One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes For Two.

March 16, 2011 · 438 comments

Let’s face it: sometimes we all need a dessert that only makes two servings.

Sometimes we just can’t handle 12 servings.

Sometimes we eat them all by ourselves. Sometimes we eat them all by ourselves in two hours. Sometimes we eat them all by ourselves in a matter of minutes. Sometimes it’s the best thing ever.

 

FYI: I have no idea what that is like.

Haven’t you always wished you could make just enough dessert for yourself? Or yourself and one other person?

Or… just yourself?

Me too.

But more often than not, I’ve found it to be a hassle to drag out the mixer, cream the sugar and butter, sift the dry ingredients and all that fun stuff for a measly two cupcakes.

What can I say? I’m lazy.

Well, I was lazy. Until I decided to make these cupcakes for two. This is only my second or third cupcake recipe completely from scratch and completely from my own recipe development, and I am so excited with the result.

 

It is definitely your typical white cake; fluffy and soft, full of vanilla flavor, and the perfect vehicle for some fluffy white frosting.

And it only takes one bowl! Not creaming, no mixer, no folding… just you, a bowl and a spoon. Try not eating some of that batter. Yeah right.

I think what I love most about these cupcakes is their customizability. Mr. How Sweet and I can have different flavors of frosting or even some different fruit, nuts or chocolate chips added in our cupcakes if we’d like. Meaning that I can make mine fun and fancy and he can keep his plain and boring. Nothin’ new there.

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One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes for Two

serves 2

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla (yes, a full teaspoon – they are super vanilla-y!)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 heaping teaspoon of baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 2 liners.

In a bowl, add egg white and sugar and whisk until combined. Add in vanilla and melted butter and stir until mixed. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in milk. Divide batter equally between the 2 cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until cake is set. Let cool completely, then frost as desired. I used some leftover white chocolate frosting.

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I have an inkling that these “easy” cupcakes may be made nightly. Does that defeat the purpose?

{ 386 comments… read them below or add one }

Jasmine January 12, 2012 at 8:02 pm

I am having so much fun with this recipe. I have already baked them several times! I do have to say though…I am following the instructions to a T and every time I pour them into the pan, I always end up with 3 cupcakes! I’m not complaining because I love them! Oh…I also ran out of eggs and tried them with 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar…gave them a kind of lemony flavor. Not too bad!

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Jessica January 17, 2012 at 12:30 am

I just baked these in a mini cast iron skillet, the single-portion square size. Don’t have any frosting, but used some honey over it..perfect size for me! Looks huge on the plate, and just a min or two to mix! I’m adding this recipe to my collection. I used a whole egg for a denser cake, came out quite delicious! With my mini skillet, no baking cups required! I also extended the time, for my mini skillet it took about 25 minutes at 350. Thanks so much!

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caren January 18, 2012 at 6:15 pm

This is just the most perfect thing I have seen in a while. Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us; I do believe I shall be baking these up more often than I should! Oh, and they will be just for me. Oh yes! :)

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Hilary January 23, 2012 at 6:22 pm

Tried these today…wonderful! I made them with a whole egg, so they were more dense than most cupcakes. I, too, ended up with 3 cupcakes, but I’m not complaining. I topped mine with a frosting made with cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a splash of chocolate milk. It was tasty :)

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Rachel January 25, 2012 at 9:55 pm

Yum made these last night & for icing made the white chocolate icing which I divided by 4. Easy. Yummy. Added 1 tsp pink food colouring to the icing for a pretty pink gift (& the 3rd was for me-yum yum yummy!)

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Alyssa January 26, 2012 at 12:37 pm

I love personal cupcakes.. However, I am a total chocolate anything girl! If I add Hershey Cocoa Powder, could I make them chocolate cupcakes?

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Kate Porter January 28, 2012 at 3:28 pm

This is the most incredible idea! I have often wished I could have cupcakes without making enough to kill my husband and I. Thank you thank you………….. I think. LOL

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Kathleen January 28, 2012 at 9:40 pm

This recipe is great! I’ve used it adding some instant espresso powder & used a vanilla peanut butter frosting & they turned out Devine!

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Temi January 30, 2012 at 1:48 pm

I made mini cupcakes – they were so tiny and cute plus it stops you from eating too much in one sitting.

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Mariann January 31, 2012 at 7:27 am

I’m not a big fan of vanilla, so, instead I put in some strawberry jam to make strawberry cupcakes. Taste like a dream! Thanks for the recipe. : )

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Ashley January 31, 2012 at 4:02 pm

I have been searching for a recipe that only makes 2 cupcakes. Perfect for Valentines Day coming up!! I cant wait to make these. Thank you!

