This morning, after I woke up far earlier than I should have because of the awful construction outside my window, I reached into my fridge to grab some eggs and saw that pesky little blue carton of almost bad buttermilk. I hate buying buttermilk because I never use it all before it goes bad and then I feel like I’ve wasted my money.

The buttermilk would not win this time. I went to class, took my math midterm, and came home and attempted to forget the terror I’d just experienced through the power of baking. My therapy of choice: vanilla bean buttermilk cupcakes. I usually don’t cook with either of these ingredients, as vanilla beans are the most overpriced thing known to man and I don’t have unspoiled buttermilk too often, so this was fun and different.

(I halved this recipe, so if the pictures look strange to you in comparison to the recipe, that’d be why! I don’t need 24 cupcakes lying around the house waiting to be eaten.)

Begin by splitting your vanilla bean lengthwise. Scoop the paste inside the vanilla bean into the bowl for your mixer. Does anyone have a method for scooping that doesn’t involve getting the paste all over your fingers? Add the room temperature butter and beat until butter is light and fluffy.

Slowly add the sugar and mix well.

Next, add the eggs. Combine the flour and baking powder in one bowl, and the room temperature buttermilk and vanilla in another. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the egg/sugar/butter mixture.

Spoon mixture into a well-greased cupcake tin or into a lined cupcake tin about 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

I frosted these with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, because no frosting compares to the cream cheese variety. The recipe can be found on my Pumpkin Blondies with Cream Cheese Frosting post 🙂

So yummy! I loved the intense cinnamon and vanilla flavors.

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 vanilla bean
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease or line 2 cupcake tins. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scoop out the paste. Add to the bowl of your mixer along with the room temperature butter and beat until butter is light and fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and mix until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. In one bowl combine the flour and baking powder, in another the buttermilk and vanilla. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the egg/sugar/butter mixture. Mix between each addition and mix for an additional minute once incorporated. Spoon the batter into greased cupcake tins or lined cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are slightly brown and the center is no longer soft.


For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting recipe, see my Pumpkin Blondies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese recipe.