Sugar, Spice and Spilled Milk
If you are looking for a green treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this week, these Pistachio Cupcakes are just what you need. The cupcake recipe is from Taste of Home, and they are topped with a delicious Cream Cheese Frosting with a 5 star rating from the Food Network site.
INGREDIENTS for Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a muffin pan by lining with cupcake papers. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture; stir until blended. Fill prepared cupcake papers three-fourths full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 18 – 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan to continue cooling on a wire rack. Makes 12 cupcakes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green food coloring, optional (I used Wilton leaf green)
Sprinkles, optional
In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time; beat on low speed until blended. Add vanilla extract, then beat in food coloring, if desired. Frost tops of cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.
The instant pistachio pudding mix adds both an interesting flavor and a green color to the cupcakes…
.Fill the paper cups about 3/4 full with batter.
Bake for 18 – 22 minutes
I tinted my cream cheese frosting with a little food coloring and topped them with sprinkles to carry out the St. Patrick’s Day theme.
These cupcakes are a yummy treat. The pistachio pudding gives them a nice flavor, and the cream cheese frosting would be a good topping on most any kind of cupcake.
