Easy Cupcakes

So, moms who are trying to avoid food coloring find themselves becoming cupcake bakers by necessity. Kids these days are always having parties - cupcakes at school, at sports and of course at birthday parties. And it is rare to find a party with all naturally colored cupcakes, so it's always a good idea to bring your own. At school, many moms leave some homemade cupcakes in the freezer in a ziploc container. They thaw out in about 20-30 minutes, no problem.

Here are my two easiest, basic cupcake recipes. They are also the most affordable because they require no milk and no eggs! This also makes the cakes vegan, but this is not my goal. My goal is to make tons of cupcakes for the entire football team for less than $10:)

These are so easy you don't even need to pull out the electric mixer, a simple bowl and spoon will work just fine! As my 5 year old would say, "Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy".

Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water or milk or combination
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon vinegar or cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cupcake pan or place liners in it. With a fork or whisk, mix together the dry ingredients. Then, while mixing, add in the wet ingredients. mix with a spoon just until combined. Fill each cupcake about 3/4 full. *Tip: An ice cream scooper with a mechanism to release the scoop works like magic here and fills each cup just right.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water (or milk or combination of both)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar or cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cupcake pan or place liners in it. With a fork or whisk, mix together the dry ingredients. Then, while mixing, add in the wet ingredients. mix with a spoon just until combined. Fill each cupcake about 3/4 full. *Tip: An ice cream scooper with a mechanism to release the scoop works like magic here and fills each cup just right.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.


Here is a recipe for homemade buttercream and some natural ways to color it.