Red Velvet Redo - Mini Valentine's Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have more than 60 valentines this year, and I have never felt luckier. Which means that I got to make Valentine's Day treats for not one sweetheart, but in fact three classrooms full of sweethearts. And what do first graders like better than a hefty dose of sugar (especially in the middle of a school day, and in lieu of math)? Done deal as far as they are concerned.
After the red velvet fiasco of last week, I am happy to say that I was feeling brave enough to try again. I tried another recipe, which I will post here, and made red velvet mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

The kiddos were sufficiently thrilled to receive these little gems, and there are few things nicer than hearing "you are the best at making stuff ever," or "this is the most yummiest thing I ever ate in my whole life!"

So here they are. This red velvet recipe was considerably more successful for me than the one from last week. I used the same cream cheese frosting recipe that I always use, which can be found here.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Source: AllRecipes

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 fluid ounce red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar here, and they turned out great)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line muffin tin with paper baking cups (I made mini cupcakes - this recipe yielded about 96 - yes, 96! - mini cupcakes).
Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, buttermilk, red food coloring, and vanilla.

Mix in baking soda and vinegar.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in another bowl.
Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.

Spoon batter into the baking cups. You want to fill them about 1/2 to 2/3 full.

For mini cupcakes, bake 12 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched (for regular cupcakes, this will be more like 20-25 minutes).
Cool on a wire rack.

Frost with cream cheese frosting (or frosting of your own choosing).

I piped on the frosting using... a jumbo french tip

and a Wilton 2D tip.

I decorated using jumbo heart sprinkles and these adorable teeny tiny little pink, red, and white heart sprinkles.

Enjoy! Feel the love!