Cupcakin'

Last week I decided to try a recipe from iheartcuppycakes . It was just a basic vanilla cupcake. In her blog she used it to make a rainbow cupcake. I figured since the girls were around we would go a little fancy with some swirls. So I divided the batter in thirds and colored 2 of them pink and purple.
I don't know how other moms do their baking or crafting with their kids around...because I have a hell of a time with mine. My girls are super curious and very hands on. Cooking dinner is often a challenge for us. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that they want to be involved and would rather be cooking/baking then watching t.v. but when i'm trying to get something done in a hurry or have a project that needs to get done for someone it can be a very messy situation. As for these cupcakes it was all fun n messes. Nia wanted to help out and I let her mix the colors  for the batter and swirl them in.  Here is the recipe for the cupcakes:
INGREDIENTS
For cupcakes
2-1/2 cups AP flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
12 tbsp (1-1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 large egg + 2 egg white, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used Lorann butter-vanilla emulsion instead)
1 cup milk (I used half-and-half instead)
food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple (I used Ateco coloring gel)
garnish (skittles, peeps, sprinkles)
cream cheese frosting (favorite recipe or canned)
[NOTES: You could substitute a white cake mix for the cupcake recipe too but the quantity and consistency of the cupcakes will be slightly different.]
INSTRUCTIONS
To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating on low. 
Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture. 
Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack

Here are some pictures of the process:

all the dry ingredients

creaming butter and sugar

added eggs and vanilla

added dry ingredients

added color

swirly swirl

pretty

time to frost and decorate

not bad..right?

yummy

They turned out really good. Right out of the oven the girls each had 2, Kevin had 3 and I had... some. LOL! I didn't feel like making frosting so we just used some left over store bought vanilla kind. If i were to make a frosting for this it would definitely be a cream cheese one. :) Well, on to the next i guess...
It will probably be  sour cream vanilla & choc. cupcakes from The Cupcake Project. YUMMY!