Vanilla Cupcakes

Preheat and prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F with conventional heat. Line 12 wells of standard muffin tins with cupcake liners. Ensure butter, eggs, and sour cream are all at room temperature before starting.

Whisk dry ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, milk powder, salt, and sugar until evenly distributed. Scrape the bottom corners of the bowl.

Reverse cream the butter and oil: Add butter to the dry ingredients. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the mixture looks coarse and sandy. Add the oil and beat until it resembles streusel with no large chunks remaining — about 2-3 minutes.

Combine liquids: In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the water and sour cream until smooth. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

Mix in liquid mixture: With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the liquid mixture. After about half is added, pause for a few seconds to let the batter smooth out, then continue streaming the rest. Scrape the bowl thoroughly, bottom and sides, and mix on low for another 10 seconds to ensure everything is combined. The batter should look smooth and slightly thin with maybe a few small lumps.

Portion batter: Immediately weigh 50g of batter into each liner.

Bake: Bake on the middle rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool in pan, then rack: Remove pans from the oven and let the cupcakes rest in the tins for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.