Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

These cupcakes are inspired by my favorite little ice cream shop in the Wallingford area of Seattle: Molly Moon's. Their flavors are often unique, with options like Balsamic Strawberry and Earl Grey. I have personally explored their menu pretty thoroughly, but I always come back to their Honey Lavender flavor.

I was enjoying an enormous cone one afternoon, and suddenly had the idea of using these flavors in a cupcake. The next day I wandered into my local Whole Foods, not sure exactly how I would put this cupcake together. After discovering Organic Whole Lavender in their herbs and spices section, I decided to chop up the dried buds and use them in the cupcake portion. From there it only made sense to top these dainty cupcakes with honey-infused cream cheese frosting.

These cupcakes were a bit of a risk, but turned out so well! They are absolutely my favorite cupcake recipe so far. The lavender and honey go perfectly together - two gentle flavors.

Note: If you don't live near a Whole Foods, you can purchase culinary lavender on Amazon.

Ingredients
For the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• About 1/2 teaspoon red and 1/2 teaspoon blue food coloring*
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons dried lavender buds
• 2/3 cup cold milk

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons honey, plus a little extra for drizzle

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Stir in the vanilla and food coloring.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Chop the dried lavender buds into fine, small pieces. Stir into the flour mixture
4. ...................................

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