Strawberry Goodness!

I made some DELICIOUS strawberry cupcakes last night! I found an egg free recipe because my friend's son is allergic to eggs. I was surprised at how delicious and fluffy these were...without any eggs! Then I found a separate recipe for frosting, which I accidentally messed up by doubling the mashed strawberries! So, I just piped it into the middle as a filler and put a strawberry on top to cover it. I am freezing them for Friday's Easter Egg Hunt with our homeschool group, but I had enough extra to make a thin square cake and a couple to sample earlier. YUM-O!

Those photos were taken with my phone. Corey thought they were chocolate because they are dark. That just goes to show you how much COLORING is in things you buy at the store that are "strawberry flavored." These are 100% preservative and coloring FREE!

Here are the recipes:

Egg FREE Strawberry Cupcakes:

Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached) 1 and 3/4 cups

Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup

Baking Soda 1 teaspoon

Frozen/fresh strawberries, pureed or crushed 8oz (I used 14 strawberries)

Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon

Canola Oil 1/2 cup

White Distilled Vinegar 1 tablespoon

Yield: 12-16 cupcakes or One 9 inch loaf cake.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Grease/line a muffin tin or grease a 9 inch loaf pan.

2 In a large bowl combine together the flour, baking soda and sugar.

3 In another bowl, mix the oil, vinegar and vanilla. I pureed the strawberries in a blender, because I was not sure if my son would like to bite of chunks of strawberry in the muffin. Add the pureed strawberry also to the oil mixture and stir to combine.

4 Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir together but do not overstir.

5 Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins. I got exactly 12 muffins.

6 Bake for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If baking a loaf bake it for 40-45 minutes and check for the doneness.

7 Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, frost the cupcakes and top each with a whole strawberry.

The Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 1/4 C butter (room temperature)
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 C strawberries, mashed up in a food processor
• 3 to 4 C powdered sugar

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Mix in the strawberries.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the taste and consistency you prefer.
4. Add to your favorite cupcakes!

(double the amount of mashed strawberries to make a filling instead of frosting! lol)