Mini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

This week's recipe is short and sweet. Literally. A couple of weeks ago, I just needed a bite of something sweet and these mini cupcakes did the trick! They are super easy too. I started out with a boxed white cake mix and followed the directions on the box but did add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Then I spooned the batter into a mini-muffin tin that I had lined with paper cups. I filled each cup about 2/3 full. I baked them in the oven at the temperature stated on my box of mix and at this size, mine took 14 minutes. When they were cooled, I made a cream cheese frosting, piped it on top and added sprinkles.

As you can see, they were mini! Piping frosting is easy too. Most crafts stores and mega-marts carry the basic supplies and you don't have to do anything fancy. This was done with a medium-sized star tip and I just went around the top in a circle. I tinted the frosting orange since it is October and added orange, yellow and green sprinkles. And because I made mini-cupcakes, it made a ton! Perfect for potlucks or to send to Halloween parties at school.

I did run a little short on frosting......but only by six so I think I did pretty good.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package softened cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients well with mixer and then whip until frosting becomes light and fluffy. If you wish to add food coloring, can do so at any time.