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Whitney January 31, 2012 at 8:05 pm

I made my fiance homemade canolis about a week ago, and I had leftover filling – I marbled the chocolate and vanilla flavors of the canoli filling and used it as frosting! Best idea I’ve ever had I think…

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Lauren Cox February 2, 2012 at 2:23 am

WOW. Just discovered your blog and have been frantically printing off recipes for my next tea party with the girls. I will be making this one for dessert tonight for myself and my little brother, who is a raging cupcake fan – even moreso than myself! Thankyou so much for bringing me this wonderful recipe for two, perfectly portioned so as to maintain my waistline… Sort of. Absolutely cannot wait to try it out!

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sarah February 3, 2012 at 1:32 pm

i hate it cause they did not turn out right

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Erin February 4, 2012 at 10:44 pm

My cakes I doubled by two and they just tasted eggy. And I didn’t have any liners so I used spray butter (BIG MISTAKE) which also made them soggy. They were AWFUL!! Haha. Any way I can make them less eggy? That’s all they tasted like to me.

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Erin February 4, 2012 at 10:46 pm

Mine just tasted like eggs, how cani fix that?

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brenda February 7, 2012 at 2:53 pm

I made the cupcakes along with your frosting for my 9 yr old son’s school-night birthday party that consisted of him, me, and my husband. I didn’t want to make a big batch because they either go to waste or I eat them! These were simply divine- turned out perfectly, and I live at 8000 ft elevation! I’m trying to lose weight, by tracking the food I eat, so I calculated the calories, if anyone is interested. Each cupcake has approx 237 calories, and the frosting adds about 161 for a total of 398 calories. It was well worth it!!

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Delise February 8, 2012 at 2:32 pm

I took a shot at this recipe last night. I would have to give it a C+. The texture was a bit rubbery. Needed more than 12 minuutes to bake, egg dominated the taste and I ended up with 3 cupcakes not 2. I believe I went wrong with this recipe by not combining all ingredients in order. Luckily I took it for a dry run now , so it can be ok for valentines day : ). Thanks for the recipe. I will be trying it again.

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Breanna February 8, 2012 at 10:32 pm

These cupcakes were delicious! It took about 15 minutes for the cupcakes to be completely done. But overall really good! Then after I filled them with chocolate(just melted Hershey kisses) they were sooo good!

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Mel February 9, 2012 at 8:49 pm

I’ve made this cute little recipe around 3 or 4 times now (heh) and they’ve come out beautifully each time! The cakes had a great flavour and were perfectly sproingy. For those of you who got enough batter for three cupcakes, I’m wondering if you perhaps packed in the flour when measuring instead of lightly scooping it? That would probably give you enough extra volume for a third cupcake.

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Sarah February 10, 2012 at 9:05 pm

I can’t wait to try this for my friend’s birthday! I like that it makes two cakes, that way I can “test” one to make sure it’s okay. ;)

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Jackie February 11, 2012 at 9:22 am

I am making these right now. I split the batter between three little heart pans and will make a strawberry icing for the top. Making in honor of a young man whose birthday would have been today(24 yrs), but gave his life for all of us in Afghanistan.

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Jessica February 11, 2012 at 9:59 am

That is so touching – I’m grateful for his service to our country.

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thecase February 12, 2012 at 11:39 pm

i don’t believe in valentine’s day, but i do believe in two strawberry cupcakes, two glasses of red wine, and a crappy horror movie.

for those of you who have trouble with this recipe: up the baking soda, halve the vanilla, add a dash of water or a fruit juice, and/or use oil instead of butter. vegetable oil worked perfectly.

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Maggie February 13, 2012 at 2:12 pm

Made these on Saturday! FUN. I doubled this recipe to take to visit a sweet almost-6-year-old and her family. They’re having a big party later in the week so we just needed a few cupcakes to share on my visit. I did get 6 cupcakes instead of 4 (I had hoped it would make 5 or 6), and that was with the light scoop/sweep method on the flour. Not complaining! I agree they had a slight eggy flavor but they were still delicious (no complaints from the birthday girl or my friends!). I think using vinegar with an extra pinch of baking soda instead of the egg white would work perfectly. I am a huge fan of any recipes that scale down for fewer servings so THANKS :)

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Alison February 13, 2012 at 4:28 pm

I made these today for my boyfriend so I used banana extract instead of vanilla (about 1.5 tsp) and added finely chopped walnuts and they’re sooooo good! And to make them a little healthier I used Egg Beaters, skim milk and Brummel and Brown instead of butter. They’re amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe – it’s so easy and saves me from eating too many!

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Amy P February 14, 2012 at 8:34 pm

Definitely just made these twice in one day. And I made them as mini cupcakes, so I ended up with 14 in total :) Delicious!

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Maria February 16, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Just made these and they came out amazing! Thank youuuuu :)

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