Buttercream

I am not a "from scratch" girl. If I can get it from a box or a can, then I'll save myself some extra work. However, I have become infatuated with real buttercream frosting that I have given up the canned version. I still make the cupcakes from a box, but they taste extra special with homemade frosting on top!

Beat together:
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup Butter (or Crisco, but I'd recommend butter-flavor Crisco for the real "buttercream" flavor)
5 tablespoons Milk

Now here's the fun part:
Add 1 teaspoon Vanilla
OR
2 teaspoons Almond Extract
OR
1/2 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
OR
1/2 cup melted milk chocolate chips
Plus add food coloring!

Above, the "pink" cupcakes are vanilla with almond frosting and the "blue" ones are chocolate with peppermint. Yummy!