Very Vanilla Valentine’s Day Funfetti Gluten-Free Cupcakes
I wasn’t really planning on making any Valentine’s Day treats to post until I spotted the cans of Pillsbury Valentine’s Day Funfetti pink frosting, complete with red and white hearts and sprinkles, at the grocery store. What can I say? I’m a sucker for seasonal baking supplies, heart shapes, and the color pink.
Awhile back, lured by the per unit savings, I made a somewhat ridiculous purchase of a half-pound of vanilla beans. After all, why buy two beans for $10 when you can get 50+ of them for only $30? Buying a half-pound just seemed to make good financial sense. And so my go-to standard vanilla cupcake recipe has morphed into a very vanilla cupcake recipe. But if you haven’t invested in vanilla beans lately, don’t worry. Vanilla extract will still do the trick.
If you have a gluten-free sweetie, I’m pretty sure they’d be psyched to get these on the big day. Otherwise, a couple of these bad boys might help ease the pain of being single on perhaps the most over-hyped holiday of the year :)
Very Vanilla Valentine's Day Funfetti Gluten-Free Cupcakes
Yield: One dozen cupcakes
Ingredients:
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2/3 cup superfine rice flour
* 1/3 cup potato starch
* 1/4 cup tapioca starch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
* 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup milk
* seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean (can substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
* 1 can Pillsbury Valentine's Day Funfetti frosting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in a 12-cupcake baking pan.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs using an electric mixer. Add the rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, oil, milk and vanilla bean seeds. Mix until smooth. Pour batter into prepared cupcake wells.
Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before topping with the prepared frosting. Sprinkle with those cute Valentine's Day hearts and sprinkles and enjoy!
Adapted from Gluten-Free Baking Classics
Welcome! I'm Cate and Girl Cooks World is my recipe journal from my culinary trip around the world. 
Oh how I looooove simple cupcakes with some cute pink frosting! This is an interesting recipe, I have never tried gluten free baking before, but I might have to try!
Reply
CATE — February 10th, 2012 @ 5:53 am
So I'm not the only one who falls prey to pink frosting? :) Gluten-free baking isn't really all that difficult… you just have to adjust to working with a new set of ingredients!
Reply
These look so pretty and very delicious!
Reply
CATE — February 10th, 2012 @ 5:54 am
Thanks! I busted out my piping bag and everything… clearly I still need some practice but I like them perfectly imperfect anyways :)
Reply
wow sweet!! i'm planning on doing funfetti for valentines as well, but the multicolored kind. now i'm inspired to go get some pink and red sprinkles!
Reply
CATE — February 11th, 2012 @ 7:05 am
That's what I love about the Pillsbury- cute pink frosting and the adorable sprinkles :) And it's even cheaper than making it yourself!
Reply
I made these with about 1/3 cup strawberry purée mixed in, and they were delicious!
Reply
CATE — March 17th, 2012 @ 9:22 pm
So glad you liked them Olivia! And I'm sure the strawberry purée was an extra pretty and delicious touch :)
Reply
This recipe looks promising…. are they soft and moist like “regular” cakes? I've been trying to find a fluffy/soft gluten free vanilla cake recipe to help transition my fiance into the gluten free lifestyle. I am going to give this one a try this week!
Reply
CATE — May 15th, 2012 @ 7:06 am
Hi Erin- they're definitely soft and moist… I'd say these were halfway between the texture of a boxed (with gluten) cake mix and a sponge cake.
If you want something super light and fluffy and you like chocolate, definitely give my dark and rich chocolate cupcakes a try. But I'll definitely do some experimenting soon to see if can recreate a white/vanilla version as well.
Good luck… and sounds like your fiance is one lucky guy :)
Reply
These look great! I’ve been looking for a moist gluten free cupcake recipe. Will melted butter work in place of the oil?
Thanks!
Reply
Cate — April 8th, 2013 @ 9:38 pm
Thanks Gayle! As for whether you can sub melted butter in for the oil… I’m actually not sure since I haven’t tried it. But if you decide to give a go, please let me know how it works out for you :)
Reply