Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Earlier this week I said I was trying to cut back on the baking, add in some "healthful" recipes, if you will.  Well, this morning I went to my usual Friday morning boot camp workout class.  And now I hurt.  I decided I sweat enough this morning to justify copious amounts of sugar this afternoon. 

Anddddd when the husband came home for lunch and said this guy from work's girlfriend was in culinary school and always sent treats to work for the guys, I felt a challenge coming on. (Not that I'm competitive or anything)

Conversation that took place over lunch:

Hubs:  This guy I work with has a girlfriend in cooking school and she keeps sending him to work with samples for us.  

Me: What did she make?

Hubs: Some sort of piece of chocolate?

Me:  Truffles?

Hubs:  I don't know. A round, soft ball of chocolate rolled in powdered chocolate.

Me: (rolling my eyes) That's a truffle. 

Hubs: They were really, really good.

Me: (Death glare)

Hubs: I mean, not nearly as good as anything you've ever made. Obviously.  Maybe you could make something for me to take to work.

Good save, Hubs. Good save. 

Moving on...recap from every other post I've written: I love all things with cinnamon.  That's all you need to know.

So today, I'm very excited to present:

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes!!!

Yes, yes. I've finally made them and I couldn't be more thrilled.

I used Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Cupcake recipe with a few of my own added touches and my own cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

To start, batter was delicious. That's always a good sign.  Second, right after the cupcakes came out of the oven, I quickly dipped the tops in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Warning: cupcakes are very hot (obviously), be careful and don't burn your fingers, but try to do it while they're still warm so the sugar sticks.

I also tried experimenting with filling the cupcakes.  I was going for a "cinnamon swirl filling" so I mixed butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon to pipe into the cupcakes.

This turned out to be slightly disastrous for reasons I won't go into, so I filled four and called it quits.  I need to invest in some squeeze bottles for this task. 

Then topped with my absolute favorite cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Oh, delicious yum.

Did you notice my new pink cake pedestal? I love.

If you love cinnamon even the slightest bit, make these.  And now I'm off to the hubs work to take those men some cupcakes!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes (makes 2 dozen)

adapted from Martha Stewarts Cupcakes

Cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, room temp

1 3/4 cup white sugar

4 eggs, room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup milk

Sugar mixture:

3 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Cream cheese frosting:

1 package cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla

4-5 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flours, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.

2.  Beat together sugar and butter until pale and fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.

3.  Slowly add in flour mixture, alternating with milk.  Mix until fully comined.

4.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

5.  Dip in sugar mixture on plate.

6.  Allow to cool on wire racks.

7.  For the frosting, with whisk attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese until combined. Add vanilla.  Begin adding powdered sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency.  Add cinnamon and mix until thoroughly combined.

8.  Frost and enjoy!