These cupcakes are so soft and fluffy and very easy to make. They are just four ingredients and don’t require any eggs, milk or oil. The cupcakes are great for birthdays, parties or any other occasion when you need cupcakes.
I always refer to this time of year as birthday season because my family has so many birthdays and other celebrations happening. And so I wanted to share my favorite cupcake recipe to make. These cupcakes are super easy to make and taste delicious. The batter takes less than ten minutes to prepare and you don’t even need a mixer. The cupcakes come out so incredibly moist and soft.
Ingredients
- Self-Rising Flour
- Sugar
- Butter
- Water
Self-Rising Flour: Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour that already has baking powder and salt added to it, which saves you a few extra steps and time. If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can easily mix your own using all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder. I prefer keeping self-rising flour in my pantry because it does save me a little extra time and helps me whip the cupcake batter in just a few minutes.
Sugar: This cake is sweetened with regular granulated white sugar.
Butter: This cake uses unsalted butter.
Water: Water is used instead of milk. It gives the cake an even fluffier and moister texture than using milk.
How to Make Easy Birthday Cupcakes
The flour and sugar are first whisked together. The melted butter and part of the water are then added in. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Then add the remaining water and whisk until the batter is smooth. The batter is then ready to be added to cupcake liners and baked.
The batter is more liquidy than your typical cake batter. I used an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to pour the batter into a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners.
Variations
These cupcakes taste like white cake. They are delicious as they are but if you want to make other flavors, you can easily do so.
To make vanilla flavored cupcakes, add 2 tsp of vanilla to the batter.
To make funfetti cupcakes, add 1 tsp of vanilla and ¼ cup of sprinkles to the batter. (Stir in the sprinkles at the end, after the batter is fully mixed.)
More Easy Cake Recipes
4 Ingredient Birthday Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (222 g) self-rising flour
- 1 cup (195 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (236 ml) water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. You will only need to line enough to make 14 cupcakes.
- Add flour and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until evenly combined. Add in melted butter and 2/3 of the water. Do not add all the water at once because it will make the batter too liquidy, which will make it difficult to mix. Whisk batter until it is smooth and no flour lumps remain. Add in remaining water. Whisk again until batter is smooth. The batter will be very thin. You can also mix the batter with an electric mixer.
- Scoop batter into prepared cupcake liners (I used an ice cream scooper), filling them about 2/3 full. Be careful not to overfill them.
- Bake cupcakes for about 21-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cupcakes fully cool before decorating.
Notes
- To make your own self-rising flour, whisk together 2 cups all purpose flour, 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt to a bowl. Measure out 1 3/4 cups for the recipe.
- When measuring flour, make sure you do not directly scoop with the measuring cup. Instead, the flour should be spooned into the measuring cup and then leveled off with a knife. Scooping directly with measuring cup with result in overpacking the flour which will make your cupcakes dry and dense.
- I used Lily's self-rising flour*
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- See post for vanilla and funfetti variations.
- Frosting: I decorated the cupcakes with a whipped cream frosting which I piped using a closed star tip (1/2 inch opening). I then added some sprinkles on top. To make whipped cream frosting, add 2 cups of cold heavy cream and 6 tbsp of granular sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Estimated nutrition is for cupcakes without frosting.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
I love this recipe. Very simple and economical
Thank you team
You’re welcome!
How much salt and baking powder for the 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour? Thanks
Please see the notes section in the recipe card – we include all of the measurements for making self rising flour.
I usually avoid making cupcakes however since using this recipe they are my signature recipe. Baking in mini paper cups or the traditional size, decorating with icing or filling with lemon butter they are an instant hit. In fact, you could say they are devoured by all as soon as plate hits the table. Each time I bake them I am requested for the recipe. They are quick and easy to make and delicious to taste. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe.
We’re so glad you love the recipe! Thank you for letting us know.
Thank you so much
You’re welcome!
thanks can you send me an egg free red velvetcske but no coco powder as well thanks
Sorry, but we don’t have anything like that. We do have red velvet recipes, but they have either cocoa powder or made with cake mix.
Question – Under VARIATIONS, it says
– “To make vanilla flavored cupcakes, add 2 tsp of vanilla to the batter.” Under NOTES, it says – “You can also add 1 tsp of vanilla to the wet ingredients.”
Please clarify, thanks!
Sorry for any confusion. If you want to make vanilla flavored cupcakes, I recommend adding 2 tsp of vanilla. Under the notes, I suggested you can also add 1 tsp of vanilla to the funfetti version. You could just add sprinkles but you can also add both for more flavor. I will edit the notes section to try to make that more clear.
I like this cooking
We’re glad you like the recipe!