Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

These cupcakes were delicious! Since discovering the recipe, I have already made them twice, and they have disappeared quickly both times - the recipe makes 50+ cupcakes!

They contained some ingredients that were unconventional, including:

Creme fraiche,

ground almonds,

SmartBalance/Butter blend,

and my favorite sweetener...Splenda!

Here is a list of all of the ingredients needed to make these cupcakes:

• 2 sticks SmartBalance/Butter blend (or butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 2 T vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup creme fraiche

Here's how you put those ingredients together to make some amazing cupcakes!

In a standing mixer, combine the butter, sugar, Splenda, and vanilla. Whisk on medium speed until creamy.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

in a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

Alternatively add the dry ingredients and creme fraiche to the batter. Mix on medium speed until smooth.

Spoon batter into a lined mini muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out with small crumbs on it. Try not to over-bake them.

Now, at this point, you can enjoy them as-is, or you can get a little more adventurous and add...

NUTELLA!!!!

Using a piping bag, pipe a little nutella into each cupcake. Then, ice them with the icing of your choice. I used my favorite vanilla icing recipe, and added nutella to it to make a creamy nutella icing, but you could do whatever you like, including simply icing them with nutella.

Enjoy! Happy Birthday to Kristina!!!