I originally posted this recipe back in November, after I found out that November 10th was National Vanilla Cupcake Day….oh my, how did I not know this day existed before now?  It should be a national holiday, there should be tons and tons of cupcakes eaten on that day!  Oh well, maybe that will just be how we celebrate in our house  But anyway, I do have an amazing recipe to share with you.  It starts with….drumroll please…. boxed cake mix.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Boxed cake mix.  Hands down, it is the tastiest, softest, and most moist cupcake I’ve ever made, and yet it holds up very well to buttercream frosting. I don’t know who came up with the idea for cupcakes, but I’d like to go back in time to give them a hug!  They’re so classic, cute, great for parties, and have endless decorating opportunities! The stereotype of vanilla cupcakes is that they are dry… blech, who wants to eat a dry cupcake?  NOT ME.  It doesn’t matter how great the flavors are, or how much frosting you pipe on… if the cupcake is dry, that’s what people will remember.  Well now you can turn that stereotype upside down! These vanilla cupcakes could be customized by adding additional spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc), and I haven’t done this yet, but you could probably use a box of chocolate cake mix in place of the white to make the most delicious chocolate cupcakes ever!!  I’ve also included my recipe for a fantastic buttercream frosting   Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl Not Your Average Vanilla Cupcakes   Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 18 mins Total time 33 mins   There's not much I can say, other than you just have to try these! Author: The Chunky Chef Recipe type: Dessert Cuisine: American Serves: 24-30 cupcakes Ingredients 1 (18.25 oz) box of white cake mix 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup white sugar ¾ tsp salt 1⅓ cups water 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup sour cream 4 egg whites VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING 3 cups powdered sugar 1 cup butter room temperature 1 tsp vanilla extract 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream Instructions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans. In a large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add all remaining ingredients and beat with mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended. Use ice cream scoop (or spoon that has been sprayed with cooking spray) to fill prepared cupcake tins- fill about ¾ full. Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency. Scoop into a piping bag and pipe decoratively onto cupcakes, or spread onto cupcakes as desired. Notes ** A lot of companies have downsized their cake mix boxes (grrrrrr), so you can make it with a slightly smaller mix, or get 2 boxes and add in a little from the second box to make it the stated size. I added a little extra, but I think overall, you'd be just fine if you wanted to use a slightly smaller box. Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe 3.2.2885