Classic to Creative: Vanilla Cupcake Recipes and Decorating Ideas

Basic Yellow Cupcakes are an essential bake sale item. Here's an easy recipe to keep on hand.

Recipe: Yellow Cupcakes

These vanilla-infused cupcakes are made with applesauce as a fat-replacer for the butter that's traditionally part of vanilla cake batter. Thickened evaporated milk works as a great base for the rich and creamy chocolate frosting. Dark chocolate lovers, be sure to use bittersweet chocolate.

Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

This cupcake recipe is the only one you'll ever need. It's simple and adaptable — to change it to chocolate, just add a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, increase the water by half a cup and omit the eggs.

Recipe: Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

Stir up one batter three ways, then add on buttery icing, plus cute flourishes, for head-of-the-class results.

Recipe: Cupcakes Three Ways

Top cupcakes with cheery sunflowers by piping yellow-tinted frosting into petal shapes. Use fudge ice cream topping for the center of each flower.

Recipe: Sunflower Cupcakes

Classic vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla frosting can still be exciting — try using easy, kid-friendly decorations like store-bought jellies and other candies to create brightly-colored butterflies (as pictured here) or other fun toppers.

Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes

Our berry pie cupcakes are as easy as...pie! The blueberry and cherry filling is blue or red candies, and the frosting is tinted to look like a lattice crust. At your next bake sale, cover the table with these mini pastries, and we promise you will sell out!

Recipe: Bake-Sale Pie Cupcakes

A rainbow of colored sprinkles and tinted vanilla frosting makes these basic birthday cupcakes feel fun and fresh.

Recipe: Happy Birthday Cupcakes

Moms love mums. We cut mini marshmallows on the diagonal and dipped the sticky side in colored sugar to make dozens of pink, yellow, purple, blue, and orange petals. Your mums will leave Mom speechless.

Recipe: Mum's the Word Cupcakes

These adorable baseball-style cupcakes with red licorice laces are sure to be a hit with kids and adults — and you'll be spared the task of slicing equitable pieces of cake for a crowd of waiting guests.

Recipe: Grand Slam Cupcakes

With more chocolate chips to the ounce than your standard cookie, this cupcake delivers chocolate-and-vanilla goodness in every bite.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting

These cheery little cupcakes come courtesy of Amy Berman from Vanilla Bake Shop. Vanilla bean buttercream and Meyer lemon curd await beneath the crowning ripe raspberry.

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes