Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

vanillabeancupcakesA few weeks back I made marble cupcakes, and they were both easy to bake and really delicious. This weekend I wanted to do something basic, so I adapted the recipe to leave out the cocoa and include vanilla bean paste, a substitute for vanilla extract that has those little flecks of vanilla seeds in it. Think of that Breyer’s Ice Cream commercial from the 80s – you could actually see the vanilla seeds in it, and that was a big deal for some reason.

Add some chocolate buttercream to the cupcakes and you’ve got a basic but awesome combination. These would also be delicious with vanilla buttercream if you wanted an all-vanilla treat.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 15 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla bean paste. Stir in flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make chocolate buttercream, place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low speed until the sugar and cocoa are fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat; add milk 1 tablespoon at a time; you may not need both tablespoons.

Fit a large piping bag with a large open star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes; you’ll have some frosting left over that you can use for other treats.

Butterfinger Cupcakes

butterfingercupcakesThe Butterfinger vs. the Clark bar: do you have an opinion? As a Pittsburgher, I’m more of a Clark bar person, though I’m not really that much of a candy bar girl despite being a baker and really fond of sweet things. Also, if you’re reading this blog and don’t know what a Clark bar is…it’s like a Butterfinger but more mellow in flavor, and used to be made here in the ‘Burgh.

This recipe came from Baker by Nature, and it’s pretty tasty. I’d like to do a Clark bar version, so stay tuned for that sometime. Also, a note about the frosting: I added more chopped up Butterfinger bars than originally called for, and once again, like my cookies & cream cupcakes, couldn’t pipe it through an open star tip like I’d planned. No worries, though – just slather this frosting onto your cupcakes and call it a day. It’s delicious no matter what it looks like.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup very hot water

For the frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons whole milk
  • 6 tablespoons chopped Butterfinger candy bars
  • Chopped Butterfinger pieces, for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my recipe made 24 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a small saucepan over very low heat (or in a microwave-safe bowl), melt peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool just slightly. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively in two batches, whisking to just combine. Stir in hot water.

Fill cupcake wells with 3 tablespoons of batter, about 3/4 full. Bake for 16 – 18 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from tins; cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat peanut butter and butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes to fully blend. Add powdered sugar and beat to incorporate fully; add vanilla extract and milk, then stir in Butterfinger pieces. Frost cupcakes by hand (or pipe them if you can!) and top with Butterfinger pieces.

Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Blondies

peanutbuttertoffeechocolatechipblondiesYou cannot imagine how many bags of chocolate chips I have in my house at any given moment. Milk chocolate, semisweet, dark chocolate…not to mention cinnamon chips, espresso chips, caramel bits, toffee pieces…the list goes on. There’s a basket in the pantry area of my basement filled with them, bags upon bags of delicious little nuggets just waiting to enhance a recipe.

Blondies, like brownies, are one of my favorite things to bake because you can create whatever you want with them – and this time I wanted a peanut butter toffee chocolate chip combination, like a hybrid of the chocolate chip toffee blondies I baked earlier this summer crossed with Reese’s Pieces blondies from a few years back. The end result, I’m happy to report, is delicious. My nephew Roman started his junior year of high school in North Carolina a few weeks back, and these are his back-to-school treats.

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled for 3 minutes
  • 2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, divided
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons toffee bits, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk melted butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter, then eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla until well-combined.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir together using a rubber spatula; batter will be very thick. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup toffee bits, then spread batter into the baking pan, flattening as best you can to create an even layer. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and toffee bits on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, then insert a cake tester in the center; blondies are done if the cake tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Be careful not to over-bake these; peanut butter treats tend to dry out if they’re baked too long.

Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan; lift out using parchment paper and cut into 24 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. If shipping, pack between layers of waxed paper.

Butterbeer Cupcakes

butterbeercupcakesLast week Mike and I visited Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley at Universal Studios in Orlando, and it was everything I, a massive Harry Potter fan, wanted it to be. We rode the Hogwarts Express, bought wands at Ollivander’s (seriously what I’m going to do with a wand now I have no idea), and had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, complete with a butterbeer.

