Make assorted Cupcakes USING 1 RECIPE! 🧁

unsalted butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Coconut oil provides a dairy-free option while margarine is often less expensive.

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: ricotta cheese

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess.

granulated sugar

🥗Healthier: stevia

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Stevia is a low-calorie sweetener, while brown sugar is often cheaper.

milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: water

Almond milk is lower in calories, while water is a cost-effective substitute.

Cream together unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.

Add 3 large eggs to the mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.

Stir in milk and lemon juice, noting that the batter may seem a bit curdled due to the lemon juice.

Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed well.

To make lemon cupcakes, stir lemon zest directly into the batter and pour into cupcake liners in the pan.

For vanilla cupcakes, pour the batter into liners without adding anything.

For cookies and cream cupcakes, crush mini Oreos and stir them directly into the cupcake liners with the batter.

Divide the remaining batter in half for chocolate and red velvet cupcakes.

To one half, add cocoa powder and additional milk to maintain moisture.

To the other half, add cocoa powder and red food coloring.

Bake the cupcakes at 320°F (160°C) for about 22-25 minutes, checking with a toothpick for doneness.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them.

Prepare cream cheese frosting by creaming room temperature butter for about a minute.

In another bowl, mix cold cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla for about 30 seconds, avoiding overmixing.

Quickly add the creamed butter to the cream cheese mixture and mix until thick and pipeable.

Optionally, divide the frosting and color one batch pink for red velvet cupcakes and add cocoa powder to another for chocolate frosting.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens