I’m so predictable. It’s Friday and I’m giving you a dessert recipe. I think its because I secretly hope that you will make these on Friday and eat the entire thing over the weekend so I will feel better about having nothing but these for lunch two days in a row.

I actually made these for the 5-year-old that I nanny for. When I asked her what she wanted to bring to school for her birthday, the conversation went like this:

Her: VANILLA CUPCAKES!!

Me: Vanilla cupcakes? Are you sure?

Her: Yes!!

Me: Well…do you want me to throw strawberries in? I can make pink strawberry cupcakes!

Her: No. I want vanilla.

Me: Do you want me to add some sprinkles?

Her: No! Just vanilla

Me: Pink Vanilla?

Her: JUST VANILLA!!

Me: fine…

I was so underwhelmed. Vanilla cupcakes are never my go to recipe. Ever. I think because all the really bad store-bought cakes and cupcakes that are always brought to parties and events are plain, ol’ stale vanilla. I’ve been scarred.

So I grudgingly made these with some serious trepidation. When they came out amazing, I was really, really surprised. Of course, I flat out ignored her request for all vanilla and paired them with the strawberry frosting from this recipe, which is hands down my favorite. She loved them.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
from Food.com
makes 12

• 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with liners.

Stir the non-dairy milk and the apple cider vinegar together and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the milk/apple cider mixture, oil, sugar and vanilla together. Add the flour mixture and beat until no large lumps remain. (if you taste the batter after it’s all combined, it tastes just like a box cupcake mix!)

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes until done.

I had to make 3 dozens of these puppies. Of course, after I made the first batch of vegan ones, I remembered that one of the 5 year-olds classmates is allergic to nuts, which means no almond milk. I had to scrub everything really well and make 3 new batches with regular milk. Thankfully, I only made 1 dozen of the vegan version before I remembered this.

The cupcakes pictured are frosted with this Coconut Frosting, which I had left over, and some chocolate frosting from a left over cake that was made. All the strawberry frosting went onto the non-vegan cupcakes so I decided to use what I had instead of making a whole new batch. The vanilla cupcakes went beautifully with all of them but my favorite was definitely the strawberry.

Now, go make these and report back with how many you ate so I can feel better about how many I had. Kthanks