Super Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

This vanilla cupcake recipe is excerpted from the 2006 cookbook I Like You by Amy Sedaris (yes, that Amy Sedaris). In the early aughts the comedian sold baked goods and other snacks to coffee shops in her New York City neighborhood. Once voted one of the city’s best vanilla cupcakes, it gets rich, buttery flavor and a tender crumb from a handful of pantry ingredients. While Sedaris prefers a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment), you can easily make this simple cake recipe with a hand mixer and a large bowl. To amplify the vanilla flavor, swap the extract for top-quality vanilla bean paste.

We like to use two 12-cup cupcake pans for ease and maneuverability, but if you have a 24-well tin, feel free to use it instead. If you’d rather not use liners, brush the wells with softened butter and dust with extra all-purpose flour, making sure to tap out the excess before you proceed. Use a toothpick or cake tester to check the cupcake in the centermost position for doneness—it should emerge carrying a few moist crumbs.

Adorn these vanilla cupcakes in whatever way you see fit: Add a swoop of powdered-sugar-based American-style buttercream and a shower of sprinkles for birthday parties, or go for cream cheese frosting, coconut, and a candied egg to turn them into an Easter dessert. Choose a meringue-based Swiss or Italian buttercream frosting recipe, piped on in a big kiss, to really wow a crowd, or a brown sugar frosting and heap of chocolate chips to mimic the flavor of your favorite cookies.

This recipe was adapted for style from ‘I Like You’ by Amy Sedaris. Buy the full book on Amazon.