Grapefruit Cupcakes with Young Living Grapefruit Essential Oil

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The Young Living Essential oils were sent to me as a personal gift from a girlfriend. I receive no compensation from this review. Please always use caution when using essential oils, and always ask the advice of a professional. All content is based on my personal experiences of a Lazy Mommy and purely for informational & entertainment purposes and should not be relied on as professional advice.

Okay. Confession of the day – I don’t use Essential Oil much. Other than the cheapo Thieves Oil and Tea Tree Oil that I buy to sanitize my house after a bout of illnesses, I really have never cared much for Essential Oil. So when a friend of mine told me that you could bake with Essential Oils, I was pretty skeptical. I mean why use Lemon Essential Oil when I can use Lemon Zest. But I’m always up to the challenge and when a girlfriend offered to send me some to try, there was no way i could have turned it down 😀

Being the typical cynic though (a typical Virgo trait lol), I set out to read and read online about Essential Oils. I had heard a lot about Young Living but hey, I wasn’t just about to trust on face value from their website. I mean which company would say their products suck on their own website? LOL.

So the CFA (Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists) actually recently just released a safety statement regarding essential oil usage. You can read the whole safety statement here. But to summarize for you,

Health Canada does not:

• recommend internal uses of essential oils as a stand-alone product. What that just means is you should not be consuming a edible grapefruit essential oil by itself as if you are drinking water. Adding 2 drops to a cake mix is fine.

Now, I will never claim to be an expert after researching it online but KEY TAKEAWAYS for me after the online research says to me the following:

• Never use essential oils without diluting them
• A small amount of edible essential oil can make a huge impact on flavor in any dish. Essential oils are potent. I recommend using only 1-2 drops at first, or even the toothpick method when cooking with essential oils: Stick a toothpick through the oil dropper to absorb the oil, then swirl the toothpick through wet ingredients. Give it a taste and gradually add more flavor to your liking
• Never consume essential oil on its own. Instead, use 1 to 2 drops of edible essential oil on a recipe
• Essential oils can be great substitutes for fresh herbs, citrus zest and juice, and spices such as oregano, lime juice, or ground clove.
• Not all essential oils can be used in cooking or baking
• Just like I would inform someone that I have nuts in my cupcakes (just in case that someone has a nut allergy), it just makes common sense to me to let someone know you used essential oil in your baking. When I brought my grapefruit cupcakes to work, I told everyone it was made with 1-2 drops of grapefruit essential oil. No one had an issue and they ate it happily.
• Always follow the label instructions and never exceed the amount suggested.
• Always keep out of reach of children.
• If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult a health professional prior to use.

OKAY Now with all the boring part out of the way, I am wracking my brain on what to bake. I bake so many things with lemon zest and i always have lemons at home so I wanted to try something i typically wouldn’t have at home so I chose to bake with their Grapefruit Essential Oil.

I DO NOT LIKE to eat grapefruits on its own. Tried it once in my 20s when i was on a diet and Yucky 😦 . But I have always loved tasting grapefruit as part of a recipe. Although i love grapefruit flavored baking, I never have any grapefruits at all cos they would just all get rotten before I remember to use them, a Grapefruit essential oil might be this Lazy Mommy’s solution 😀

It was a Saturday. I have a bazillion things to do so am using a cake mix so it is easier to bake with Ryan.

#noshame #lol #dunjudge #whatever

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So What’s my Verdict on Young Living?

• I used the Grapefruit essential oil on both the batter and the frosting – 2 drops on each. Everyone likes it. While I probably will still use Lemon zest (as I have many lemons at home lol), I totally would use edible essential oils for ingredients that I don’t always have at home I already can think of a few that is making me super excited 😀 – Lemongrass, Lavender, Orange, Peppermint, Basil and Cardamon.
• I really like it that Young Living makes it a breeze in helping you know which essential oil can be used in cooking and baking – their Vitality series. Their Vitality series of essential oil are specifically labeled for internal use with directions on how to do so safely. Vitality line is Young Living offering of essential oils that are safe for ingestion when label directions are followed.
• I used to think that Essential Oil brands were all the same so I am really surprised at the strict quality control and standards Young Living set for their products. Not all essential oils are created equally. Young Living stand by their process of sourcing products from carefully vetted corporate-owned farms, partner farms, and Seed to Seal-certified suppliers and testing them extensively.
• I love how user-friendly their website is and how cute some of their kiddy products are. I am so going ga ga over their Feather Diffuser with Feather The Owl, Gentle Mist Personal Diffuser & their Lavender Lamb Collection

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If you have used essential oil in your baking or cooking, share your experiences with me in the comments section. Would love to hear from you 😀

Now I hope you enjoy our little video 😀