A RECIPE: OUR FAVORITE VEGAN VANILLA CUPCAKES

raising a toddler is, truly, no joke. anyone who has ever parented could probably tell you that. some days, it feels like the better part of my days are walking behind him, picking up what he's dropped or smeared or ripped into a million pieces. other days it feels like i'm just trying to prevent him from not turning on the stove on high or rocking him until he has shed his tenth tantrum from his own little body or finding a way to distract him from wanting to make another smoothie right after he just had two.

some days, too, are beautiful and slow and really sweet. feeding the family of crows that walk on our fences, watering the small sally holmes roses outside our window, retying the kite string that's been separated from itself, filling up bowls with sand and rocks and listening for airplanes to pass our patch of sky. measuring the right amount of flour to make our favorite cupcakes.

these cupcakes are our favorite. and we can all lick the batter without fear of some of the consequence of raw eggs. we made this small batch today as a family; dada measuring out the vanilla, gus turning on our pistachio kitchen aid, and me, zesting in the lemon (always, always, always, lemon). the frosting isn't vegan, but it is so damn good it doesn't really matter. because, well, butter. there will probably be more frosting than batter, but i always think that's a good thing because you can save the frosting for other things. like pancakes. or more cupcakes. or graham crackers.

RECIPE: VEGAN VANILLA CUPCAKES
makes 8

Cupcakes

1Cup flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

dash of salt

1/2 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

3/4 Cup nondairy milk (we used rice milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Frosting (non-vegan)

2 Cups powdered sugar

1/2 Cup melted butter (cooled)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Zest of half a lemon

Juice from half a lemon

Directions

preheat oven to 365. line or oil a cupcake pan. in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, salt and sugar until well combined. add the oil, milk, vanilla and lemon juice and mix on medium speed and then on high for a a few seconds to make sure the batter is smooth.

bake for twenty minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. set aside and let cool.

for the frosting, whisk together all ingredients on low until well combined, then to medium-high until the frosting is light and fluffy.

enjoy! xo