Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes

These Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes are reminiscent of a Texas sheet cake...extremely moist, pleasantly dense, and bursting with vanilla flavor!

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with text overlay.


 

I know I'm guilty of using a lot of superlatives when I describe the recipes I share here. But these Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes really do take the cake...no pun intended.

I get multiple requests for this recipe every time I make it, and that's saying a lot seeing as how I make these cupcakes no less than once a month between various birthdays, holidays, and school functions. In fact, it's gotten to the point that when an event requires a baked good, I am specifically requested to bring Samantha's cupcakes.

One mound of frosting in focus.

What are Sheet Cake Cupcakes?

There is just something so good, and a little bit different, about this recipe.

These are not your standard cake-mix texture, light-and-fluffy cupcakes. They don't rise a great deal and are actually somewhat dense, but not at all in a bad or heavy way.

These cupcakes are incredibly moist, and the flavor is somehow more complex than your standard vanilla cupcakes.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting on cooling rack.

If you're familiar with the wonders of a chocolate Texas Sheet Cake, this cupcake recipe was actually adapted from a version of a white Texas Sheet Cake.

So when you bite into one of these beauties, there's an almost custardy undertone from the eggs and a slight tang from the sour cream. But most importantly, the true flavor of the vanilla shines through.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcake on table with more in background.

The Importance of Vanilla

Now I try not to be an ingredient snob, but I really believe it's important to use a high quality, pure vanilla extract in your baking, particularly in a recipe like this one (or sugar cookies, or chocolate chip cookies) where vanilla plays a starring role.

My favorite has always been Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract. I used to order a huge, 32-ounce bottle of it off of Amazon, which lasted me at least six months. But with the skyrocketing price of vanilla in recent years, it's hard to stomach spending that much at once. So these days I buy a smaller bottle at the grocery store. 😉

At any rate, good quality vanilla makes a huge, positive difference in a vanilla-centric recipe like this. So make sure you use the good stuff!

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting on cooling rack.

Mixing Up the Batter

The other great thing about this recipe is that it's a one-pot wonder.

There's no mixing dry ingredients in one bowl and creaming butter and sugar in another. Heck, you don't even have to have the forethought to set out the butter ahead of time for softening.

Just melt and mix in a big pot and you're ready to scoop the batter into cupcake liners and pop your pans in the oven. This recipe honestly doesn't take much longer to whip up than a boxed mix, and the final result is so much tastier that you may very well never buy a boxed mix again.

Close-up on rack.

The Frosting

Lest we forget, where there is a cupcake there must be frosting. These Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes would be nicely complemented by just about any type of frosting, but in my humble opinion, they are unbeatable topped with Cream Cheese Frosting.

You can spread it on with a knife or, as I did with this batch of cupcakes, scoop it into a gallon-sized zipper baggie, snip off the corner of the bag, and pipe it on in a pretty little swirl from the outside perimeter to the center.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with red and blue cupcake liners.

Yield

Do keep in mind that this recipe doesn't quite make two dozen cupcakes.

Because they don't rise a whole lot, you don't want to skimp on filling your cupcakes liners, and as a result, the batter should yield around 20 cupcakes. I doubled the recipe for my son's birthday party this past weekend and ended up with exactly 40 cupcakes.

Since the amount of frosting made with this recipe is enough to generously frost about two dozen cupcakes, you may have a bit of frosting left over (oh, darn!)...and if so, you have my permission to eat it with a spoon.

Close-up of Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

So what are you waiting for? Whether you're celebrating a birthday, a holiday, the last day of summer vacation, or the second Tuesday in September, these Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes deserve a permanent spot in your recipe collection.

Try them once and I think you'll agree!

More Yummy Cupcakes

Close-up of Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes are reminiscent of a Texas sheet cake…extremely moist, pleasantly dense, and bursting with vanilla flavor!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 20 cupcakes (approximately)
Calories: 373kcal
Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 ½ to 4 cups powdered sugar, depending on your desired consistency & sweetness of frosting
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line cupcake pans with 20 cupcake liners.
  • In a large pot, melt butter. Add water and bring to a boil. Remove pot from heat and briskly stir in flour, sugar, and sour cream. Batter should now be cool enough to gradually stir in the eggs without them scrambling. Mix in vanilla, baking soda, and salt until all ingredients are well blended.
  • Scoop batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a rack and allowing to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

  • Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese. Slowly blend in powdered sugar and vanilla, then beat until smooth and well-combined.

Notes

  • Start checking your cupcakes for doneness at the 15 minute mark. You don't want to overbake them or they'll start to become dry, but you do want the toothpick tester to come out clean.
  • Make sure that your butter and cream cheese are completely at room temperature before making your frosting or it will have little lumps. You shouldn't need to sift your powdered sugar. I never do and my frosting always turns out smooth, but if your powdered sugar is especially clumpy, it might not hurt to sift it first.
  • These cupcakes are so moist that you can get away with baking them early, if necessary. When I make them for a birthday party, I usually bake them two days ahead of time and pop them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The day before the party, I frost them and put them back in the fridge. Then I set them out on party day and they have time to come to room temperature before everyone eats them. But don't get me wrong...they taste great cold, straight out of the fridge, too!

