treat yourself {to vanilla frosted cupcakes}

I’ve got a real sweet tooth. Luckily for me, my husband indulges me and bakes me something really delicious once in a while. (And when he’s not baking, I am, so there is really never a shortage of dessert in our home). Recently, T. made these wonderful vanilla cupcakes with a buttery frosting. Mmmmm….

Below you will find the recipe. Just hop past the mouth-watering pictures first. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttery Frosting
{source: All Recipes}

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar*
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.

*The recipe makes frosting that is a bit too sweet for our taste, so we amend it to make it less sweet by cutting the sugar amount in half.

And if you’re feeling super creative, try adding some cute cupcake toppers such as these bike ones used by LoveToPedal. I love this idea…

{Image source: LoveToPedal}