Let there be Cupcakes

Well hello there! Nice to see you! I’ve missed our little chats. Over the past 2 months I’ve spent a little a lot of time focusing on what’s important and less no time blogging. Don’t you worry I’ve written some hella brooding and serious mommy posts that I may or may not one day share with you all. Cue unbridled excitement. Calm your pits, Becca, I probably won't… I’ve also been working on a little, nay, huge project with a few of my favorite people, can’t wait to share that with you soon! Oh yeah, and we are moving. 2 thumbs down. But mostly, I’ve been watching Rocco grow and learn and eat and sleep through the night!!! #WINNING So after many a disappearing acts, I’m back. With cake. Yes, that’s right. This sugar free health nut is back WITH CUPCAKES. A few months ago I met the lovely Cori Larsen of Heaven Cupcake at a baking lesson and I watched her make beautiful fluffy cupcakes that I couldn't eat. I was, of course, filled with sadness. We decided to have a cupcake making party and try our hand at vegan baking. We all know I'm not a baker, which Cori, a seasoned Cupcake Wars pro, can attest to but we basically filled in vegan ingredients to her perfectly delicious recipe and we arrived at a kid-approved and man-approved finished product. I call that a win. Check out our recipe!!!!! Makes 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes.

[Cori prefers mini cupcakes, perfectly pop-able]

2.5 cups of flour

1.5 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 cup almond milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water [enerG brand is the bomb]

Preheat oven to 355. Mix dry ingredients and then wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Cori is a HUGE fan of her Kitchen Aid mixer, so if you have one bust that puppy out and slowly pour the wet to the dry ingredients until well combined. Don't over mix!!!! Then [using a tiny ice cream scoop, genius!] fill the lined tin and pop in the oven for 15-18 minutes rotating the pan around 6 minutes. See!? The brilliant tips keep coming.

Our attempt to recreate her famous cream cheese frosting with vegan cream cheese was sad… I didn't think it tasted awful, but it was a pretty yuck texture, so we opted for a basic buttercream. Cori googled a few Food.com recipes and we came up with this.

Vegan Buttercream | 2 ways

4 ounces Earth Balance, softened

3 tablespoons almond milk

1 cup confectioners sugar [more if you like it super sweet, I do not]

1 teaspoon vanilla

[For a special something, something add a pinch o cinnamon and a splash of almond extract]

[Optional] 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder! We added it after we iced half of the cupcakes with the vanilla. I personally LOVE the chocolate/vanilla swirl!

Cream all ingredients together with a stand or hand mixer. To make your cupcakes look oh-so-pretty use a frosting bag and a star tip to instantly elevate your creations to PROFESH levels. It also doesn't hurt to strategically place your sprinkles… That's not at all what we did… Okay, it totally is.

Enjoy and be sure to check out Cori on Insta, Twitter, and her site Flour & Coco.****