The baking list for today includes snickerdoodle cupcakes, orange/cranberry muffins, Chorizo and potato breakfast burritos and sausage balls. I love snickerdoodle cookies so when I heard about these cupcakes I knew that we had to at least try them. The recipe comes from this
site. here is the recipe
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
(yields 12 cupcakes)
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. flour (180 g if using AP, 174 if using cake flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, melted (1 stick)
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar (250 g)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 almond extract
3/4 c. whole milk, room temperature (6 oz)
Grab a large bowl and dump in all the dry ingredients. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients thoroughly (particularly the baking powder) and get rid of any flour clumps.
In a small bowl, melt a stick of butter in the microwave, then pour in a mixer bowl with the granulated sugar and mix on medium to combine. The first time I made these cupcakes, I didn’t melt the better and the cupcakes had too fine a texture; the cupcakes would nearly fall apart. Melting the butter made for a denser cupcake.
Crack two eggs in a separate container (I use my handy Pyrex measuring cup); I do this in order to catch any egg shells that try to escape with the egg. Believe me, it’s a lot easier to fish the shell out of the Pyrex then it is to get it out of a bowl with other ingredients already in. With the mixer speed on medium, add the two eggs to the bowl.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
Grab your bowl of dry ingredients and put in about a third of it in the mixer bowl and combine at low speed. Scrape down the bowl and then add half the milk, again mixing at low speed. Scrape down the bowl again, and repeat with the next third of dry, the rest of the milk, then the last third of the dry.
Turn your oven on to 350 degrees. Grab your muffin tin, put in the muffin liners, and then fill each cup until 3/4 full. I like to use a large ice cream scoop for filling the cups.
Before you pop those babies in the oven, you want to sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture on the tops to give it that extra-snickerdoodle-y taste. I’ve tried several different ratios of granulated sugar to cinnamon but each time the cinnamon was too much. So, without having actually tried it yet, I’m going to tell you to use this mixture:
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Sprinkle the entire mixture evenly over the twelve cupcakes. Pop into the oven and bake for 18 minutes, turning the pan around after 13 minutes to help it bake evenly.
Take the cupcakes out and test with a toothpick for doneness. Okay, what does that mean? you may ask yourself. How on earth does a toothpick predict such a thing, is it magic? If you stick a toothpick in the center of a cupcake and batter clings to it when you pull it out, then it’s not done (surprise!). This has actually happened to me when I was certain a batch of cupcakes were done, so don’t skip this step unless you enjoy gooey cupcakes. If you pull the toothpick out and nothing, or just a wee bit of crumbs come out, then your cupcakes are good to go.
Leave the cupcakes in the tin for five minutes, then remove them and let them cool completely on a baker’s rack.
On to the frosting. Trophy’s cupcake was topped by a cinnamon buttercream, but I opted to use a cream cheese frosting flavored with cinnamon instead. I’ve been using cream cheese frosting for most of the other cupcakes I’ve made and I’ve been pleased with the flavor. I haven’t, however, been pleased with the consistency when I try to pipe it. It always turns out to be too soft unless I refrigerate it for a good couple of hours prior to piping. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to experiment with the consistency. I had made a white chocolate cream cheese frosting around Christmas (what can I say, Christmas was primo cupcake time) and liked how well it had piped, so I figured I would try it again but use a lesser amount of white chocolate to avoid affecting the flavor.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
2 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
In a small bowl, microwave the white chocolate for about 30 seconds or until partially melted. Mix the chocolate so that the residual heat melts the remainder, and then set aside to cool.
In a mixer bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter together, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the melted white chocolate and add the vanilla extract until they are well-combined.
Add the cinnamon extract and the powdered sugar (about half a cup at a time) and mix on low, again scraping down the bowl as needed.
Put the frosting in the refrigerator to chill.
When the cupcakes are cooled and the frosting is at a chilled but piping consistency (which is hard to tell, you just kinda have to try piping it and see), frost the cupcakes.
Let me tell you the secret of nicely decorated cupcakes. You know, those nice swirls you see on “professional” cupcakes? Giant icing tips. This is the accessory you have to have in order to mimic the look of bakery-bought cupcakes. The first few times I made cupcakes I was so frustrated because “They don’t look like professional cupcakes, aargh!” Then I realized my tip was too small. You can’t find large tips at your local grocery store, so you have to go to the pros. In my case, I went to the Home Cake Decorating Supply Company in Maple Leaf and bought the largest tips I could find. I went home, tried them out, and voila, I had that fancy cupcake look, all for about $2.50.
I should mention, the frosting recipe makes way more than you’ll need for a dozen cupcakes, so you might consider making 1 1/2 batches of the cupcakes (or, if you’re stingy with the frosting, then two batches) so that the frosting won’t go to waste.
Posts
