Light vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla honey buttercream frosting, both with just the right amount of honey flavor without being too sweet.
I’ve been sick for about a week. So that meant a lot of tea (I don’t even drink tea), Hot Toddies, gargling salt water, cough drops and Nyquill.
There’s been a fair amount of lemon and honey in my diet, which I don’t mind – well, aside from why there was so much lemon and honey in my diet.
After I finally started feeling better, I craved honey. And since it’s probably not acceptable to just drink honey straight out of the bottle, I decided to come up with a delicious alternative.
I had a box of off-brand Honeycombs cereal in the pantry, so I grabbed a handful of those to munch on while I contemplated what I was going to make.
And then I decided I would make a honey latte (which is totally not that difficult, by the way) using a Starbucks Vanilla K-Cup to wash down the Honeycombs.
So as I sat on my kitchen floor (I don’t know why – I have a perfectly good dining room table with four chairs to choose from) it occurred to me that the combination of honey and vanilla is delicious. And would probably be awesome in frosting.
So I used a tried and true white cupcake recipe and made a few tweaks to incorporate the right balance of honey and vanilla.
And then I made the frosting as a honey and vanilla buttercream and it turned out exactly how I wanted.
I decided to do mini cupcakes because when I’m trying a new recipe, I like to have bite sized samples to give to friends and coworkers to get their opinions for troubleshooting purposes. Quality Assurance is part of my day job, and clearly I don’t leave it at the door.
They’re light and not too sweet. They don’t smell like vanilla or honey – which is bizarre to me, by the way – but the taste is the perfect balance of both.
I hope you like these as much as I do!
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Honey + Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk*
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Sprinkles, optional, for garnish
- 24 pieces of Honeycomb cereal, optional, for garnish
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a mini muffin pan with liners, or spray with non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well combined.½ cup unsalted butter | ¾ cup granulated sugar
- In a medium bowl, mix together buttermilk, honey and vanilla. Set aside.½ cup buttermilk* | ⅓ cup honey | 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.1 ½ cups flour | 1 teaspoon baking powder | ½ teaspoon salt
- Add eggs to large bowl with butter mixture and beat well.2 eggs
- Add half of the dry ingredient mixture and mix well, then add half of the wet mixture and mix well. Repeat for the remaining mixtures.
- Fill each cup of prepared pan ¾ full and bake for 15-18 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of one of the mini cupcakes should come out clean.
- Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then move to cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese until well combined. It's easiest to slice the butter and cream cheese into small cubes to make this process go more quickly and smoothly.¾ cup unsalted butter | 4 ounces cream cheese
- Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well in between each addition.3 cups powdered sugar
- Add honey and vanilla. Mix until well combined.4 tablespoons honey | 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Frost cupcakes as desired (I used a piping bag with a decorative tip for mine), add sprinkles and top with a piece of Honeycomb cereal. Enjoy!Sprinkles | 24 pieces of Honeycomb cereal
Dominique
How many cupcakes would I get if I made regular sized ones instead of mini? I’d love to make these for my daughters first birthday that is bee themed! :)
Leslie Kiszka
What a cute idea! I haven’t done it myself, but you would likely get around 8 regular sized cupcakes (rule of thumb is typically 3 mini cupcakes to 1 regular cupcake) :)
Cyndy Bartels
I used cake flour and they were excellent
Leslie Kiszka
I’m so glad to hear that!
Dana
These are really good! I’ve never been able to make presentable cupcakes until I tried this recipe. So excited I finally have a cupcake recipe I can depend on :-) thank you for sharing! !
lesliehaasch
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you liked them and that they turned out pretty for you. I’d love to see pictures! :)