Yellow Cupcakes (Cross Cupcake Cake)

My godchild was confirmed earlier this month, and I made her a cross cupcake cake for her party afterward. She is very plain (which is what I love about her) and only likes vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (which just so happens to be my favorite as well). I also made Hershey's perfectly chocolate cupcakes, too, to mix things up a bit. I decided to cast aside my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe for a new one. While there is nothing wrong with the recipe I typically use, it does sometimes turn out a little dry. I decided to try Cook's Illustrated's yellow cupcake recipe (I didn't try the white cake recipe mostly because I didn't know what to do with the leftover egg yokes). While the cupcakes looked a little muffin-y and were a tiny bit dense, the flavor was quite good! They got rave reviews. I'm still on the hunt for a lighter vanilla cupcake recipe, so I think I'll be trying CI's white cupcake recipe soon.

Yellow Cupcakes
Source: Cook's Illustrated via Can You Stay for Dinner?

1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a cupcake tin with 12 paper cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric stand mixer.

Add butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beat everything at medium speed for about 30 seconds until the batter becomes smooth and satiny. 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix by hand until all ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth. The batter will be slightly thick.

Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake about 20 - 22 minutes, until cupcakes are golden. 

Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack before icing.