Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

A vanilla cupcake made VERY vanilla by using vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract in the batter!  This is such a simple and easy cupcake recipe to throw together (no mixer required), especially when you need to make cupcakes in a pinch.  And that’s actually how this recipe evolved.  Such a funny story…

I bake almost every day because it truly is my passion.  But I have to be feeling creative and be “in the zone” in order to bake.  Plenty of times I walk into the kitchen, put my apron on, get my music going and then nothing.  No inspiration.  No idea what to bake.  And other times I have a million things I want to bake.  But now, with the blog, it gets a whole lot more complicated.  When I am making something, I have to write everything down as I go, accounting for every pinch or teaspoon I add to a recipe.  I stop in the middle of a recipe to take pictures.  Then take pictures after I am done baking.  Edit pictures, upload pictures to my laptop, write my blog post and hopefully find something to talk about to keep you somewhat entertained, add the pictures, write the recipe up and then proofread and make 10,000 corrections.  So each blog post probably takes me a good 5-6 hours of actual work.

And now you are reading this going, “but vanilla cupcakes?”  Yes, yes, yes.  Back to vanilla cupcakes.  So there I am one Saturday afternoon.  Not sure if I feel like baking, but it had been a few days, so I figured I would knock out a couple recipes that I was dying to make.  I made some brownies for a friend who had just had surgery and another healthy peanut butter ball recipe for another friend.  I finished everything early and decided I should clean the house!  So there I am, in a cleaning frenzy, when my friend Jackie texts me and asks if I can make some cupcakes for a family birthday party for her son Lucas for the next day.  Of course I say yes.  But normally when I make special cupcakes, I spend a few weeks researching and developing a cupcake and frosting recipe, find a cute way to decorate the cupcakes and do my grocery shopping a few days in advance.  No time for any of that!

Luckily Lucas just wanted vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.  I have a killer Funfetti Cupcake recipe and a yummy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe here on the blog already, so I just adapted my Funfetti Cupcake recipe to turn the recipe into a Vanilla Bean Cupcake recipe and used my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe (but doubled it) for the cupcakes for Lucas’ party.  I used vanilla bean paste to make these, instead of the vanilla extract I used in the Funfetti Cupcakes.  If you want to make these and don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can just use extract.  You just won’t have as vanilla-y a taste and your won’t have those vanilla bean specks in the batter that I love so much 🙂

Since I was on a time crunch, I sent my hubby to the grocery store for me, to grab the few ingredients I needed for these cupcakes, so I could finish cleaning the house.   I decided I would just dedicate my Sunday morning to making the cupcakes and then frost them after lunch, right before the party.  My plan worked out perfect.  And it didn’t hurt that this recipe is so quick to whip up too.  Cupcakes in a pinch y’all!

Once your cupcakes have cooled completely, it’s time to frost them!  For these Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, I used my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe, but doubled it.  I had leftover frosting, but better to have too much frosting than not enough, amirite?!  If you would like to use something other than chocolate frosting, click HERE to see all the frosting recipes I have here on the blog!

Ahhh…that chocolate swirl.  This chocolate frosting smells as amazing as it tastes!  Store bought definitely does not even compare!

Since I didn’t have much time to make elaborate decorations for the cupcakes, I went with fun rainbow sprinkles…you can’t go wrong with sprinkles!

So there ya go!  My simple Vanilla Bean Cupcake recipe.  It doesn’t taste simple, but no one needs to know how easy it was to make these 🙂  Definitely worth pinning for when you have a last minute dessert you need to make for a party or bake sale!

XOXO,

Kelly

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PS—

I have linked this recipe up at the following link parties: The Pin Junkie, The Weekend Potluck, Pretty Pintastic Party, Sugar and Spice, Meal Plan Monday, Friday Frenzy, Create Link Inspire, What’s Cookin’ Wednesday.  Click on the links to check out a ton of amazing recipes!