Cupcakes!

We spent the past week making cupcakes at camp. Surprise cupcakes, S'mores cupcakes, Giant-Sized cupcakes, Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough cupcakes, and Patriotic cupcakes. My favorite? I loved them all equally and unconditionally. What it is about cupcakes that draws children and adults out of the woodwork and brings them to their knees begging for just one? Is it the petite portion? The inevitable taste of frosting in each delicious bite? The infinite possibilities for flavors and decorations?


Whatever it is, here is a recipe for one super-fun, scrumptious cupcake:


Surprise Cupcakes
Ingredients:
One box of cake mix, any flavor
3 large eggs
1/3 cup veggie oil
1 cup water
Your favorite frosting


Possible Fillings:
Fruit Jam
Peanut Butter
Instant pudding
Miniature peanut butter cups
Hershey's kisses
Fruit pie fillings
marshmallow cream


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pans with baking cups and spray each with cooking spray.
2. Combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water in a large bowl and blend with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes.
3. Fill the muffin cups about halfway with batter. Then drop in the surprises of your choice. (Make sure the surprises are edible. That means no pennies or paperclips--ouch!) The batter will rise up around the filling.
4. Bake the cupcakes in the center of the oven for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean.
5. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting them. Serve them to your friends and watch their faces light up with surprise when they find what's inside. (No shaving cream!)

While you're gathering your cupcake ingredients at the grocery store, stop at the library and check out some of these tasty books!

Super-Duper Cupcakes: Kids' Creations from the Cupcake Caboose

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

It's Raining Cupcakes!

The Cupcake Queen

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