PEEPS! Lemon Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting Easter Dessert Recipe

PEEPS! Lemon Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting Easter Dessert Recipe

Happy first day of Spring! Weren’t we just celebrating New Years? It absolutely feels like spring here in Vegas this past week though. It’s been in the high 80’s and a few 90’s days too! Yep, I cranked on my air. I am so sorry for all of you still with snow (not really)

Ready or not… Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail, Hoppin’ Down The Bunny Trail, Hippity Hoppity, Easter’s On It’s way…. Everybody sing! Sorry, now that will be stuck in your head all day… (not really) This is Ethan’s last week of school before Easter break and tomorrow he’s got this big Easter parade / egg hunt thingy type party at school. And guess who’s making the cupcakes? Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting decorated with… PEEPS! Of course! Yep, me. What says Easter and Spring better than yummy lemon cupcakes and PEEPS? I can’t think of anything else either. I wanted to keep it fairly simple because we’re making an orange cheesecake over on the other blog tomorrow! OMGLeeeee…. it’s going to be so good! We’re not sending that to school. That one’s saying home! But I also wanted something cute that the small fry’s will totally dig. I used a basic white cake recipe  and then adapted it to give it the lemon spin. Also used my never fail cream cheese frosting recipe, did up those sweet PEEPS and sprinkle decorations and…. the crowd goes wiiiiiiild. Ready to get your baking on? Let’s go!

Lemon Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:
Lemon Cupcakes

• 1 Cup White Sugar
  
• 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 3/4 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/2 Cup Butter (not margarine!)
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 2 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 TSP Lemon Extract (or fresh squeezed juice from 1 lemon)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 Cup Butter (softened)
• 8 OZ Cream Cheese (softened)
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* degrees and line muffin pan with cute little Easter paper liners. (go for the cute ones here!)
In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and butter until well incorporated. Beat in the eggs (one at a time) then add the vanilla and lemon extract (or fresh squeezed juice). In separate large mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder (I just toss this real well by hand) add the creamed mixture to the larger bowl mix on medium speed until well blended. Slowly add the milk and continue mixing until batter is nice and smooth. (no lumps. lumps are yucky!) Fill muffin tins evenly with batter. (I use an ice cream scoop, it’s so much easier and way less messy!)
Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Ours were done closer to the 20 min mark but all ovens will vary. You can use the old ‘toothpick coming clean test’ to be sure they are done. Tops should be a nice golden brown. Remove cupcakes from muffin pan and set on cooling rack until completely cooled before frosting.

To make the super yummy frosting switch to the whisk attachment. Whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly (really slowly or it will billow up all over the kitchen, HUGE mess!) add the powdered sugar. Mix until well incorporated. Add vanilla and mix that in well. Increase the speed (medium high) and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. I love light, fluffy frosting! Do a small taste test… just because it’s yummy. Also, totally cool to lick the whisk attachment here too. Why not, right?

Decorating Lemon Cupcakes With Sprinkles and PEEPS!

Frost lemon cupcakes in whatever way you’re comfortable. A knife, a spatula, nothing fancy, any method will be perfect! I found the easiest way to get the sprinkles on the cupcakes rather than all over the kitchen counter and floor is to pour them into a shallow pie dish and roll them. Don’t even attempt to ‘sprinkle’ them on. It takes longer and your kitchen will become a pastel sprinkled explosion zone. Set on cooling rack until all are nicely coated. Once all are coated grab 1 PEEP and with a knife add a dab of frosting on the bottom of each PEEP. Place securely on top of each of the cupcakes and Voila! Pretty lemon cupcakes with sprinkles and PEEPS!!!  Now isn’t that perfect to take to school, have at Easter Brunch… or Tuesday …. Because it’s Spring and you want to eat dessert?

Got any special plans for Easter? Oh hey!! How’s the weather looking by you? Getting any warmer yet?