Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

This week's selection is partly courtesy of my husband, as he was not big on the apple spiced cupcakes from last week. He had mentioned the Snickerdoodle one before, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Let me begin my expressing my love for Snickerdoodle cookies. I used to make them with my Noni when I was little, and they were always my favorite. But only my Noni's were my favorite- any other snickerdoodle I would try never exactly measured up. She could always get them nice and big, a little on the doughy side, and perfectly covered in just the right amount of sugar and cinnamon.

I may have finally found a substitute.

These cupcakes turned out DE-licious! The recipe I had called for a merrigne frosting, but since I wasn't going to be serving these right away, I opted not to do that. I didn't want a hard glob on top of my delicious cupcakes! I thought about doing a simple vanilla frosting, but that just didn't seem to mesh right in my head. In the end I opted for a dusting of powdered sugar and a cinnamon/sugar mix, which made the top a little crunch- just like the cookie! It was just right- not too over the top, and not too simple. Except it was simple to do. Here's how they came to be.

First up, flour mix

A little baking powder

Some cinnamon and salt

 

First timer with the cake flour

Sifting it all together

Mmm butter

What's better than butter? Sugar!!

Whip it all together

Adding eggs one at a time

What goes better with snickerdoodles than milk?!

 Looking good

Now it's time to fill the cups. A measuring cup works well for this

Time for the oven!

A little dusting of powder sugar and a cinnamon/sugar mix never hurt anyone

Plus I finally found a use for these :)

Hello cupcake

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. On a medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add 1/3 of flour mixture at a time, followed by an addition of the milk. Beat until combined. Bake for 20 minutes until tester comes out clean, rotating pans half way through. Dust powdered sugar, and a mix of granulated sugar and cinnamon over the top when cooled.

Apple Spice Cupcakes

I came across this recipe in a couple of my cook books, and thought what better way to kick off a new website than with a new recipe? I had never made Apple Spice Cupcakes before. I usually stick to the basics: chocolate, white, and some times to mix it up, chocolate banana. Fruit cupcakes are a whole new realm for me. And what better flavor than this to ring in fall? So let's get started.

First up, the cast (it is Emmy night, afterall):

 Please excuse the Garber Girl, she was just excited to be there.

The dry ingredients- adding in some cinnamon

Next a little nutmeg

and ground cloves. It sounds weird, yes, but you won't even know later.

 And whisk. What a fun word... whisk...

Onto the creamy stuff. Nothing beats butter and sugar!

 

 My helper, patiently waiting just outside the kitchen

Now for the apple

Then the dry stuff

And a dash of pecans

These look so empty and lonely

 That's better. Now let's put them in the oven and see what happens.

20 minutes later...

Golden brown delicious

Yummmm

Now for the frosting. Brown sugar cream cheese. Starring: Brown Sugar, Cream Cheese, and Butter.

Getting to know each other

We're getting there. Just keep mixing, just keep mixing.

Whipped into submission

Ta-da! Golden brown delicious meets nice and creamy. And man, the smell! I couldn't wait to dig in

It tasted so good I could barely keep the camera still. A little apple, with a bite of cinnamon, and then just a little crunch from the pecans. And the frosting was the icing on the jrcake :)

And look who else was excited

Apple Spice Cupcakes:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs, room temp

1 1/2 unsweetened applesauce

1 cup pecans (I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my sweets, so I only put in a 1/2 cup. Or you can omit completely)

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins with liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. With an eletric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and both sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add in applesauce, then flour mixture. Stir in pecans by hand. Fill cups 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp

1 cup brown sugar

Mix on medium-high speed until smooth.