Cupcakes

So we've been breaking some bad food habits around here lately and that is a whole different post. But one of the hardest things for me (as expected) has been sweets, particularly the act of baking sweets.

So book club rolled around and I deemed it a proper excuse to bake something lovely for my friends. I gleefully bought a tiny little bag of raw sugar and unbleached flour to concoct these sinful little treats. My 5 year old had recently brought home a cupcake book from the library, so we adapted our recipe from there.

A small dollop of frosting and fresh blueberries on top makes cupcakes feel a little more "book club" and not quite so "preschool birthday party". Though these were a hit with both the young and old cupcake connoisseurs in our house.


Vanilla Cupcakes (adapted from Mini Cupcakes, by Leslie Fiet)

Combine wet ingredients:

1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c melted coconut oil
1/4 c butter (at room temperature)
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp vanilla

Add dry ingredients:

2 c unbleached flour
3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 t salt

Mix it all up and pop into your cupcake liners and bake at 350. I did 20 minutes for cupcakes in 2 oz souffle cups, but my oven is pretty horrible so everything takes longer.


Frosting

8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 t vanilla
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Combine first three ingredients. Add powdered sugar slowly and allow to incorporate until desired texture and sweetness is reached.