Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
If you’ve ever wanted to make red velvet cupcakes from scratch that are as good as those you’d find in a bakery, try this hassle-free recipe!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Cooling Time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Cakes & Cupcakes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cream cheese frosting for cupcakes, cream cheese frosting for red velvet cake, homemade cream cheese frosting, is red velvet chocolate, red velvet cake frosting, red velvet cupcakes
Servings: 14
Calories: 404kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cupcakes
1large egg
1cupgranulated sugar
⅔cupbuttermilkor Powdered Buttermilk, use 2 1/2 tablespoons + 2/3 cup water
½cupcanola oil
2tablespoonsvanilla Greek yogurtplain Greek yogurt or sour cream may be substituted
1tablespoonvanilla extract
1 ½cupsall-purpose flour
3tablespoonsunsweetened natural cocoa powder
¾teaspoonbaking soda
pinchsaltoptional and to taste
1 to 2tablespoonsred food coloringor as needed
Cream Cheese Frosting
½cupcream cheesesoftened (I used Trader Joe’s soft spreadable light)
2tablespoonsunsalted buttersoftened
1teaspoonvanilla extract
2 to 2 ½cupsconfectioners’ sugaror as necessary
splash cream or milkonly if necessary
sanding sugar or sprinklesoptional for garnishing
Instructions
Make the Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with paper liners; set aside. You will likely have batter for a 13th or 14th cupcake, and I baked it in this cooking-sprayed mini loaf pan because my oven is small and that setup works; discard extra batter if that’s easier.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients, through vanilla, until smooth.
Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, optional salt, and whisk until just combined; don’t overmix.
Carefully whisk in the food coloring, making sure to add only as much as necessary to color the batter a deep shade of red; adding more than necessary can leave an aftertaste.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, place about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter per cupcake into each of the 12 cavities so they’re solidly 3/4-full. I poured the excess batter into a mini loaf pan.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until domed, set, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter; don’t overbake. My cupcakes were on the large side of normal because I generously filled liners to 3/4-full, and they took exactly 20 minutes. If yours are filled more shallow, start checking at 18 minutes.
Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing. I baked the mini loaf for 20 minutes. While cupcakes cool, make the frosting.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and whisk to combine or beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Continue adding sugar until desired frosting consistency is reached. If you add too much sugar and need to thin frosting out, add a splash of cream. Because I used light cream cheese, the frosting stayed on the runnier side. If you want frosting thick enough to pipe, do not use light cream cheese.
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons frosting to the top of each cupcake and smooth with a knife. Optionally transfer frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. I like the Wilton 1M tip for cupcakes.
Optionally, garnish each cupcake with a sprinkle of sanding sugar or pinch of sprinkles.
Notes
You may have a small amount of frosting left over. It will keep airtight in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Cupcakes will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. I personally am comfortable storing cream cheese-frosted items at room temp, but if you prefer to store in the fridge, that’s fine, but note the fridge will dry cupcakes out much more quickly.