Cupcakes, Cookies, and Almond Milk

I have been busy in the kitchen making delicious treats. I have been head-over-heels for the Raspberry Lemonade cupcake from Cardinal Cupcakes since the first bite, and I've wanted to make similar cupcakes. I also wanted to try substituting almond milk for regular milk in baked goods. I did some digging and found that almond milk is a healthier choice. But would it make food taste different? I've been eating cereal with vanilla almond milk (thanks to Sonny), but I never tried it when I cook/bake. I used the original almond milk, not the vanilla flavored almond milk, and found no difference. Now if there is no "regular milk" on hand at Sonny's I don't have to run out to the store...as long as there is almond milk on hand.

My baking adventure started with Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes. I found the recipe I used here. I couldn't wait to make these cupcakes and share them. The cupcakes turned out beautiful. They looked great and smelt wonderful. The frosting was another story. I ended up with A LOT of "extra" frosting. My frosting making skills needs work and I needed to add a TON more powdered sugar. It was thin and runny...I think I needed to pack the powdered sugar instead leaving it loosely packed. I kept adding more powdered sugar and kept beating the icing, but I just couldn't get the icing to fluff. I iced the cupcakes anyway, added a fresh raspberry on top, and took them to Sonny's office. Despite the icing, they were a hit!

The next day I made some chocolate cupcakes, in attempt to use up the rest of the frosting. I did try and thick up the frosting some more by adding even more powdered sugar. Even though I didn't get the frosting to fluff, I did get it to thicken up! I'll count that as a win. But I still had a TON of icing leftover! What do I do now? Make sugar cookies! Raspberry iced sugar cookies!

All three raspberry iced desserts were delicious! Try making the raspberry lemonade cupcakes...they are great! I look forward to trying the icing recipe again in hopes of getting it to be fluffy and not be thin/runny.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk (almond milk)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with liners and set aside. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, cocoa, and salt...set aside for later.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and well mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat into the meat. Slowly add the flour mix and milk, beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake cupcakes for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. For mini-cupcakes, bake at the same temperature for half the time (7 to 8 minutes), or until a toothpick comes out clean.