Easy Doctored Up Cupcakes

Have you noticed a theme with me? I'm pretty sure most of the recipes I've posted lastely have been desserts. I even have a peanut butter cup cheesecake recipe coming up soon. It must be that pesky New Year's Resolution (that I've already miserably failed at). The minute I decide to get healthy or lose weight, all these yummy recipes start coming my way.

So... at church I am the Mia Maid advisor. For those of you who have no idea what that even means, I basically teach the 14 and 15 year old girls every Sunday, and I attend their activities on Tuesday nights. Last night was our New Beginnings night. We talked to the girls who will be turning 12 this year and therefore entering the youth program at church when they do. We also spoke to the girls who are already in the youth program and their parents, letting them know what fun things we have planned for the year.

I was in charge of the refreshment table. I wanted it to be classy and pretty, so I got in touch with my friend Mindy over at Creative Juice. If you don't remember, she sponsored a fun Thanksgiving printable giveaway a few months ago. Mindy and Crystal are amazing!  I told Mindy what our theme was and the feel I was going for. She made up some cupcake toppers and an 8x10 for me in like a day. And I looooooved them. They were classy and the colors were perfect. I got a ton of compliments on my refreshment table.

But onto yummy things. Whenever I am put in charge of cupcakes (and that happens quite a bit), I always use my go-to boxed cupcake recipe. It's taking a boxed mix and "doctoring" it up to be even better. The cupcakes are a little sweeter and super moist. Normally when you make a boxed mix, the batter is super runny, but with this recipe it's thick, making it so much easier to put into cupcake liners. So next time you are baking up some cupcakes, whip these babies up and you will never go back to regular cake mixes again.

See these cute cupcake toppers? Love!

Another great thing about these cupcakes is that they aren't crumbly. I hate dry, crumbly cupcakes! And these ones go really well with our buttercream frosting (or cream cheese frosting!)

Sorry for the iPhone pictures! Seriously, the last thing on my mind was my camera. But you can see how cute it all turned out! And I'm saving the 8x10 for my daughters' room!

Easy "Doctored Up" Cupcakes

by Girls in Aprons

1 box cake mix (any kind)

4 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup sour cream

1 small box instant pudding (**note- get the pudding to compliment the cake mix. Vanilla pudding with yellow, white or vanilla cake mix, or chocolate pudding with chocolate cake mix, You can try mixing it up for fun too!)

Mix all ingredients together for 30 seconds on low, or until slightly combined. Increase speed to medium for 2 minutes, or until thick and completely combined. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake according to boxed cake mix directions. (This recipe yields about 26 cupcakes)