always when my husband asks “this is gluten free?” Thank you!
Heather says
I’ve never had cupcakes crumble apart the way these did. Also, the batch did not make 16 cupcakes. It made 14. I needed 16, and now I have to remake a whole different recipe because I have 14 crumbly cupcakes rather than 16 decent ones.
Nicole Hunn says
Heather, that sounds frustrating, and my first guess is that you used an inferior gluten free flour blend. Perhaps you also didn’t use any xanthan gum? Since you didn’t give any details about how you proceeded, I’m only able to guess. Please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page on the blog, which is linked in this recipe and every other that calls for that ingredient, for full information on appropriate blends, including calls outs of a few blends that are the worst. The flour blend is the most important part of the recipe, as we’re replacing wheat flour, and that’s why the text of the post references that ingredient again and again.
j iveson says
hi,
i just made your gluten free cupcakes using and im so dissappointed as theyve turned out awful..im trying to work out what ive done wrong.
i do bake quite a bit so felt confident theyd turn out well and the batter looked fantastic.
im in australia and used Yesyoucan gluten and dairy free plain flour which has xanthen gum added.
i added cornstarch as per the recipe.
the cupcakes did overflow so im guessing that i did overfill slightly also.
ill try again another day.
kind regards.
jayne
Nicole Hunn says
Jayne, frankly, I’m confused by a 2 star rating. As I discuss extensively on the blog, you can’t use just any gluten free flour blend and get the expected results. Please click the link in the recipe that is connected to the “all purpose gluten free flour blends” ingredient for full information on appropriate blends. And overfilling the wells is, of course, user error.
Sarah says
I’m little unsure if I’m understanding step 4 for the cupcakes correctly. The way it reads to me is that I’m supposed to divide the dry ingredients into three parts, then add part 1 and beat it in lightly, add half the milk/buttermilk and beat that in, add part 2 of the dry and beat it in, add the rest of the milk and beat it in, then finish with part 3 of the dry ingredients.
That’s how I understood the recipe and how I did it, but as I was in the middle of doing so, I was second guessing myself. I thought that maybe I was supposed to add half the dry (part 1), then add the milk (part 2), then add the rest of the dry ingredients (part 3).
The way I did it turned out great. I just thought I’d reach out for clarification, since I intend to make this again and want to make sure everything is right. Because if I did it wrong the first time but it just worked in spite of me, maybe I won’t get so lucky the second time.
These are lovely, and I intend to use them for my wedding.
Nicole Hunn says
You did everything fine, Sarah. Don’t worry and enjoy the cupcakes!
Kayla says
I’m so sad! I was so invested in making these for my friend who has Celiac, but I am in Canada and I can’t seem to get my hands on Better Batter flour without having to pay $100+ for 5Lbs of flour. But I also don’t know the cost of trying to make your Mock Better Batter.
Nicole Hunn says
Kayla please follow the link to the all purpose gluten free flour blends page that is linked in this and every recipe that calls for one. You’ll find information on how to blend your own “mock” Better Batter.
Nina says
Hi, how can I make these sugar-free using monkfruit sweetener?
Nicole Hunn says
I’ve never tried this recipe with an alternative sweetener, Nina, but they do tend to be drying so the cupcakes will need more moisture. You’d have to experiment.
Gwen says
My cupcakes tasted like cornbread?? But they were very fluffy and delicious just don’t a sweet cupcake. Any suggestions?
Nicole Hunn says
That’s your flour blend, Gwen. It’s not one of my recommended brands.
Daisy says
I want to make a Donauwelle cake. How do you think this recipe would do with adding some cocoa and a little milk to half of it to make the swirls? I also think the cherries might add a little extra liquid, would you adjust for that or just dry them off as much as possible? Thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid I would not recommend using this recipe in that way, no. You can’t make vanilla batter into a chocolate swirl that simply. You’d really need a recipe for just that. Sorry!
Cora Hordes says
Amazing recipe!! I had to make some cupcakes for Church so I thought to make some GF ones and these were a hit! One little kid said they were the best, and you know what that means when a kid says that!
Nicole Hunn says
Indeed I do know how hard it is to get that sort of positive response from a kid. No filter! So glad you loved them (as did that child!)
Taylor Leigh-Jones says
I made these today, they came out perfectly. Incredibly moist, risen and delicious. I used butter milk in the batter and a white chocolate butter cream and it complimented them perfectly. They are not dry and are very pretty without the wrapper on. I found hitting them on the bench and shaking them to make a world of difference :)
Perfect texture to pipe some ganache in the middle also. Yum!
Vanessa says
Just a heads up to anyone baking at high altitude: you will need to modify this one or they will over rise and sink in the middle. I have made this recipe several times in the past with great results at 2-3000 feet but I am newer to high altitude baking (at 6000 ft now). With gluten free I have been trying recipes as written first because they don’t always need modification. When I make these next I will try reducing leavening 20-25%. I’m always afraid to increase baking temperatures for fear of drying out gluten free items.
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, you always need to make adjustments for high altitude baking, Vanessa. Gluten free baking is no exception. Unfortunately I can’t recreate that condition, so I can’t test any of my recipes at altitude. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Andrea Rincon Jensen says
Just made these today and they were sooooo good!
I take my baking seriously and am always grateful for thorough comments, so this will be a little long.
First time that I made these they rose beautifully, then overflowed, browned and completely caved in in the oven, but the flavor was so good I wanted to try again. First time I used measuring cups, overfilled the liners, and I’m pretty sure I over-mixed the batter because the batter felt a little gummy and sticky before baking.
Second time I made sure to not overfill the cupcakes (I ended up with 18). I weighed my ingredients and made sure to turn off the mixer between adding the flour and milk. They still browned and caved a little, but they stayed risen enough to be able to cut off the sunken part and still have a beautiful fluffy cupcake. The texture was soooooo good. And the flavor was beautiful.
I used the Cup4Cup flour and you could barely tell they were gluten free. I mixed in chopped fresh strawberries to half of the batter as an experiment and Wow! Delicious. I topped these with a passion fruit curd, passion fruit whipped cream and more fresh strawberries. Super good, definitely will use this recipe again. Thank you for it!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Adding more moisture to the cupcakes by adding fruit will definitely make them overflow (and also take up more space). And since these are cupcakes, not muffins, they don’t rise into a larger dome, which is why the instructions say to fill the wells 2/3 of the way full. When baked goods rise and then fall when they cool, it’s usually because of a too-hot oven (too much moisture can also contribute), which is why I always recommend an oven thermometer as most ovens run hot and drift out of calibration easily.
Lauren says
These were delicious and easy. I used one cup Pillsbury gluten free flour and a half cup almond flour. I still need to work on my buttercream frosting to get the right texture, but it tasted great. Thanks for this recipe!
Leah says
Hi there! I am looking forward to trying this recipe and it will be my first time using the recommended flour blend, “Better Batter”. Since that flour does contain xantham gum should I omit the xantham gum that is mentioned in the recipe?
Thank you!
Nicole Hunn says
Correct, as the recipe states to omit the xanthan gum if your blend includes it, you’ll omit it when using Better Batter’s classic blend.
Leah says
Thank you! I made them for a party this afternoon and they were amazing. I added a homemade strawberry jam filling and topped them with your buttercream recipe for a “strawberry and cream” cupcake…Wow! Also, thank you for all of the notes. I have been GF for 14 years and understanding the “why” behind a method helps me so much.