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 283mg | Potassium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 637IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg
Made this recipe? I'd love to see on IG!Mention @FiveHeartHome or tag #FiveHeartHome!

Adapted from AllRecipes

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61 Comments

  1. Hi I was just in Home Goods and saw Nielsen Massey pure vanilla bean paste and Tahitian Gold pure vanilla extract bourbon premium. So I bought them both! Which do I want to use for the cupcakes? Thanks!

    1. Hi Deb! Wow, they both sound delicious, and I think that both would work. I believe that vanilla bean paste is a bit stronger than vanilla extract, so if you use that, maybe start with half of the original amount called for. The Tahitian vanilla extract should be fine to use at the regular amount. If it were me, I would just smell the two and try whichever one I thought had the more appealing scent! Then the next time I baked the cupcakes, I would try the other one. 🙂 Good luck and have fun experimenting!

  2. Samantha, these are just breath-taking. I just finished making a regular (chocolate) Texas Sheet Cake, and now I want your vanilla cake!! I love to bake with sour cream, and cream cheese in the frosting sounds divine.

    Love, Joy

    1. You are so sweet, Joy. Sour cream does great things for baked goods, doesn't it?! I love regular Texas Sheet Cake as well, which is why I was so excited to discover a vanilla version (and I think I might just like it even better than the traditional chocolate variety)! Thanks so much for your comment...hope you have a great week!

  3. 5 stars
    Just polished off my second cupcake from today's kitchen efforts. I am in serious danger of losing my self control and going for a third. These came out perfectly and are the best Vanilla cupcake I have found. Big thumbs up Samantha from me in New Zealand.

    1. I really appreciate your kind words, Kate! I'm so happy you love these cupcakes and that they're living up to their "Best Ever" monikor! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know... 🙂

  4. 5 stars
    I just made these cupcakes and they are delicious! They are so moist on the inside and taste great. My daughters absolutely loved them! Thanks for sharing.

    1. I am SO happy to hear that, Hannah...I really appreciate you coming back and letting me know! Hope your family enjoys them many more times in the future... 🙂

  5. Thank you very much - she had a great day! The cake pops were a big hit! I think I know the problem. The gluten-free flour blend I used already has baking powder/soda, so I think adding the teaspoon of baking soda, per the recipe, caused them to explode. I will try the recipe again, but modify to account for the baking powder/soda. 🙂

    1. Glad to hear your daughter had a great birthday! And that makes total sense about the extra leavening! Hope it works out better next time without it... 🙂

  6. OK. Tried the recipe with a gluten-free flour blend and coconut oil. It produces probably the most delicious vanilla cake I have ever tried. BUT, the cupcakes all collapsed and completely fell apart as I tried to remove them from the muffin tins. So, plan B! I have scraped the delicious mess into a bowl and will make cake pops. My birthday girl will love them! Thank you again. :o)

    1. Darn, Stacey! I'm sorry to hear they fell apart...but aren't you clever for salvaging them anyway! I wonder if it was the coconut oil or the gluten-free flour blend to blame, or a combo of the two? I may have to try these cupcakes with coconut oil and regular flour sometime to see what happens...and if I do, I'll come back and report my findings as a reply to this comment. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your results. Happy birthday to your daughter!

  7. Hi there,

    Thank you for the recipe - it looks yummy, yet simple (perfect, in other words). I am going to try it gluten-free with Pamela's gluten-free baking mix and use coconut oil in place of butter (I love butter, but have loved how coconut oil works in baking). I will let you know how they turn out. :o)

    1. That sounds great, Stacey, and I really appreciate that you're going to come back and let me know how the cupcakes turn out with your modifications! I sub coconut oil for butter all the time in my recipes, but I haven't yet tried doing so with these cupcakes. I see no reason why it shouldn't work perfectly, and I bet the coconutty undertone is yummy! I'm not experienced with using gluten-free baking mix but I'm sure that other readers who bake gluten-free will find your results helpful. Thanks so much and good luck!

  8. Hi! I am thinking about making these cupcakes for my husband's birthday. I know you said that they don't rise much, so I was wondering about how much batter you fill your liners with? More than 2/3 of the way full? Thanks!!

    1. Hi Randi! These cupcakes do rise a bit, but they don't end up being really tall, domed cupcakes (though they do get some extra height when you frost them!). I use a #20 (3 tablespoon) cookie scoop to fill my cupcake liners. If there's any leftover batter after I fill 20 liners, I just divide it between the already-filled liners. I would say that by the time I'm done, the liners are probably about 3/4 full? I've found that if I try to stretch the batter between 24 cupcake liners, the cupcakes end up too short. I've also divided the batter between just 18 liners, and the cupcakes end up a little taller, but they may need an extra minute or two of baking time. If these cupcakes are underdone, they will sink a bit in the middle as they cool (but they still taste great and it's nothing that can't be disguised by frosting!).

