Spring Chick Cupcakes - The Chirping Moms

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all opinions are my own.

I have to admit that up until recently, all my baking started from the box. Yes, those super simple & easy boxed cake mixes that you find in the baking aisle at the grocery store. It makes baking easy because it’s hard to mess up something that gives you step by step directions with minimal ingredients. But I have to admit…I’m not sure if you can call that true baking. At the beginning of last month, a dear friend brought our family the most beautiful homemade cake to enjoy to celebrate the arrival of our little baby girl. The whole cake was made from scratch, including the actual cake layers & the intricate frosting. It reminded me of the baking that my mother did in our house growing up. I can’t remember a time in my childhood when my mom used a “mix”. Everything was always created entirely from scratch. Since receiving that beautiful cake, I have been inspired to put away the boxed cake mixes and do some of my own baking from scratch. Last month for Valentine’s Day, I attempted just some simple white cupcakes with pink frosting & sprinkles. It was fun to do and the kids loved the special holiday cupcakes so much that I thought let’s do another baking project this month. In anticipation for the arrival of spring, the kids and I decided to bake these fun cupcakes last week: Spring Chick Cupcakes. Today, I’m sharing the cake recipe as well as the simple steps to turn a classic white cupcake into a happy little chick.

These Spring Chick cupcakes are made entirely from scratch and I’m pretty sure my mom would be proud of my “baking attempts” with my kids. My mom is a wonderful cook and pretty much, my cooking inspiration. She was a home economics major in college & takes her time in the kitchen very serious. Any time I have a question about cooking or baking, my mom is the first to call. And if there’s one person I trust when it comes to baking advice, it is definitely my mom. She has taught me several things that are now engrained in my baking brain. She has taught me that you must be patient when baking. She has taught me to super careful and measure with precision. And, she has also taught me to shop for high quality ingredients for the best taste and texture in baked goods.

This includes Bob’s Red Mill Organic All Purpose Flour. This premium organic baking flour is not enriched with any additives & is milled from America’s highest quiailty wheat. This is the same high protein flour used by professional bakers.

Using Bob’s Red Mill flour and other high quality ingredients, the kids and I started this month’s baking project by first making some super delicious white cupcakes. This recipe is one of the classic cake recipes that has been passed down from my mom. It takes more work than the boxed cake mixes that I’m used to, but I love the homemade taste so much more. Then, we took some simple steps to turn our basic cupcakes into some cute Easter chicks. Read below for the cake and frosting recipes as well as the steps needed to turn them into a festive spring cupcake!

Easter Chick Cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

2 Cups of Sugar

1 Cup of Butter, Softened

4 Eggs, Room Temperature

2 Tbsp. of Vanilla

3 Cups of Flour

1 Tbsp. & 1/2 Tsp. of Baking Powder

1 1/2 Cups of Milk

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 Cup of Butter, Softened

3-4 Cups of Powdered Sugar

2-3 Tsp. of Vanilla

1-2 Tbsp. of Milk

Ingredients to Decorate:

Candy Eyeballs

Candied Oranges

Food Coloring

Yellow Sprinkles

Directions for White Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat sugar & butter together with mixer for ten minutes.

3. Add one egg at a time & beat with mixer for 3-4 minutes per egg.

4. Add vanilla into mixture.

5. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder together.

6. Add to the sugar/butter/egg/vanilla mixture, by alternating with the milk. (Wet/Dry/Wet/Dry/Etc.)

7. Pour into the cupcake pan.

8. Bake 16-18 minutes.

9. Let cool.

Directions for Buttercream Frosting:

1. Put butter & three cups of powdered sugar into mixing bowl.

2. Turn onto lowest setting while the butter and powdered sugar mix together. Once they are mixed together, you can turn to a higher setting and beat.

3. Add vanilla & mix.

4. Add milk and rest of powdered sugar until you get deserved taste & consistency.

5. Add yellow food coloring and mix together.

Directions for Decorating Cupcakes:

(I’m not the best at piping so these are easy to do without having to use a fancy icing technique!)

1. Using a knife, ice the cupcake yellow.

2. Pour yellow sprinkles into a bowl & dip the cupcake into the yellow sprinkles.

3. Add candy eyeballs.

4. Cut an orange slice candy in half & use for a nose.

5. Decorate the chick using more frosting. You can add hair, wings, or even little feet!