Very Vanilla Cupcakes

I’ve been spending less and less time indoors in the kitchen and more and more time outside enjoying my days with all my kiddoddles. Because really, who wants to be in a hot kitchen when there are so many wonderful things to explore and enjoy outside.

Truth be told I have spent entirely too much time in the kitchen over the Winter and I’m looking forward to being out of the kitchen  for the summer season. The air smells heavenly with the bloom of flowers and freshly mowed grass every time I step outside, which has been begging my creativity to come outside and play in new ways.  I want to take advantage of it while I can.

I meant to share this recipe a while back, as I always get emails asking me what recipe I use for vanilla cupcakes. I have a few different versions, but this is a fast and easy favorite.

Very Vanilla Cupcakes.

This is what you will need….

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (let stand for 5 minutes)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)
• Cupcake pan
• Cupcake Liners
• Topping of choice (I used raspberries)
• Powdered sugar

The batter will be thicker than a typical batter, so to make it easier and less messy I usually fill a large plastic baggie with the batter and pipe each cupcake into the liner. I find that it also allows me to evenly fill each liner.

Fill cupcake liners 1/3 of the way.
Bake 15-16 minutes. This is how long I bake them, but every oven is different, so keep an eye on them, your oven may take a little longer so test with a toothpick at 15 minutes, if batter is still wet inside give them another 2-3 minutes.

The addition of the apple sauce will not make the cupcakes taste like apples, it will just give them moisture and makes them more dense. The addition of the pudding also make the cupcake moist, yet fluffy. After you take them out of the oven they will look very puffy, but will deflate and settle down a  bit as they cool. But if you want super big puffy domed cupcakes, let the batter sit for roughly five minutes or a bit more before putting them in the oven and fill the liners a little bit past 1/3 ways filled (the pudding in the mix will puff them up) Be mindful you will get less cupcakes this way though.

Be sure to let the cupcake cool completely before sprinkling the powder sugar on top or else it will melt and get all oozy. The put your fruit on top, for these I used raspberries, but you can use what you like. Just make sure you use something that won’t melt the powdered sugar with moisture. (Cut fruit, just washed fruit.)

And then if you wish sprinkle some more powder sugar on top of the berries.

 Simple, easy and very vanilla!!  This recipe typically yields 18-22 cupcakes depending on how much batter you add to each liner.