This batch of butterbeer cupcakes – which I found over at Mama Needs Cake – is both delicious and enormous. My recipe yielded 33 cupcakes, far more than the two dozen I expected. I also tweaked the frosting recipe to be closer to one I’ve used before, with my own homemade butterscotch sauce, but you can use butterscotch ice cream topping if that’s easier.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup butterscotch chips
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup milk

For the frosting

  • 1 1/4 cups (20 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 6-7 tablespoons butterscotch sauce, plus more for drizzling
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  In a small saucepan, melt butterscotch chips and water over low heat, stirring until smooth.

In a mixer, cream eggs and vegetable oil, then beat in sugars and melted butterscotch chips. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beating until just combined.

Fill cupcake wells half full and bake for 13-15 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from tins; cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat butter on medium speed for 1 minute, then add powdered sugar and beat on low until all of the sugar is incorporated into the butter. Add butterscotch sauce and salt and beat to combine.

Fit a piping bag with a large open star tip and pipe swirls onto each cupcake. Drizzle with more butterscotch sauce if serving immediately; if not, reserve additional butterscotch and drizzle just before serving. Makes about 33 cupcakes.

Turtle Cookies

turtlecookiesChocolate + caramel + pecans = one of my favorite things ever. Earlier this summer I baked pecan turtle cupcakes, and within a few weeks these turtle cookies from The First Year Blog came across my Pinterest feed. They looked amazing in the photo…but when I baked them, wow. The photo you see here is of one of the very few that didn’t turn out to look like a total mutant. See below for the mutants, they’re actually quite entertaining. Also, there’s no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pun intended here, but haha.

What happens is that the caramel pieces melt, then explode out of the cookies at whatever random point they see fit. One of my cookies looked like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, which was actually pretty cool. Anyway…these treats are insanely delicious, but really, really rich. If I make them again, I’ll use caramel bits instead of chopping up caramel squares (how much does caramel stick to a knife? Too much, thanks.) and will use a one-inch cookie scoop so they’re smaller, just a few bites each.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped caramel squares, or caramel bits
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together chocolate chips, chopped caramel pieces, and chopped pecans; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add in flour mixture and beat on low to combine; stir in chocolate chip/caramel/pecan mixture.

Scoop dough using a two-inch cookie scoop and roll into balls; place about two inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 10-14 minutes; tops will crack, but edges will be set. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 21.

mutantturtlesMutant cookies! Check out the Millennium Falcon on at the top. 

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

chocolateorangecupcakes

I’ve baked this chocolate cupcake tons of times. I mean, tons of times, pairing it with lots of different frostings and flavors. It’s easy to make, with no butter or eggs and therefore no waiting-for-things-to-come-to-room-temperature time, and very easy to adapt for whatever you want it to be. 

This week’s treat is a chocolate orange cupcake, one of my favorite combinations. I’m not crazy about the sprinkles that I added, but without them it just looked like a basic chocolate-chocolate cupcake and that didn’t seem fancy enough. Next time I’ll try to find one of those actual chocolate oranges you see at Christmas and use the little segments as a topper, or maybe those fancy chocolate orange jelly-type candies that also seem to remind me of  Christmas. Stay tuned! 

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water
  • Zest of 1 small orange

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
  • Zest of 1 small orange
  • 2-3 teaspoons heavy cream 
  • Orange sprinkles, if desired 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 13-15 cupcakes, depending on how much batter you place in each well. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and orange zest and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Beat in vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest; add heavy cream 1 teaspoon at a time to get a smooth consistency. 

Fit a large piping bag with a large open star tip (as always, I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes. Add sprinkles if you like; you could also garnish these with other things like candied orange peel if you wanted to get really creative. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. 

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

cookiesandcreamcupcake

Our intern, Sarah, returns to college in a few weeks. We adore her, and will sincerely miss her in the office. These cookies & cream cupcakes are for her farewell tomorrow; she’s an Oreo fan, so what better way to send her off than with an Oreo-inspired cupcake? 

A word about this frosting, other than the fact that it probably has about 8,239 calories in it; the more Oreo crumbs you add, the tougher it gets to pipe. The original recipe (there are tons of them online) called for about 6 crushed Oreos, but that didn’t seem like enough to me, so I doubled it. I’m glad I did, even though it meant having to frost these cupcakes by hand, which wasn’t the look I’d intended. They taste amazing though, and that’s really all that matters.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 18 Oreo Double Stuf cookies, divided
  • 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 13-15 cupcakes, depending on how much batter you place in each well. Take 12 Oreo cookies and crush them into crumbs; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Beat in vanilla, Oreo crumbs, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream; add more if needed to make a smooth consistency that’s not too stiff, or it’ll be difficult to spread.

