Lately, my imagination has been going BONKERS. Seriously, I’m having insane dreams at night, and daydreaming more than ever (which is actually saying a lot) about all sorts of may-happen-in-the-near-future kinds of things. Honestly? It’s really, really fun.

Derek and I have been doing some hilarious, and productive, brainstorming lately. Although I can’t quite share the details with you yet (and it may be a while), we’re both psyched and loving life at the moment. Not to mention the crazy-person high I’ve been feeling ALL THE TIME with my brain on super fantasy (although perhaps reality) mode. It’s AWESOME.

Also awesome: These cupcakes. They’re no yellow cake ho-hum cupcake, they’re speckled vanilla bean cupcakes of the best kind!

The key to awesome vanilla things: take some vanilla bean goodness, mix it up with your fingers in some sugar. Then try not to have your fingers permanently reside by your nostrils. Just try.

When it comes to cupcake recipes, I tend to trust Cupcake Project. I mean, with that much cupcake experience, why wouldn’t you trust her? So far, I haven’t been let down — these cupcakes seriously live up to their name! Pair these with some chocolate buttercream frosting and you have yourself a winner!

Best Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Recipe from Cupcake Project

1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp vanilla
2/3 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and prepare muffin tins with liners.

In a small bowl, scrape the inside of the vanilla bean into the sugar. Using your (clean) fingers, rub them together until the vanilla is evenly distributed.

In a different bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the sugar and vanilla bean mixture, and mix until fully incorporated.

With a stand mixer, combine the butter with the dry ingredients and mix on medium-low speed until it resembles fine crumbs. This will take a few minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the milk, and mix until just combined. The batter will be very liquid — this is ok!

Fill your prepared cupcake liners halfway full, then bake for 14-16 minutes. Use a cake tester to see if they’re done: the cupcakes should not brown before they are done, so don’t rely on the visual! If they aren’t done at 16, test every 2 minutes until they are.

Frost as you please, and enjoy!

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