Saturday the Twizzlers turned 6. In celebration, we made cupcakes – wait – in celebration, Lil Miss and I made cupcakes. Not because no one else wanted to help, but because we happened to be the only two in the house and she wanted cupcakes for her birthday. I guess you can’t get more self-aware than that, huh? We decided on these Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes and got to work.

Anyway, I decided to make vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, because I had all of the ingredients on hand, and I didn’t want to fool with cocoa powder or chocolate bits for chocolate ones. I was lazy, and furthermore, I carried those two for a solid nine months and one week, and they had the nerve to be six pounds each the day of their birth. Come to thin of it, they should have been making ME cupcakes.

Not to toot my own horn, but Mr. Houseful and Nathaniel don’t usually eat cupcakes because we all have this weird aversion to cake in general, but I love baking it. Weird, right? Anyway, they’ve been throwing these back, and it’s totally not because we don’t have food in the house, but because these are ALL types of fully homemade. We’re talking butter, buttermilk which makes ANY cake decadent, greek yogurt and a bunch of other stuff.

I’m also using up the rest of my eggs from the chickens – oh the chickens – and dreading the day when we run out. It will be the only reason that I wish for warmer weather so that they can lay every day.

This is actually the base for a lot of my cupcakes, and the sole reason I keep tubs of Greek yogurt in my refrigerator. Well this and cucumber sauce, but I digress. I know that love baking and giving and this is why. Giving me any reason to pull out my frosting tools is another joy that I have. Takes me back to being a cake decorator at Dairy Queen in undergrad. Memories.

I’m sure you’re only hanging around for the recipe now, so I will go ahead and share. Thank me later.

24 cupcakes

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

Name: Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 24
Ingredients: 1/2 cup room temperature butter; 1 cup of sugar; 2 room temperature eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 3/4 cup of flour; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt; 2/3 cup of buttermilk

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 cup of sugar
2 room temperature eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup of Greek yogurt
2/3 cup of buttermilk

Instructions

1. Set oven to 350

2. mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and set aside

3. Mix softened butter on medium speed until aerated and then slowly add sugar while mixing until it turns light and fluffy (almost white and double the size it was)

4. Mix in vanilla extract

5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between the two

6. Add greek yogurt

7. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk and slowly mix the batter until all dry ingredients are mixed in. Don't over mix.

8. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full (no more) so that your tops will be perfectly flat for decorating.

9. Bake for 16-17 minutes (plus or minus a minute - depending on your oven)

10. Remove from oven and let cool for two or three minutes before removing and setting on a cooling rack.

11. Let the entire cupcake cool before topping with your frosting of choice. Get creative with it!