Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

We tend to watch a lot of food shows on TV.  Generally late at night so I can get really hungry and starve all night!  We were watching one where the hosts were gushing over snickerdoodle cupcakes.  Lee mentioned that he would like to try a snickerdoodle cupcake.  A Lee request near Father's Day is a gift.  Now I know what to make for him.

I searched around the 'net and found a few recipes and here is what I made.  In reality, I have never made a cake or cupcake that is as tender and delicious as a store bought mix.  If you want to do that for these cupcakes, get a regular yellow or white cake mix and add the cinnamon and nutmeg to it.  Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top and use the buttercream frosting recipe and you will have a perfectly fine cupcake with no fuss.  If you want to make the whole thing from scratch, follow this recipe.  One good thing about this recipe is that it only made a dozen , so I am not left with a bunch of them for the days following Father's Day.  The cake mixes will make two dozen, so they are good for a family with a bunch of kids.

   

Snickerdoodle Cupcake

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon, plus 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick), softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 Tablespoon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk


   

Heat oven to 350.  Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin.

   

Place a sifter in a large bowl.   Carefully place the two flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in the sifter and sift.  Set aside. 

   

While you have the sugar and cinnamon out, put 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl, stir with a fork and set that aside.

   

This next part needs an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.  A stand mixer is easiest and I use a Kitchen Aid.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  This will take several minutes and you will have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.  Add eggs, one at a time mixing thoroughly between each one.  Add vanilla.

   

Add 1/3 of the flour and 1/2 of the milk.  Mix thoroughly.  Then add another 1/3 of the flour and the rest of the milk and mix.  Add the rest of the flour, mix.

The exact amounts are not important.  Just estimate and start with flour and end with flour.

   

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.  It is easier to use a ice cream scoop to get the right amount with no drips.  Sprinkle the tops of the batter with the cinnamon sugar you saved earlier

   

Bake for 20 minutes at 350.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.  It should come out clean or with just a few crumbs on it.  Save the toothpick

   

Cool on a wire rack.  After about 5 minutes take the cupcakes out of the pan.  I use the toothpick that I saved and insert it along the outside of the fluted cupcake liners and lift the cupcake out.  NOW you can toss it.

   

At this point, you can stop and have a snickerdoodle cupcake with a crunchy cinnamon topping, just like the cookies.  Or you can add some brown sugar buttercream frosting and make them really decadent.  After all Father's Day only comes once a year.  Give Dad a treat.



Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

6 Tablespoons butter, softened
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

While the muffins were baking, I am sure you washed the mixing bowl and the paddle, right?  Give it a quick dry with a paper towel and stick it back on the mixer.

   

Whip the butter for 5 to 8 minutes on medium speed.  This is why a stand mixer is so good.  You can do other things while it is beating away.  You do have to stop it every few minutes and scrape down the sides.  The butter will become pale and creamy.

   

Add the brown sugar, cinnamon,  powdered sugar and whipping cream.  Mix slowly (so you don't have a cloud of powdered sugar all over the kitchen and yourself) for a minute or so and then up the speed to medium for 5 minutes.  The frosting will be light and fluffy.


   


   

Fill a pastry bag with a large plain tip.  Hold the bag right over the top of a cupcake and squeeze to create a big puff of frosting.  Stop squeezing and lift the bag straight up to form a peak.  When they are all frosted, sprinkle with cinnamon.

   

Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.  It was a hot muggy day, here, so I put them in a cupcake holder and set it on a shelf in the cool pantry. 

   

Happy Father's Day, Lee.