Monday, July 21, 2014

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Hey All and Happy Monday to you! Hope the beginning of your week started off great. Coming up this weekend I have a huge family vacation planned in Kentucky! I am so so excited to be able to spend time with my whole family in the great outdoors. I'm sure I'll have plenty of crazy stories when I get back, too. Nothing is ordinary when we all are together, and that's how I like it!

So recently my bestie had a birthday and all she wanted was for me to make her some kind of lemon cake. She loves lemon. And she loves blueberries. So I thought "Why not put them together?"! 

I haven't tried to master making a layered cake with pretty icing all over it just yet. It's on my list of things to try soon. But, I have mastered the heck out of making cupcakes! So I decided to take a lemon blueberry cake and turn it into cupcakes. That's why I made these Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes!
They are so moist and so delicious! The tartness of the lemon mixed with the sweetness of the blueberries made for an amazing flavor. 
Then to add the cream cheese frosting on top was literally the icing on the cake ;) See what I did there? I'm hilarious!
(makes 12-15)
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup butter, softened
1/2+1/8 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
2 Large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup buttermilk*
Lemon zest and lemon juice from 2 lemons
1 Cup blueberries
1 Tbsp flour

Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup butter, softened
1 3/4 Cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.

In a mixer beat together the butter and sugars on medium high until creamy, about 3 minutes. 

Add in the eggs and vanilla. Beat everything until combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet on a slow speed.

Add the milk, lemon zest and juice and stir with a spoon by hand until just mixed in.

In a small bowl, stir together the blueberries and flour. This will help the berries not sink down to the bottom of all the cupcakes and prevent them from breaking open. Fold the berries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake holders and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

For Frosting:
In your mixer beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy and no lumps remain.

Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir on low for about one minute, then up the speed for a few minutes until fully combined. Scrape down the bowl as you go if needed.

Scoop frosting into a piping bag and decorate the cupcakes. Place cupcakes in the fridge for about an hour before serving. Eat and enjoy! Delicious!

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can combine 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (or 1/2 Tbsp of white vinegar) and about 1/2 a cup of milk (1% or higher). Pour the 1/2 Tbsp of lemon juice into a measuring cup. Add the milk until it reaches 1/2 a cup. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes before using.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe adapted from here.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Vanilla Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Hey All!! Happy Monday! Throughout the summer my posts will be less often due to the fact that I am outside loving life and soaking up as much sunshine as I possibly can before the dreaded Indiana winter comes again. Please stay away as long as possible snow! I don't want any.

Recently my little sister turned 25. Yay!! The last birthday you have that's actually exciting until you hit 30...or so I've heard. For me, all my mid and late 20's have not been something I've looked forward to. But my sister graciously walked into 25 with her head held high and her face stuffed with these amazing Vanilla Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting I made her for her birthday!
It just so happened her birthday was on game night (Wednesdays) and she got to decide the menu. This has always been a tradition in our big family that we've done our whole lives. She wanted hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, and any kind of dessert that had chocolate and peanut butter.
Since Reese cups are her favorite I knew I had to fill these sweet little cakes with them. I decided to do big and mini ones. So for the big ones I made they had a whole cup and for the minis they had half a cup. Perfect!

She absolutely loved them!! They're super moist and packed with tons of flavor!

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 Cup milk
12 mini Reese cups
Chocolate chips

Frosting
1/2 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup peanut butter
2 Cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cake liners.

Whip the butter on medium speed until almost smooth.

Pour in the sugar and beat well.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and stir until fully combined.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Alternately stir in the milk and dry ingredients until everything is mixed. So stir in a little milk, then a little of the dry stuff, then milk, then dry, so on and so on until it's all mixed in.

Pour the batter into the cupcake liners until about 1/3 full. Place a Reese cup on the batter and top with more batter until completely covered.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Let them cool on a baking sheet before you frost them.

For the frosting:
Beat together the butter and peanut butter. Add in the sugar until completely mixed together.

Add in a tablespoon of milk one at a time until the frosting is nice and thick. You might not need all the milk, so make sure to stop as soon as it's all combined and easy to work with.

Shove the frosting in a piping bag and swirl on top of the cooled cupcakes. Toss on some chocolate chips and serve!

So what have you been up to this summer?! I'd love to hear your fun ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!