Sour Cream Pound Cake Cupcakes

I LOVE to bake & will use any excuse to whip up something delightful. This weekend I had the perfect excuse: Our friends C&B came in to stay with us and go to NCAA Tournament (YEAH DUKE!) AND we also invited our new friends M&E over for some basketball watching & Wii playing (which eventually led to a late night trip to the REAL bowling alley - SO FUN)! I thought this would be the perfect time to try out a new recipe I had recently seen in Southern Living.

These Sour Cream Pound Cake Cupcakes look delicious in the magazine, so I thought I'd give them a try.

They did not disappoint! They were very easy to make & tasted OH SO GOOD!

Note: In the magazine & online they have several different versions of this cupcake, but I played it safe and went with the original thinking everyone would like them best.


Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
* Desired Frosting




Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in sugar until light and fluffy.



3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.



4. Stir in vanilla.




5. In a separate bowl, combine flour and next 3 ingredients.



6. Gradually add flour mixutre to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beating until blended. Add in this order: 1 cup flour mixture, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1 cup flour mixture, remaining sour cream, remaining flour mixture.



7. Spray your mini muffin pan with Bakers Joy or use muffin liners.



8. Spoon batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into lightly greased miniature muffin pans.



9. Bake at 350° for 13 to 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes). Makes 6 dozen mini cupcakes.



10. Top cupcakes with your favorite frosting. I used Southern Living's Vanilla Buttercream .



Note: To prepare regular-size cupcakes, spoon batter into 2 lightly greased or lined 12-cup muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Bake at 350º for 22 to 24 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool and decorate as desired. Makes 2 dozen.

My Tid-Bits:

* These were good. Almost too good. I couldn't stop eating them, which is not good considering its about to be summer and all.

* However, I will definitely be trying some of the variations on this cupcake. The Salted Caramel Chocolate ones sound yummy!

* As you can see, I chose to make both mini cupcakes & regular sized. This was perfect for our guests. Some wanted the WHOLE cupcake and some just wanted a bite (and some had BOTH, but I'm not naming any names). This recipe made 2 dozen minis and 1 dozen regulars.

* These pound cake cupcakes would also be great for personal strawberry shortcakes. Just top with whip cream & berries!

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