4th of July Cupcakes
I wasn’t going to write a blog about these cupcakes. All I wanted to do was bake something festive in these cute cupcake liners that I found at Michaels. After finding a simple vanilla cupcake recipe online, I whipped up a quick batch of these bad boys and decided to throw in some toffee bits for fun. Once they came out of the oven, I noticed a few of the cupcakes were a little wonky and I decided to eat one of them to see how it turned out. Well…that wonky cupcake was SOOO GOOD, even without the frosting, that it was only right to eat a second wonky cupcake. And, well, I couldn’t in good conscience leave the third wonky cupcake to be photographed - it had to go, and to my belly it went. Am I saying that I ate three cupcakes back-to-back-to-back right out of the oven? Yes, I am. Do I have any regrets? No, I do not.
Even though several of these cupcakes were immediately sacrificed to my belly, I still had a few left to decorate and share at work. Turns out, my coworkers had the same reaction to these cupcakes that I did! These simple cupcakes turned out to be a huge hit, and that is exactly why I am blogging about them. They were too good to not share!
I found the recipe on Live Well Bake Often. Instead of oils, she used full fat sour cream and it made a huge difference! The toffee bits that I threw in were ones that I already had on hand (Heath English Toffee Bits) and they were the cherry on top! For the frosting, I just made a simple American buttercream and then used my spice grinder to powder freeze dried raspberries. With a small sieve, I gently sprinkled the top of the cupcakes with the powdered raspberries for some color and a hint of flavor. They looked good and tasted better - what else could I ask for?!
Recipe: livewellbakeoften.com/vanilla-cupcakes
Baking Cups: michaels.com/red-white-blue-baking-cups-by-celebrate-it/10584354.html