St. Patty's Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

To celebrate, I made cupcakes with the kiddos tonight. Baked goods are my biggest weakness so they'll probably be gone by tomorrow! :)

CUPCAKES:


This is how I roll...

Box mix. Thank you very much. First of all... DELICIOUS. Second of all... ya can't get any easier than this. And let's be honest, baking with kids isn't always the quickest or easiest thing in the world, hence, the box mix. And yes, I used oil and eggs. Don't judge me. I'll just work extra hard in the gym next week!

Ok, frosting on the other hand... I have a hard time even stomaching store-bought frosting (except for the funfetti kind... yum!). I can't think of many things worse than store-bought frosting. I must be a frosting snob.

I must give credit where credit is due, my go-to frosting recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, which by the way is one of my favorite cooking blogs ever! This frosting is easy and so delicious...

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
*Makes about 4 cups of frosting

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
16 ounces powdered sugar (about 3 ½ cups)
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until it is light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar gradually and mix in fully after each addition. Cream at low speed until well blended and creamy. Pour in the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is light and fluffy.

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I like to fancy-up my cupcakes a little bit by not just slapping the frosting on with a knife, makes me feel a little better about my box mix :) ...

1. Put frosting in a zip lock. Fold top down so you don't get frosting all over the bag- makes it easier to put the frosting in the bag also...

 2. Cut a tiny hole out of one corner...

 3. Spread the frosting out in circles. Sorry, bad pic, I took it as I was spreading the frosting myself :)

4. Put them in the fridge and get ready to live! Seriously these things are ridiculous when they're cold! You'll eat the entire batch too!

 I was dying as I was flipping through all the pictures we took. I think Dodger is eating frosting or batter in every one of them....

The other half, Taya is yelling at him for it...

 Hope you have a great St. Patty's!! And don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY!!!

-Posted by Ashley