Vanilla Cupcakes

Shhhhhhh! It’s my friend Colette’s birthday on Saturday and in celebration I’m making her cupcakes (because they’re more transportable than a cake).

Although I’m almost always a chocoholic, there are times when I prefer vanilla. Like when choosing between hundreds of flavors at a cupcake shop. I’m almost always drawn to vanilla with white (vanilla) frosting. I rarely go wrong when choosing vanilla!

Inspired by the vibrant colors of the frosting paired with these cupcakes, I’ve been wanting to try this Foodnetwork Magazine recipe for a while now.

ingredients.

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter at room temperature
1 c. sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. whole milk at room temperature
White Frosting

directions.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Alternatively you can grease the insides of the cups, cut individual circles of parchment paper to fit the bottom of each cup, grease the parchment paper and lightly coat with flour. (Yes, it’s a pain but if you have no cupcake liners it works!)
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy, about four minutes. BEat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low; beat in half of the flour mixture, then all the milk, then the remaining flour mixture until just combined.
Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool five minutes then remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely on a rack. Top with White Frosting.

I baked these cupcakes for 18 minutes and felt that they could have been baked for slightly less time (I like super moist desserts.) Regardless, these cupcakes have a rich, buttery flavor. Pile the cupcakes high with White Frosting for an indulgent treat.