Favorite Cupcake Recipes

Q: <strong>How much cake batter is used per cupcake?</strong>

We put about 1/4 cup of cake batter into each cupcake liner. So, cake recipes that make 6 cups of batter will yield about 24 cupcakes.

Today we are featuring our favorite cupcake recipes! Cupcakes are the perfect dessert, no matter what the occasion!

In this roundup, you will find moist cupcake recipes from scratch as well as easy and delicious cupcakes that start with a box mix.

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Why we Love Them

These cupcakes are moist, soft and tender. Whether you are looking for light and fruity cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, or tried and true classics, we have something for you! Here are just a few reasons to love them:

Great for birthday parties, potlucks, holidays, and more.
Cupcakes are the perfect grab-and-go dessert.
Easy to decorate with a simple piping tip or small offset spatula.
Serve the cupcakes as is, or decorate altogether as a "cupcake cake"! Some fun examples of cupcake cakes are our popular dinosaur cupcake cake, fish cupcake cake, ranunculus cupcakes and more!

Best Cupcake Recipes

Sharing our favorite Cupcake Recipes that would be suitable or any occasion! Whether you are searching for something light and fruity, chocolatey, or a classic favorite, we have something for you!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

These moist, delicate Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting are so soft with amazing lemon flavor. They are perfect for birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers, and more!

Caramel Cupcakes

These moist and flavorful caramel cupcakes have the perfect balance of brown sugar and caramel flavor. You will love these tender cupcakes as well as the homemade caramel frosting!

Oreo Cupcakes (Doctored Cake Mix)

Oreo Cupcakes are a wonderful go-to for birthday parties! These delicious, tender cupcakes speckled with crushed Oreos and topped with Oreo Buttercream are the perfect grab-and-go dessert!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

These heavenly snickerdoodle cupcakes are inspired by the popular cookie. They tender, moist, and are swirled brown sugar and cinnamon. We've frosted them with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin combined with warm spices and cream cheese frosting makes this the perfect recipe for fall celebrations! Just like our Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake and Pumpkin Spice Cake, you will come back to this recipe again and again.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes (Cake Mix Recipe)

Everyone loves this peanut butter cupcake recipe! So moist, light, and flavorful, these peanut butter cupcakes start with a box of cake mix! We love them with peanut butter buttercream or peanut butter cream cheese frosting!

Margarita Cupcakes

These flavorful Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila Lime Frosting are the perfect party dessert!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

These ultra moist, soft Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting have wonderful flavor from sweet potatoes, nutmeg and spices!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Everybody loves vanilla cupcakes! These moist and tender vanilla cupcakes are soft and light from the cake flour and buttermilk in the recipe. They have delicious vanilla flavor!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes (Box Mix)

Lemon and blueberry are the perfect combination in these soft and tender Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes! Nobody would guess that these start with a cake mix.

Banana Cupcakes

These super moist Banana Cupcakes have wonderful flavor and go perfectly with swirls of homemade cream cheese frosting. You will love this scratch recipe! They would also be delicious with caramel frosting or cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Doctored Cake Mix)

Nobody would guess that these flavorful Carrot Cake Cupcakes start with a cake mix! They have amazing flavor from carrots, spices, pecans, coconut, and pineapple!

Banana Pudding Cupcakes (Cake Mix Recipe)

If you love banana pudding, you will love banana pudding cupcakes! These cupcakes are the perfect combination of flavors from bananas, vanilla wafers, vanilla (pudding) cream, and whipped cream! You will LOVE them.

Strawberry Cupcakes (Box Mix)

These easy Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting start with a cake mix! They are moist, soft, and delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

These moist Chocolate Chip Cupcake have wonderful flavor from vanilla, chocoalte chips, brown sugar, and a hint of cinnamon! If you love chocoalte chip cookies, you'll love these cupcakes as well!

Classic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from Scratch

These moist, rich chocolate cupcakes are our favorite! They are so versatile too- try this with vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, Peanut Butter frosting, and more!

Cupcake FAQs

We put about ¼ cup of cake batter into each cupcake liner. So, cake recipes that make 6 cups of batter will yield about 24 cupcakes.

Depending on your cupcake design, this answer will vary. However, for basic swirls of frosting, one cup of frosting will cover about 12 cupcakes.

Make sure to check out our cake and cupcake fillings and frostings section! Some of our favorites are classic vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, and cream cheese frosting.

Lemon curd and homemade whipped cream are two of our most popular fillings!

Yes, cupcakes can be baked in advance and frozen! After baking the cupcakes, allow them to cool completely.

Then, line them up in rows on a sheet cake cardboard or tray. Cover the tops with one or two sheets of plastic wrap. Then wrap tightly with one or two sheets of foil (just as if you were wrapping a sheet cake.) Freeze for up to three months!

To thaw: move the cupcakes, still wrapped, to the kitchen counter for 30 minutes (or until condensation is no longer forming on the cupcakes) before removing the wrapping and decorating.

We like to keep cupcakes in an airtight container or under a cake dome at room temperature *if they do not have a perishable frosting. We leave out for 1-2 days before moving to the refrigerator.

However, if your cupcakes have a perishable frosting or filling (like a whipped cream filling, fruit filling, cream cheese frosting, etc.), then they need to be refrigerated. (Ideally, in an airtight container.)

If the cupcakes have been chilled, it is best to remove them from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving so that they have time to warm and soften.

Cupcake Design Ideas

Now that you have great cupcake recipes, you need some cupcake decorating ideas!

We've made cupcake tutorials over the years for all sorts of themes. Some of our favorites are Cupcake Decorating Basics, Leopard Print Cupcakes, and Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes. You can find the full listing in our Cupcake Decorating section!