Sunday, January 30, 2011

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream


I know it has been a long time since I've last posted, but I really do not get around to much cooking these days and if I do make something super yummy, I always think I should post it to my blog but then I cannot find the time to sit down and write it all up and I usually forget to take pictures.

But these cupcakes were so good, I HAD to take the time to post and I even took pictures!!! Here is the origin of the recipe but the below recipe will reflect my minimal changes. These cupcakes had all of the best parts of the cookie and then added buttercream! They are buttery, sweet and cinnamony...they were also an all around hit. Add these to my keeper list :)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream (yields 2 dozen)

What to gather:
For the Frosting

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
•1 tablespoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

•1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1 3/4 cups sugar
•4 large eggs, room temperature
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1 1/4 cups milk

For the Buttercream

•1/2 cup unsalted butter
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•1/8 teaspoons salt
•1 pound powdered sugar
•4 Tablespoons milk


What to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored for up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen for up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar.

To make the buttercream, cream the butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt together. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk until creamy. You may need to add in some more milk or sugar until you get the consistency you want. Then pipe on the icing with a fun tip.

Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.



NOTE: My alterations included reducing the amount of cinnamon in the buttercream....absolutely needed to be reduced! The original recipe also suggested dusting the tops of the iced cupcakes with cinnamon sugar...this would have been cinnamon overload for me.


I was able to get 48 mini cupcakes and 12 regular cupcakes from this batch. 1 batch of icing was enough to cover all of the mini cupcakes, but would not have finished out the regular size cupcakes, well maybe it would have been close. This was not a problem for us though because have a son that does not like icing (I know! we should probably consider genetic testing to determine who he really belongs to because he certainly couldn't be mine) so I left some of them plain which resulted in just enough icing with no left overs.