Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day

These cute Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes have bits of real maraschino cherry in the bright pink Cherry Vanilla Buttercream.

They’re the perfect treat for Valentine’s Day.

Food is a big part of how I express love and kindness to my family.

It feels good to make something special for them and watch them enjoy eating it.

In our home, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for the adults.

Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to do a little something extra special to express love to all members of your family, kids included.

Put two and two together and you’ll find that I usually make the day a little extra special using my kitchen.

It doesn’t need to be a big production to be special.

I usually offer a small gift, like a book or stickers, and bake a special treat.

This year Madeline is getting Emeraldalicious (the newest book in the Pinkalicious book series) and Logan is getting book #1 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, something he’s been asking for.

My kids loved the Chocolate Cherry Cordial Thumbprint Cookies we made for Christmas.

With that in mind, I started to brainstorm a few weeks ago about a new cherry dessert recipe that I could make for Valentine’s Day.

I decided on a Cherry Vanilla Cupcake.

Initially I really wanted to put miniature cherry chips in the cupcake batter.

I wasn’t able to find any in my local stores and it appears that King Arthur Flour no longer sells them, so I had to leave that out.

I still think cherry chips would be a really fun addition.

If anyone knows where to buy cherry baking chips please speak up!

Even without the cherry baking chips, everyone loved these cute pink Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes.

One of the perks of your mom being a food blogger, is that Logan and Madeline were able to sample these special Valentine’s Day Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes before Valentine’s Day.

And I’ll still make them another treat on the real day.

Maybe this again since they enjoyed the recipe so much, or perhaps something new.

Valentine’s Day is a fun little holiday to break up the winter blues and I hope you  have a great one!

More Yummy Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day

• Nutella Cupcakes with Triple Cream Cheese Frosting
• Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes
• Lemon Coconut Cupcakes and Lemon Buttercream
• Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake
• Chocolate Cupcake with Raspberry Buttercream
• Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Cupcakes

What dessert are you planning to make for Valentine’s Day?

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield: 24 Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

These cute Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes have bits of real maraschino cherry in the bright pink Cherry Vanilla Buttercream. They're the perfect treat for Valentine's Day

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Ingredients

For the Vanilla Bean Cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Cherry Vanilla Buttercream:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 pounds (24 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 12 ounces chopped maraschino cherries (pitted and stems removed)
• reserved juice from cherries, as needed

Instructions

For the Vanilla Bean Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place the racks in the center position.
3. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
5. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, sour cream, and egg whites. Set aside.
6. Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or use a hand mixer (I got a better dome with the hand mixer).
7. Add the butter, sugar and vanilla to the bowl and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light.
8. Scrape the sides as necessary.
9. Add the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture while beating on medium speed, again scraping the sides as needed.
10. Beat in half of the sour cream mixture.
11. Alternately add the remaining flour mixture and sour cream until all the wet and dry ingredients have added, beating until the batter fully incorporated and smooth.
12. Evenly divide the batter between approximately 2 dozen lined muffin tins filling each about 2/3 of the way full.
13. Bake for 15-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean.
14. Cool on wire rack.

For the Cherry Vanilla Buttercream:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the butter and vanilla bean seeds.
2. Beat until fluffy.
3. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the confectioners' sugar while continuing to beat.
4. Once well blended, add in the vanilla and half of the chopped cherries.
5. Mix on low speed until well combined and moist.
6. Scrape down the sides.
7. Add the remaining cherries.
8. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
9. If more moisture is needed, add reserved cherry juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
10. Pipe or decorate as desired.

Notes

See Two Tone Frosting for Cupcakes and Cupcake Piping Tricks for piping tips.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Hand Mixer
• 
  Stand Mixer
• 
  Measuring Cups
• 
  Mixing Bowls
• 
  Spatula Set
• 
  Valentine's Day Baking Cups
• 
  Muffin Pan
• 
  Kootek 42 Pieces Cupcake Decorating Kits
• 
  Disposable Pastry Bags
• 
  Gel Food Coloring
• 
  Valentine's Nonpareils
• 
  Mini Valentines Hearts Sprinkles

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 388Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 115mgCarbohydrates: 57gFiber: 1gSugar: 46gProtein: 2g

Did you make this?

I’d love it if you let me know what you think! Snap a photo and tag me on Instagram at @goodlifeeats with the hashtag #goodlifeeatsrecipes so I can see what you’re cooking up in your kitchen!