Red, White & Blue Patriotic Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer or by hand, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs into butter mixture, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix in the vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated after each addition. Be sure not to over beat.

Separate batter into 3 containers and add red food color to one container, blue to another, and leave the third container plain. Using a mini cupcake scoop, layer all 3 colors of batter in each cup of the prepared cupcake tin, starting with blue, then white and ending with red. Bake until cupcake centers spring back when touched, about 15-20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Place white buttercream frosting and a star tip into a piping bag. Pipe buttercream onto a cooled cupcake in a circular motion. Before the frosting dries, sprinkle with red, white and blue sprinkles. The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day. Enjoy!