Bird's Next Easter Cupcakes #WhenWeBake

I was provided a free Country Crock spread for this recipe contest post. I was not compensated in any way. #WhenWeBake

Can you believe Easter is less then a week away? Got your baskets ready for the kiddos? Any big plans for a big family dinner? It’s just hubby and I so I’m probably going to keep it low key for dinner, but I had a jump start on the treats baking. Hubby loves cupcakes and such so I baked up a batch of Easter cupcakes decorated like a birds nest.

I’m a messy baker. There isn’t a surface that isn’t covered by flour, butter and the like. This time, I made my vanilla cupcakes and decorated it for the holiday. Rather then using regular butter, I used Country Crock Original spread. It’s easy to use and has less saturated fat than butter and contains ZERO trans fat per serving. There is no Cholesterol and no partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. And it kept the mess down.

Country Crock is excellent to use in recipes and they were perfect for these cupcakes. This post is part of a recipe contest. When the folks at The Daily Meal and Country Crock invited me to create an Easter recipe that includes Country Crock as an ingredient, I signed up right away. After all, baking treats is part of Easter isn’t it?

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Birds Nest Easter Cupcakes

Print recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup Country Crock Original Spread
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Large egg
1 Large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Country Crock Original Spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons warm water

Optional

1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Directions

Step 1
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the sugar and Country Crock in your stand mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides. Add the sour cream, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, eggs, vanilla and vanilla bean paste. Mix on medium speed until smooth.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 3
Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just incorporated.
Step 4
Fill greased muffin tin or cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.
Step 5
Add the powered sugar, Country Crock and vanilla in a bowl and blend. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time until frosting is mixed. Decorate the cupcakes using the decorating tip of your choice.

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Moist, delicious and colorful were three words hubby used to describe these. He at three right off the top! Using Country Crock as a substitute for butter in recipes makes no difference in the texture and taste of the food. Now that I have my cupcakes, I’m ready for my next Easter treat.

Need some Country Crock inspiration? Visit their recipe page for lots of great ideas.