So it was Grandma Maye’s (my mother-in-law) birthday yesterday and my trio of kitchen sidekicks wanted to kick it in the kitchen.  Josie, my middle love, has been reading Cupcake Diaries by Coco Simon and wouldn’t you know that the books contain recipes…  Sounds like one of those serendipitous moments when the planets line up–or at least that what my kiddos thought.

A healthy organic plant-based diet is what I shoot for in general, but I’m not made of stone.  Of course we can make cupcakes from scratch.  Whytheheck not?

Don’t worry.  I’m going to retype it in real people letters for your ease and entertainment.

Vanilla Cupcakes from Mia in the Mix by Coco Simon

Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 cup whole milk

Directions (as usual, I ignored pretty much all the “do this step first and then do this” type instructions… sorry.  I said I would make cupcakes, I didn’t say I liked baking!  I still dislike it as much as ever…)  So, my directions are: put it all in a bowl and mix it up.  Oh–and I think I forgot the baking powder.  I got distracted when there was some heated arguing over who had “poured in the most stuff” that resulted in everyone stepping away from the bowl for a few minutes to re-evaluate our purpose in life.  We regained our purpose, overall, but I really don’t remember getting the baking powder out of the cupboard after all was said and done… and nobody complained so let’s just keep this tiny oversight between you and me.  K?  Thanks!)

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients (I quartered the amounts and the original quantities would have been enough frosting for 100 cupcakes!)  2 tbsp. room temp. butter, 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. whole milk, dash vanilla.  Mix and, uh, put on the cupcakes.

Sweet, fattening treats for the heck of it?  Not super common at my house.  Sweet, fattening birthday treats that connect literature to real life, allow my kids the chance to create and give to someone they love, feel proud of what they, themselves made and the opportunity for Josie to begin plans for her own foodie blog some day: I’m in.