      Hope this helps! Happy birthday to your husband...I'm sure he'll enjoy his cupcakes!

      1. Thank you so much for the quick and helpful response...and the tasty cupcake recipe! Hope you and your family have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

        1. Happy to help! I hope the cupcakes turn out perfectly for you, and that y'all have a great Labor Day weekend, too!

  9. Hi there,
    This recipe sounds and looks amazing! Do you recommend salted or unsalted butter?
    Thanks,
    Kristina

    1. Hi Kristina! I use unsalted butter in this recipe and in most other baked goods. I prefer to use unsalted butter and then add the salt separately so that I can control the amount, since different brands of salted butter contain different amounts of salt. If you use salted butter, that's okay, too...but then I would cut back on the amount of salt added to the batter. Hope that helps! 🙂

  10. Samantha, have you tried this in a 12" round pan. I am making a cake this weekend and would love to use this recipe. Thanks, Kathy

    1. Hi Kathy! I have not made this recipe in round pans, but I'm sure it could be done. However, because this cupcake recipe is adapted from a Texas sheet cake recipe, the resulting cake is meant to come out pretty thin and flat without much rise. So if I were to bake it in round pans, I would probably divide the batter between three pans instead of two. I'm sure two pans would work, too, but I think the cake would just be a bit denser at that thickness.

      I'm not sure about baking time...just watch it carefully and make sure the center is a little risen and try the toothpick test. You don't want to overcook it, but if it's not cooked through, the center will sink when it's out of the oven. Good luck and please come back and let me know how round pans work out!

  11. Hi! We are celebrating my baby girl's 2nd birthday this coming weekend. Could this recipe make a nice cake pop? What do you think? It seems truly delicious!!

    1. Hi Claudie! I haven't tried this recipe as a cake pop, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. Since this recipe originally derives from a cake made in a 10"x15"x1" sheet pan (and not a 9"x13" pan), you may have to slightly adjust the ratio of frosting used in your cake balls to get the right consistency. And since Texas Sheet Cakes aren't as light and fluffy as standard cakes, I just wouldn't make my cake balls too big/heavy (so they don't fall off the stick), and I'd be sure to let them firm up in the refrigerator for a good while after you form them into balls/before dipping.

      If you end up trying this recipe as cake balls, will you let me know how they turn out? Have fun with your party planning and I hope your little girl has a very happy 2nd birthday!

      1. 5 stars
        I made them! BUT... I am actually making a 3D owl and wanted a knobbly look for the wings. In comes my silicone cake pop pan (making those pops many consider as cheat cake pops) and your recipe. So I did not make the (more delicious) rolled version. To make things even more interesting, I am highly allergic to wheat. I made them using rye, corn and almond flour. They came out super tasty and moist ( big problems with wheat free). Somewhat doughy, but slightly less almond flour will rectify that. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!

        1. Wow, Claudie...I'm really glad they turned out, even with your modifications! Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know. Your owl cake sounds adorable...I'm sure your daughter's party is going to be a hit! 🙂 Have a great time!

  12. These look SO delicious! I'm always looking for a better vanilla cupcake recipe. I'm looking forward to trying them.

    1. Thank you so much, Rachel...I hope you enjoy the cupcakes when you try them. Have a great week! 🙂

  13. Ooh these look sooooo good! Thanks for the tip on the vanilla, too! I had been using vanilla I had purchased when we were in Mexico, but I just ran out and was wondering what I'd replace it with. Now I know!

    1. I really like Mexican vanilla, too! Nielsen Massey actually makes a Mexican vanilla and a Tahitian vanilla as well. Seeing as how I love, love, love their Madagascar Bourbon vanilla so much, I need to try those other varieties at some point and see how they compare...

  14. Love the look of those stunning vanilla cupcakes! 🙂 This is my second Texas sheet cake recipe of the day! 🙂 Loving the nostalgic posts about Texas sheet cake!

    1. Thanks so much, Anyonita! I agree that you can't beat a good ole' Texas sheet cake. 😉

  15. Awesome. I'm hosting a baby shower next weekend, and this is exactly what I need. I'll let you know how it goes! 🙂

    1. They really are quick and easy, Melanie, which is a big part of the reason this is my go-to cupcake recipe! Well, that and the taste. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!

  16. Hi Samatha!

    Yes, just the basic ingredients alone . . . butter and sour cream (INSTEAD of OIL!) and high-quality vanilla . . . will yield a moist and flavorful cake.
    I look forward to trying your recipe!
    Thanks so much for sharing!
    Have a great week,
    Suzanne

    1. You're welcome, Suzanne! Thanks for the comment...and I totally agree that everything's better with butter. 🙂 I hope you enjoy these!