Fast and Easy Mountain Dew Cupcakes

Cupcakes are one of the easiest things to make. This recipe is something that the adults will love just as much as the kids. Just prepare yourself for a little extra jolt of caffeine!

Cake Ingredients:

1 box lemon flavored cake mix

3 eggs

¾ cup of oil

1 1/3 cup of Mountain Dew

1 teaspoon of vanilla

I like the Duncan Hines extra moist cake mix because it makes the cupcakes super soft and moist in the middle, but you can use any type you like.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together the cake mix, eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined. Then add in the Mountain Dew. Be aware that the soda will foam up substantially as it reacts to the cake mix and other ingredients. I like to leave it alone for a few minutes until it subsides and then mix everything together. The finished product will look really runny, almost like liquid but it will turn out great. These cupcakes are moister than any other ones I've made before.

Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill with the cupcake mix. Fill each liner only half full. This mix tends to expand quite a bit when cooking so you want to make sure you don't overfill the cupcakes.

Place the cupcakes in the oven for 18-22 minutes. They're done when a toothpick or thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool while you make the icing.

Icing Ingredients:

1 can vanilla or lemon flavored icing

1 tablespoon vanilla

Green or yellow food coloring (optional)

You can make the icing from scratch, but I like the taste of the pre-made frosting better. I've also found that it's a lot faster to make the frosting this way instead of from scratch!

In a small bowl combine the frosting and vanilla together until smooth. If you like you can add a few drops of food coloring to give the frosting a bright shade. I usually do this when making the cupcakes for kids because it's something a little different!

Gently frost the cupcakes with the icing. Then you can decorate them anyway you want. I like to use green sprinkles so people can see what kind of cupcake they're eating. I've also used bright green icing to make things a little more special.