Frost cupcakes by hand – I didn’t have any luck piping this because the Oreo crumbs can get stuck in frosting tips. Cut remaining Oreos in half and add one half to each cupcake if serving immediately; if not, add garnish just before you serve them so the cookies don’t get soggy from the buttercream. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Chocolate Crinkles

chocolatecrinkles

Chocolate crinkles are a classic…but typically coated in powdered sugar. And while this is totally fine with me at Christmas, I wondered what they’d be like coated in regular granulated sugar, like a peanut butter cookie. The result, I’m happy to report, is really delicious.

This recipe is based on the chocolate peppermint crinkles I made many years ago; I’d like to try a chocolate orange version as well, so stay tuned. If you prefer to coat these in powdered sugar, go for it, but bear in mind that powdered sugar-coated things don’t fare terribly well at the height of summer.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • 2 eggs
  • Granulated sugar for coating

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder; set aside.

Combine baking chocolate, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and melt over very low heat, stirring well to combine. Pour mixture into a medium bowl and add sugar, stirring well, then add vanilla bean paste and stir until smooth. Add flour mixture and stir until completely combined; mixture will thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, until easier to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a one-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls, then dip in sugar and toss to coat very well. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 11 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 18.

Marble Cupcakes

marblecupcakeMany people in my life have been to the beach in the last few weeks. The beach makes me think of ice cream, specifically those chocolate-vanilla swirl soft serve cones, and this is as close as I can get at the moment: a marble cupcake with a chocolate-vanilla buttercream swirl.

The cupcake recipe itself comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction and it’s delicious on its own; so delicious, in fact, I think the frostings are kind of too much for it. I used my vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream, which are also delicious on their own, but I think they’re a little too much for the cupcake. Next time I think I’ll use my cocoa frosting instead, so stay tuned.

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 plus 1 tablespoon milk, divided
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 batch vanilla buttercream
  • 1 batch chocolate buttercream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 15 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, 3/4 cup milk, and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Remove 3/4 cup of batter and place in a small bowl; stir in cocoa powder and remaining tablespoon of milk. Batter will be thicker than that of the vanilla mixture.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop portions of vanilla batter into cupcake tins; top with a tablespoon of chocolate batter, then another scoop of vanilla, until all batter is used. Swirl if desired or just let the batters do their own thing, which is what I did.

Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make vanilla buttercream, place butter and salt in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat; add milk if necessary, but you want this frosting to be thicker in consistency so it’s easier to pipe along with the chocolate buttercream.

To make chocolate buttercream, place butter and salt in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low speed until the sugar and cocoa are fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat; add milk if necessary, but like with the vanilla, you want this frosting to be thicker in consistency.

Fit an 18-inch piping bag with a large open star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and carefully fill half of the bag with vanilla buttercream and the other half with the chocolate buttercream so the frostings are side by side vertically in the bag. Pipe swirls onto cupcakes; you’ll have some frosting left over that you can use for other treats.

Rolo Cupcakes

rolocupcakesLast week’s pecan turtle cupcakes left me with about a cup of caramel sauce. Homemade caramel lasts about three weeks in the fridge, and while you could pour it over ice cream or drink it straight from the bottle, I decided to make chocolate caramel buttercream with mine. Think of a Rolo, probably the second best candy invention behind the Reese’s peanut butter cup, but in buttercream form.

I wish I’d baked a chocolate cupcake instead – I think the overall flavor would have been better – but these are pretty delicious.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

For the frosting

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • About 3/4 cup caramel sauce
  • 10 Rolos

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper liners; this recipe yields 10 cupcakes.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until very light and fluffy. Add egg and beat to combine, scraping down your bowl, then add vanilla and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternate batches, starting and ending with the flour and scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be kind of fluffy. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared pans, filling about half-full.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. My cupcakes were done around 17 minutes. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from tin; cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt on low speed until the sugar and cocoa powder are completely incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce a few tablespoons at a time and beat to combine, scraping your bowl well along the way. Taste as you go; this is a fairly subtle flavor so you can go heavier on the caramel than you might think.

Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe swirls of buttercream onto cupcakes; top with a Rolo.