Heat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Grab a large mixing bowl and cream together the softened butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one goes in. The batter should look thick but smooth (yes really—don't worry if it looks a little separated at first).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding this dry mixture and the milk to your butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Stir in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract until everything's combined. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 liners—fill each one about two-thirds full, not to the top.

Bake for 18 minutes until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and let them cool completely (this usually takes about 30 minutes).

Once the cupcakes are totally cool, make your frosting by beating the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Pipe or spread the frosting on each cupcake, then top with the patriotic sprinkles.

Arrange your frosted patriotic pull apart cupcakes in a circle on your serving platter (I use a cake stand for height). Step back and admire how fancy this looks for literally zero stress.