These Red Velvet Cupcakes are soft, light, moist, and topped with an easy cream cheese frosting. Perfect for any occasion!
One of the most requested recipes I’ve had in the last couple of months has been for red velvet cupcakes. I love red velvet but it’s such a unique flavor and can be a little hard to get just right.
I spent a while testing different variations when it came to these cupcakes, from using just butter to just oil and also a combination of the two. I think it’s safe to say that more cupcakes went through my kitchen than I care to admit, but I finally landed on the perfect recipe.
These cupcakes are buttery, moist, soft, and taste just like a classic red velvet cupcake. I topped these cupcakes with a simple cream cheese frosting, but I’ve included some notes for a couple other options you can try too!
How To Make Red Velvet Cupcakes
You’ll start by whisking together the dry ingredients:
- Cake flour: Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps create a lighter and softer cake. If you don’t have any cake flour on hand, I’ve included a note in the recipe for how to make your own. I do find that actual cake flour works best to create a soft cupcake, my favorite brand is Pillsbury Softasilk.
- Cocoa Powder: You’ll only be using 2 tablespoons of unsweetened natural cocoa powder in this recipe. It provides a little chocolate flavor, but it’s not too overpowering.
- Baking Soda + Salt: To help the cupcakes rise and for flavor!
Then you’ll mix up your wet ingredients:
- Butter + Sugar: I use unsalted butter and granulated sugar in this recipe. It’s important to cream together the butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes. This will incorporate more air into your cake batter and create a lighter cupcake.
- Egg + Vanilla Extract: You’ll be using one large egg and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extra. A room temperature egg is best, so just be sure to set it out ahead of time with your other ingredients.
- Distilled White Vinegar + Red Food Coloring: A little vinegar helps the cupcakes rise and enhances the color of the red cupcakes. I used liquid food coloring for these cupcakes.
- Oil: Wait, what?! I found that the cupcakes made with just butter were too dry and the cupcakes made with just oil were a little bland. The solution? I used a combination of butter and oil to give the cupcakes a buttery taste and keep them moist (just like my lemon blueberry bundt cake!).
- Buttermilk: It’s best to set the buttermilk out ahead of time to come to room temperature. Instead of mixing all of the buttermilk directly in with the rest of the wet ingredients, you’ll alternate mixing it in with the dry ingredients.
Once you’ve mixed up the cupcake batter, you’ll divide it evenly between 16 cupcake liners in muffin pans and bake them. Make sure you don’t overfill the cupcake liners, otherwise the cupcakes will overflow. I only fill my liners about halfway full, it won’t seem like much but the batter rises quite a bit in the oven.
I used my homemade cream cheese frosting for this recipe because it pairs perfectly with red velvet. If you’re looking for a different kind of frosting, my homemade vanilla buttercream or even chocolate buttercream would be delicious on these cupcakes too.
For the frosting, I used my Wilton 1M piping tip. I absolutely LOVE that piping tip and use it all of the time. You can use it to frost a tall swirl (like in these pictures) or make a simple rose design. I have a full tutorial for how to frost cupcakes here, super easy too!
Baking Tips For Red Velvet Cupcakes
- When measuring your cake flour, avoid scooping it from the container with your measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Once you’ve whisked together the dry ingredients, I suggest sifting them. This will ensure that there are no lumps of cocoa powder in your cupcakes.
- Only fill your cupcake liners about halfway full. It won’t seem like much, but the batter will rise quite a bit as the cupcakes bake in the oven.
- You should be able to get about 16-17 cupcakes with this recipe. You can crumble up one of the extra cupcakes and sprinkle it on top of the frosting for a little extra decoration!
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the red velvet cupcakes:
- 1 and 1/3 cups (145 grams) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) oil canola or vegetable work well
- 1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk room temperature
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 (8-ounce) package brick-style cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the red velvet cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two standard 12-count muffin pans with 16 cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Then sift the dry ingredients to remove any lumps of cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Add the egg and mix until fully combined, then mix in the oil, red food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix each addition until just combined and be careful not to over mix the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter between all 16 cupcake liners in the prepared muffin pans, only filling each one about halfway full.
- Bake in separate batches at 350°F (177°C) for 15-18 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cream cheese frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds-1 minute until well combined and smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the frosting on top.
Doing a lot of baking with my teenage daughters and these turned out great! We really appreciated the substitutions since we can’t go to store easily to buy things.
Be well!
So happy to hear that, Darcy!
I’m going to try to turn this into blue velvet for my son who will be 9….and possibly still on stay-at-home at the end of May. I love all of your recipes!
Thank you, Christa! Hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
“Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix each addition until just combined and be careful not to over mix the batter.” Hello im sorry but i dont get this can you explain this alittle more to me in simpler words and proper guidance so i can be able to do it! Im new at baking and i dont wanna mess this up its my first time help me please ❤
Hi, Hannah! It simply means to mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the last 1/2 of the buttermilk, then the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. You also want to mix in each one until just combined.
To make buttermilk is it 2 teaspoons of lemon juice added to 2/3 cup of milk ??
Yes, you’ll want to let it sit for a few minutes to curdle too.
A questiom actually we ear a little sweet cakes so are these cupcakes sweet enough or should i add more sugar? If adding more sugar than how much?
I think they’re sweet enough, I wouldn’t add more sugar to them.
