Lemon-Honey Cupcakes...

I made Lemon-Honey Cupcakes for my Mother-in-Law's 60th Birthday celebration a few weekends ago. I'm pretty sure the cupcakes were a hit..or at least the family was kind enough to lie and say they were to avoid hurting my feelings! Either way, I'm going to share the recipe, because I, personally, thought they were super yummy! And that's gotta count for something because I don't really like lemon. Yeah...lemon, it's not my favorite flavor. But, I chose to make these because my Mother-in-Law loves lemon! Plus, I wanted to make the cute little bumble bee's that go on top! Lookin' at them just makes me happy! My Mom has a magazine rack in her guest bathroom and one day while...well, I'll skip that part of the story and just say, I found these cupcakes in one of the Woman's Day magazine's storied in that rack. So, thank you Woman's Day magazine and Mom for this happy~sunny~yummy cupcake recipe!!

*the following recipe is copied straight from the Women's Day website.

Lemon-Honey Frosting Lemon-Honey Cupcakes makes 24 Recipe Ingredients Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp each baking powder
3/4 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp grated lemon zest (*this took me 30 min.!  Hopefully, you have a good grater, unlike me! ) 4 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbsp grated lemon zest (*another 30 mins! ) 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 to 8 tsp lemon juice Few drops yellow food color (I think I did 4 drops and to me, the frosting still wasn't quite yellow enough. I think next time I will do about 6 drops. Yellow IS my favorite color though, so You might feel differently and want it lighter).

Bumblebee Tootsie Roll
Two pieces of string Yellow peanut M&M
Brown food marker Clear spice drop candies
Small cookie cutter

Recipe Preparation 1. Cupcakes: Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sour cream, milk, lemon zest and juice in a small bowl until well mixed.

3. Beat butter, honey and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.

4. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.

5. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

6. Frosting: Beat butter, honey and lemon zest in large bowl with an electric mixer until creamed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in confectioners’ sugar until blended. Beat in lemon juice and a few drops food color until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow.

7. Spoon into a large ziptop freezer bag, snip off one corner and pipe onto cupcakes, or just spread frosting onto cupcakes. To make the bumblebee: Tear off a piece of a Tootsie Roll and roll between the palms of your hands to make a thin string. Wrap two pieces of string around a yellow Peanut M&M for body of bee (*I didn't do this - I just took the thinly rolled Tootsie roll and wrapped it around the M&M) . Using a brown food marker, draw two dots for eyes. To make wings, roll out clear spice drop candies and cut out a 1⁄2-in. circle using a small cookie cutter (I just used a knife and sliced off the bottom of the spice drops). Cut circle in half; attach each half by pressing into the front band of Tootsie Roll on the body of the bee.

 

See, doesn't this little creation make you feel happy??

 Minus the cupcake liner decor, this is how my Lemon-Honey Cupcakes turned out!

These cupcakes really are something to "buzz" about! So 'bee' sure to share their happy-sunny-yumminess!