Lavender Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Lavender cupcakes!! You have no idea how many exclamation points I want to use right now.

I stumbled across a recipe that looked heavenly delicious and have been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while! Now that the Holiday Season is winding down for me I decided to give these cupcakes a try. I tweaked the recipe and came up with a little healthier version !

I substituted the refined sugar, vegetable oil and conventional powdered sugar with healthier options. 

And a big secret to seriously bring out the Lavender flavor? I just used Lavender Essential Oil in these cupcakes! Important: Use only CTPG – Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade^® oils.

The cupcakes are straight up a Vanilla-y lavender dream. They are  fluffy and light and taste so good.

They are paired with the cream cheese frosting which is so super rich and decadent that it complements the cake in the best way possible.

Topped with a little spring of fresh lavender, they are almost too pretty to eat.  ALMOST!

The recipe includes the substitutions that I made.  The choice is yours to make!

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Lavender Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  • Substitute with coconut sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Substitute with olive or coconut oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 drops of CTPG Lavender essential oil
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 8-ounce blocks cream cheese
  • Substitute with low fat Neufchatel
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Make your own easy healthier version! (Recipe listed below)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• fresh non treated lavender springs or flowers for topping

Instructions for the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill a cupcake tin with liners.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set it aside.
4. Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat it until creamy.
5. Add the sugar and beat with the butter on high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add in the egg and egg white, mixing well on medium speed until combined.
7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
8. Add in the oil, vanilla and lavender essential oil, beating on medium speed for another minute.
9. With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk. Add in the other half of the dry ingredients and mix them on medium speed until the batter is combined.
10. Fill each liner about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until the tops are set, about 18 to 22 minutes.
11. Let cool completely before frosting.

Instructions for Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat the cream cheese (or Neufchatel) and butter together until creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar until combined.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Frost the cooled cupcakes!
4. Before serving, top with fresh lavender springs or flowers. If desired, you can add a drop of organic food coloring in (pink or purple) to color the frosting!

Instructions for DIY Powdered Sugar

You can make a healthier version of powdered sugar by substituting regular sugar with coconut sugar or maple granules. Using a food processor, simply blend 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch until a fine powder. Voila, it is that easy!

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