Funfetti Cupcakes

Did anyone else completely forget about leap day until, well, leap day? Story of my life.

Luckily, though, this week is spring break, so forgetting that February 29 was a thing this year didn't affect me in any huge way. So far break has been pretty laid back (except taxes, *sad face*), as I'm spending it with my crazy-but-awesome cousins. It's always fun to take a break from school and catch up with all of these special people that I missed out on while I've lived overseas, and now at college. They actually got a snow day today, which is pretty exciting--I haven't had one of those in years! So today there is extra time to spend together.

Usually when I visit, one of the girls bakes something with me. This time, Lydia picked to bake funfetti cupcakes. Funnily enough, funfetti perfectly describes her personality: filled with fun, colorful surprises, and always ready to put a smile on your face (case in point: she is shooting me with a fake machine gun as I type this).

Sadly, I don't get to bake cupcakes much anymore. Wait, scratch that, I don't get to bake much of anything anymore. Depressing, considering that baking is a large part of who I am. Want to know Maddie in a nutshell? Baking, and cats. Preferably together, please. Luckily this week I have gotten both, a sweet (haha) bonus to being with my family.

Funfetti cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties, but really, you don't need a special occasion to bake these cupcakes. They are fun, and that's all the reason you need! To be honest, I'm not really the biggest fan of "plain" flavors like vanilla, but I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into these sprinkle-loaded cupcakes and got a mouthful of cake that was sweet, moist, and lacking that telltale chemical-y flavor of box-mix funfetti cake. And as far as cupcakes go, these are pretty easy to make: a few basic ingredients + lotsa sprinkles + some time and love = funfetti cupcakes and happiness!

Make these cupcakes A.S.A.P. to brighten the gloomy end-of-winter days.

Funfetti Cupcakes
Makes: 16

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup sprinkles (colorful, preferably jimmies or nonpareils)

Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. salt
5 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. heavy whipping cream*

Directions:

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cupcake tins with 15-16 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, put the melted butter, and mix in sugar with a hand or stand mixer for 30 seconds, until thick and combined.
4. To the butter mixture, add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
5. Alternately mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour; do not overmix.
6. Stir in sprinkles.
7. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full (~1/4 batter per liner). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting. Store in an airtight container.

Frosting:
1. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy.
2. Beat in salt and powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.
3. Beat in vanilla and 1 tablespoon whipping cream. Add more whipping cream if needed to obtain desired consistency.
4. Frost cupcakes using a pastry bag. This recipe makes plenty of frosting to pile it in high swirls.

*You can replace buttermilk by combining 3/4 cup milk + 1 tsp. white vinegar and letting sit for 5 minutes.
*You can replace heavy whipping cream for milk, but the consistency will not be as creamy.

Recipe from: http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/02/perfect-funfetti-cupcakes/