This recipe will show you how to make the best red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting from scratch that melts in your mouth.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day treats, Christmas parties, birthdays, or any time during the year to fill your red velvet cupcake craving! You won’t be able to stop with just one!
Red velvet is a popular cake flavor and these red velvet cupcakes are to die for! The cupcake is moist, has that cocoa flavor, and has melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting.
I seem to be known for my red velvet cupcakes.
Not only did I bring them for each semester we completed of clinical in nursing school.
Somehow, it also became a tradition that I have brought them arranged in a basket to every memorial and funeral service I attend.
My in-laws also love red velvet cupcakes so they get made several times a year, just because.
Needless to say, these cupcakes are classic and they’re perfect for gatherings, birthdays, baby or wedding showers, holidays, and all celebrations!
What is Red Velvet?
Red velvet is a cake that has been mixed with cocoa, white vinegar, and buttermilk, among other cake ingredients.
What Makes it Red?
Traditionally, the cake batter was mixed with beetroot. It gave a rich red color to enhance the darker maroon color from the cocoa being mixed.
These days, most have steered away from beets in their red velvet cake recipe, and instead opt for red food coloring to give the cake vibrancy.
Ingredients for Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Buttermilk
- White Vinegar
- Cake Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Red Food Coloring
Ingredients for My Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- Cream Cheese
- Confectioners’ Sugar (Icing Sugar)
- Butter
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Shortening
What tip do you use for decorating red velvet cupcakes?
I used Wilton’s 2D tip for these cupcakes, but you can also use 1M which is a slightly more open star.
How do you pipe a cupcake?
Cakes by Lynz’s piping tutorials on YouTube are great for beginners.
She explains the basics of cupcake decorating and how to get started with piping frosting. She has other great videos on all different kinds of tips and tricks.
Pro Tip: Oil & Butter
I have tried making red velvet cupcakes with only butter and the cake turns out so much drier.
Oil adds noticeable moisture to the cupcakes while butter adds in its own buttery rich flavor.
It’s best to use a mixture of both oil and butter for this cake batter.
Try these other sweet treats!
- Boozy Apple Slushies
- Caramel Cupcakes
- Cherry Chip Cupcakes
- Cherry Puff Pastry Turnovers
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
- Chocolate Drop Cookies
- Frozen Mudslides
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
- Oreo Bottom Cupcakes
- Raspberry Cupcakes
- Strawberry Bellinis
Enjoy!
The Best Red Velvet Cupcakes
This recipe will show you how to make the best red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting from scratch that melts in your mouth. Yields: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cupcakes
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
- 1 1/2 cups Granulated White Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 1 tsp White Vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups Cake Flour (can substitute with all-purpose flour)
- 2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Red Food Coloring
Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare regular-sized muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer or in a medium-sized bowl with a hand mixer. Add eggs one at a time to the mixer. Add oil, vanilla, and vinegar. Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl. Alternate adding buttermilk and dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well after each addition.
- Add red food coloring to cupcake batter and blend. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner in the muffin pans.
- Place pans in the oven and bake for 14-16 minutes until the tops spring back when you lightly touch them, or a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on cooling racks. Allow to fully cool before frosting with cream cheese frosting.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 24 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 141Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 21mgSodium 127mgCarbohydrates 26gFiber 0gSugar 14gProtein 2g
Nutrition is not always accurate.
Can I leave out the Vinegar?
Hi Sarah,
The vinegar actually plays an important part in making the cupcakes rise and become fluffy once it reacts with the baking soda.
If you want to omit the vinegar, I would leave out the baking soda too and replace both with 2-3 teaspoons of baking powder. Baking soda has a lot more oomph when baked with vinegar than baking powder does so it takes a little bit more baking powder to get similar results.
Another option is to still use the baking soda and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in place of the vinegar, but this may change the overall flavor.
Hope this helps!
-Tiffany
Can I use coconut oil in this recipe instead of canola or vegetable oil?
Hi Christine,
Yes, coconut oil can be used in place of canola or vegetable oil at a 1:1 ratio. To use coconut oil in baking it will need to be melted in the microwave or over the stove into a liquid first to be able to blend into the other ingredients.
Hope this helps. Let me know how it turns out!
-Tiffany