Vanilla Cupcakes with The Best Vanilla Frosting

On to the third dessert... I was seriously on a role at this point. 
Since I bought these super cute cupcake liners back in June, I figure I had to use them again! I originally bought them for a friends graduation party and I had some leftovers, perfect for my party of course.

Mom also approved.
Anyway, I figured I'd go with a vanilla cupcake since I already had peanut butter cookies and chocolate cake pops. I'm still in search of the ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe, but this one is pretty delicious. It has a coarse texture, but tons of vanilla flavor (which might be due to the whole tablespoon of vanilla). Anyway, here's the recipe!

Vanilla Cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cake flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp 2% milk
2 Tbsp half and half or cream
(can be substituted for 3/4 cup whole milk, etc.)
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs


Set oven at 350 degrees. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat well. Incorporate half of the flour mixture and beat with a mixer until uniform. Pour in the milk, followed by the rest of the flour mixture and mix by hand. You don't want to over-beat this batter or you'll get a super dense cupcake, more like cornbread. Fill each cupcake liner over halfway full. This batter makes 18 cupcakes almost perfectly. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean.
Immediately remove from tins and let cool completely before frosting.

You might find this frosting a little weird, but I swear it is absolutely delicious. I'm excited to experiment with this recipe since it uses flour and isn't super sweet with just butter and confectioner's sugar.. those types of frosting are generally just too sweet for me, and trust me, I have a big sweet tooth. I hope you enjoy this frosting as much as I did...


The Best Vanilla Frosting (Yes, saying "The Best" is necessary)
5 Tbsp flour (yes, flour)
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter


In a saucepan, whisk together the flour and milk until combined. Place the saucepan over medium heat and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Stop when the mixture becomes like a rue; About 5 minutes until the consistency looks smooth

Cool the mixture completely. Once cool, add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
Into a separate bowl, pour the sugar and add butter. Using a mixer or stand mixer, beat until it is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once the flour/milk mixture is completely cooled, it can be added to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat well on medium-high speed until the mixture looks like whipped cream. You want to be careful not to over-beat also. Spread with a knife or use a piping bag!

Clearly I went with the piping bag and some cute red sprinkles to emphasize my Maryland colors...

Enjoy :)