Ingredients

VANILLA CUPCAKES

1 and 2/3 cup all ­purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 egg whites

1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt (or plain; or regular yogurt; or even sour cream)

3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or cow’s milk; or soy milk; or plain almond milk)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

seeds scraped from 1/2 split vanilla bean

VANILLA BEAN FROSTING

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

4-­5 cups powdered (confectioners’) sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

seeds scraped from 1/2 split vanilla bean

salt, to taste

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave­safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar ­ mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg whites, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Split 1 vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise. Scrape seeds from half of the vanilla bean into batter. Reserve other half.
  3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.
  4. Divide batter among 12 cupcake liners (or 24 mini) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake for 8­-9 minutes if making mini cupcakes. Allow to cool.
  5. To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if mixture is too thick. Add salt if frosting is too sweet (1/4 teaspoon). Frost cooled cupcakes (I used Wilton 1M piping tip). There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.