Easy Vanilla and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

By Christine Benlafquih

Updated 02/03/19

Chocolate chip cupcakes

The Spruce

  • Total: 35 mins
  • Prep: 20 mins
  • Cook: 15 mins
  • Yield: 24 cupcakes (24 servings)
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
189 Calories
12g Fat
19g Carbs
3g Protein
See Full Nutritional Guidelines Hide Full Nutritional Guidelines
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24 cupcakes (24 servings)
Amount per serving
Calories 189
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 15%
Saturated Fat 7g 34%
Cholesterol 61mg 20%
Sodium 140mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 7%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Protein 3g
Calcium 69mg 5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

This basic recipe for extra-moist vanilla cupcakes with chocolate chips is a family favorite and perfect for offering as a snack, at tea time, or as party food. They can be frosted, but they are equally delicious plain. Any type of chocolate chip can be used, including white chocolate chips if you prefer, or chopped chocolate.

Choices for frosting could be a basic buttercream frosting or a chocolate buttercream frosting. Another idea is to make coffee frosting to complement both the vanilla and chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 3 packets vanilla sugar)
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or finely chopped semisweet or dark chocolate)

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for cupcakes
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  2. Heat your oven to 375 F (190 C). Grease and flour cupcake tins or line them with paper liners.

    Grease and flour cupcake tins
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  3. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and creamy.

    Beat together butter
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  4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

    Add eggs one at a time
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  5. Stir in the vanilla.

    Stir in vanilla
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  6. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

    Whisk together flour and sugar
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  7. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Beat on low speed just until a smooth, thick batter forms. Do not over mix. 

    Add flour mixture with milk
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  8. You can stir the chocolate into the batter now if you like, or add it after you have filled the cupcake liners.

    Stir chocolate into batter
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  9. Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling a little more than half full.

    Spoon batter into cupcake liners
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  10. Bake the cupcakes until set and golden in color, approximately 15 to 17 minutes. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    Stick toothpick into cupcake
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  11. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for several minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

    Allow to cool
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  12. Serve your cupcakes and enjoy.

Once completely cooled, store the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for two days. If you want to frost them with an icing that will need refrigeration, hold off doing so until you are ready to eat the cupcakes. The cupcakes will lose their freshness when refrigerated. You can easily freeze the unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer to keep them for longer.

Cupcakes in Morocco

In Morocco, these cupcakes can occasionally appear on an iftar evening table when breaking the fast in Ramadan. Iftar is the feast you have after sunset, when you have not eaten or drank since sunrise. It traditionally includes dates, but baked desserts are also a part of the spread. A batch of cupcakes can be a quick treat.

Since the quality of chocolate chips in Morocco can be iffy, a good alternative is to hand chop quality dark baking chocolate or a chocolate bar for recipes which call for chocolate chips. In this case, the vanilla cake is flavorful enough so skipping the chocolate chips will be fine.