Vanilla cupcakes.

It's birthday season in my building. Three birthdays in three days. I've had a lot of baking to do...which I totally love. But with baking comes dishes...which I don't so totally love. That's why I adore this recipe for vanilla cupcakes. Only one bowl needed. Glory, hallelujah. Let's do this.

One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes

slightly adapted from here

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (softened but not melty)

3/4 cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla 

2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175ish C). Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Preferably pretty ones. I recommend polka dots...even if they're going to boys. Because, why not?

Cast of characters.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Add the butter (it's best if you cut it up into smaller pieces first), milk, vanilla and eggs. I ran out of vanilla --tragedy!-- at like 3/4 tbsp, so I topped it up with almond extract and it worked great. Beat on medium speed until blended. The batter was a little too thick for my liking, so I added a little more milk. But you don't want it so thin that it's easily pourable.

Nerd moment: Isn't it amazing what a little heat can do?
There's probably a good metaphor for life in there somewhere...

Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Do a toothpick test (or dry spaghetti, if that's all you've got) a little beforehand. You don't want to over bake these babies, or they'll turn out pretty dry. 

Remove from pans to cool completely before frosting. 

I used a stiff buttercream recipe that holds up well when piped. But these little darlings work well with pretty much any kind of frosting out there, so just pick your favorite and get decorating!

And there you have it! A simple vanilla cupcake recipe that tastes great and leaves you with only one bowl (plus measuring cups, spoons, and other utensils, but whatever) to clean up afterward. Lovely.

Enjoy!