Beginning to make now but it looks that 1 cup of cake flour weighs 145g and the 1 tablespoon of coco weighs 10g. I usually bake by weight but recipe does not match up. What should I do?
Did you make sure to spoon and level the flour? If you scoop it from the container, you can end up with a lot more. I always recommend going by weight measurements.
These tasted amazing! The only thing was that the cupcake stuck to the wrapper, and I was wondering what I could do to prevent that for next time?
Hi, Lauren! The cupcakes shouldn’t be sticking. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe and did you let the cupcakes cool completely? Another good option would be parchment paper liners, they work really well!
Hi Danielle, I would like to use this recipe for mini cupcakes. How long should I bake them for?
I would guess 10-14 minutes for mini cupcakes.
This was so easy to follow! My oven is like the devil, it gets too hot so I adjusted the amount of baking time. The cupcakes are perfectly moist. The cupcake and frosting both have the perfect amount of sweetness! Not too sweet at all!
Hi, is there any substitute for vanilla extract, honey perhaps?
Honey or maple syrup would probably be okay.
Hi danielle,
The cupackes look delicious, i have a couple of questions
1) is white vinegar the regular vinegar we use?
2) If i just want to make 8 cupcakes instead of 16, should i half all the ingredients?
Regards
Kunal
It should say distilled white vinegar on the bottle, you can use apple cider vinegar or something similar if you can’t find any. If you want to make just 8 cupcakes, you can cut all of the ingredients in half.
Hi Danielle,
Hope you are doing well in these difficult times.
Just wondering how long I can keep the batter before I bake the cupcakes? Just because I don’t have 2 cupcake trays.
Thank you in advance!
Hi, Joyce! You can just wait and bake the last few once your pan has cooled slightly. I just wouldn’t let it sit for a long time otherwise the last few cupcakes may not rise quite as well.
Hi! How many calories per cupcake? 🙂 great recipe btw!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
I made this recipe for my daughter’s birthday. We usually buy red velvet cupcakes at a gourmet cupcake shot in Nashville. These cupcakes were absolutely just as good if not better! So moist and light! Will definitely make again.
Hi Danielle – Thanks for the recipe; looks so inviting! I only have a 9 inch pan and 6 count jumbo muffin pan. Which one would you recommend I use for this recipe for it to come out correctly without altering the ingredients measurements?
Either one would be fine! The 9-inch pan may be a bit easier though.
The “cream cheese” frosting turned out awful, way too runny. I believe not enough cream cheese. Last time I made red velvet cupcakes I must have used a different recipe because these turned out quite bad compared to others I’ve made. I followed the recipe almost exactly, just added a pinch of cinnamon. They turned out very dense and quite bland. I wouldn’t recommend this recipe
Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out well for you, Laura. Did you happen to use cream cheese spread in a tub? If so, it has ingredients added to it to thin out out and make it spreadable but it will make the frosting runny. I recommend using blocks/bricks of cream cheese to avoid that problem. Also, the cupcakes shouldn’t be dense they should be really light and fluffy. Did you make sure to use cake flour and spoon & level the flour too?
Hi Danielle!
Do you think it would be ok to make these cupcakes a day ahead and just frost on the day of a birthday? I want to save some time on the day of. Thanks!
Yes, that would be fine! You can store the cupcakes without the frosting in an airtight container at room temperature.
Hi Danielle
I am tempted to try the red velvet cupcakes however in grams how much cream cheese do I use?
It’s 226 grams.
Your cupcakes looks awesome!I would like to ask if I can use the same ratio to bake a 8 inch cake?
Yes, that should be fine!
Hi Danielle. Is the temperature for the oven, fan forced? If it is, can i bake without the fan on too?
Thanks
The temperature is without the fan, if you use convection you can just reduce the oven temperature 25°F.
I have tried so many red velvet cupcake recipes trying to find one that actually delivered on it’s promise to be light, buttery, moist and a little bit chocolate-y. I had almost given up and then I tried yours. THANK YOU!! These truly are the best… the best!
I don’t have distilled white wine vinegar I only have regular white wine vinegar is that the same or should I just not use any at all?
You can replace the distilled white vinegar for regular white wine vinegar.
Hi, thanks for your recipe and it tasted great every time I made them. I am wanting to make a 3 layer cake using this recipe. So, if I want to make 3x portion of this recipe, do I just triple all the ingredient? Does it sound right with 600g of sugar? It just seems a lot to me. Thanks in advance for your comment.
Yes, you can just triple all of the ingredients. If you do then 600 grams of sugar would be correct. I do have a red velvet cake recipe here as well and I use *slightly* less sugar in the layer cake.
I tried this recipe and ran into a few problems and I’m looking for some help in fixing them 🙂
1. I had a hard time creaming the butter and sugar together. I used a stand mixer and did exactly as instructed, but it didn’t seem to work unfortunately.
2. My red velvet cupcakes turned into pink velvet cupcakes, but again, I did exactly as instructed with the food colouring.
3. These cupcakes took much longer to make than 18 minutes for some reason because again, I followed the recipe exactly as instructed.
Any information or help would be greatly appreciated 🙂
Hi, Erin. It’s really hard to say if you followed the recipe exactly as written. Was your butter softened when you tried to mix it with the sugar? If not, that could be one reason you had trouble creaming it with the sugar. Also, the cupcakes shouldn’t turn pink if you’ve added cocoa powder. Did you make sure to use the correct amount of cocoa powder?