Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I found this recipe on Pinterest in.. November? December? Around the holidays, at any rate.  Joe drooled when I told him about it, so I promised him I'd make them.  Gingerbread is probably one of his favorite holiday flavors.  Then, like any good future wife, I promptly forgot all about it.  Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when I saw this recipe in my cabinet and said, "Oh yeah! Gingerbread cupcakes!" and decided to make them.

 

The recipe as it was provided needed some help, but what I've provided below is my adaptation.  The batter gives you enough for about 18 regular sized cupcakes.  This was one of those pins that just provides the recipe and doesn't link back to the original source, so unfortunately, I don't have the slightest idea where these came from.

Even with the changes I had to make, these came out AMAZING.  As in, I can't wait to make them again incredible.  Like, thinking about trying them in my square muffin tin, wondering how many mini cupcakes this would make and if it would bake well in an actual bread pan sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Drool.

Enough already - just go get in the kitchen and make these!

 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cupcakes*:
1 1/2 c. flour
2 Tbsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground gloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 c. butter, softened to room temperature
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
3 Tbsp molasses
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4 oz. butter, softened to room temperature
4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbsp milk or heavy cream, as needed

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (or spray well with non-stick spray).
Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, vanilla and molasses and mix until smooth.  Stir in flour and spices.

Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.

Cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in the cinnamon.  Add in the sugar, one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly until combined.  Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time, as needed, until desired consistency is reached. Beat 3-5 minutes until frosting is fluffy.  Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

*note: you'll notice that there is no leavening agent in this recipe.  That is correct.  DO NOT add any baking soda, baking powder, etc.

Coffee Cake

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite parts about the weekend is the laziness that comes along with the free time.  Even if you have plans - and I know this time of year, we ALL have weekend plans - it seems like everything's a lot more fluid than it is during the week.

During the week, my mornings aren't rushed per se - I intentionally wake up super early to give myself plenty of time to prevent that - but they're definitely regimented.  I wake up at the same time, my workouts are always between 30-50 minutes.  I have breakfast at just about the same time every morning and leave the house at the same time, too.  Like I said, not rushed, but definitely structured.

Morning breakfast is usually fairly quick - a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, sometimes a bagel, always a cup of coffee.  If I'm lucky, I get to read 10-15 pages of whatever book I'm currently reading; sometimes, I do some light housework - a quick load of dishes, or sweeping; sometimes, I have to sit down and pay some bills.

On weekends, I love having a long, leisurely breakfast, where I can relax with my book and soak up two (!) cups of coffee.  Every since I was a kid, coffee cake has been one of my favorite treats.  For me, it's pretty much everything I want in a "treat" style breakfast.  The topping is cinnamon-y and full of flavor; the cake is fluffy but flavorful, it's filling and delicious.

I don't even know where I found this recipe, but I was so excited when I stumbled on it.  I did have to make a few changes, which you'll see below.  I didn't have cake flour, so I had to do some substituting with all-purpose flour and cornstarch.  I've never use cake flour before and never had homemade coffee cake, so while I can't speak for how this compares, I know that both Joe and I were thrilled with how this came out.  Joe's already asked me to make it again and he told me it's better than the store bought stuff, so I'm counting this one as a total win.

The streusel topping that the original recipe called gave me a TON left over.  The recipe below is the halved version so you won't end up with leftovers.  I stuck mine in the freezer and I'm thinking that it'll go perfectly on some muffins or an apple crumb pie.

If you're looking for something special to bring to a holiday potluck or you want to make something special but quick for breakfast on Christmas morning, I think this is precisely what you're looking for.  If you want to save time, you can definitely make this head of time, too.  It's delicious straight out of the pan, but you can also pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it back up, which will also give your kitchen that freshly-baked smell.

Coffee Cake

For the Cake:
1 1/4 c. cake flour*
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp butter, divided, softened but still cool
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. buttermilk

*If you don't have cake flour, this is a substitution:

For 1 cup cake flour:
1 c. all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp flour
+ 2 Tbsp cornstarch

For 1/4 c. cake flour:
Using a standard 1/4 size measuring cup, add 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch.  Fill the remaining amount with all purpose flour.

For the topping:
2 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp melted butter, melted and still warm
3/4 c. cake flour*

*If you don't have cake flour, this is a substitution:

For 1/4 c. cake flour:
Using a standard 1/4 size measuring cup, add 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch.  Fill the remaining amount with all purpose flour.


To make the topping:
In a medium sized bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon and butter.  Add flour and stir until mixture is crumbly with a thickness like cookie dough.  Set aside to cool to room temperature while you make the cake.

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Grease an 8" square cake pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and baking soda.  Add the butter, one piece at a time.  Continue beating until the mixture looks like wet sand, with no visible butter chunks remaining.  Add egg, yolk, vanilla and buttermilk; beat until light and fluffy.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle topping evenly over cake.  Bake until the crumb topping is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.  Store tightly covered for about 5 days.

S'mores, please!

I was originally going to blog about something else, but with Memorial Day right around the corner, this seemed pretty apropos.

I found the original recipe in a Food Network magazine that my future SIL gave to me.  Someone keeps subscribing her to magazines that she doesn't want and doesn't read.  Which is a huge score for me, because I love magazines - ESPECIALLY when I don't have to pay for them!

I had some people over my house this weekend for a jewelry party, so I converted this into a gluten free recipe so that everybody could eat it. I only told a few people that that they were GF, and the people who didn't know really couldn't tell - everyone kept talking about how delicious they were.  Josh came over on Monday and he took the rest home, bound and determined not to share any with mom (sorry).  I'm pretty sure I'm going to make this again for the family Memorial Day cookout.  I've mentioned in previous posts about wanting to make more GF things, and while I only have a few under my belt, I can already tell that this will be one of my favorites.  See, I'm of the mindset that having special dietary requirements or restrictions doesn't mean that food has to be gross or taste less delicious than the regular version.  With this recipe, you can't tell the difference, and that's precisely why I love it.

What's your favorite recipe for special diets?

Baked S'mores Bars
To print this recipe, click here

Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. gluten-free all purpose flour

1/2 cup gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)

16 gluten-free graham crackers, whole

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2-3 oz. dark chocolate bars

gluten-free marshmallow fluff or marshmallows
 

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease an 8" square pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla together until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and cinnamon.

Stir graham cracker mixture into butter until combined and a thick batter forms.

Spread the batter on the bottom of your prepared pan.

Evenly lay the two chocolate bars across the batter.

Spread the marshmallow fluff (or sprinkle the marshmallows) over the chocolate and evenly top with the whole graham crackers.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until fluff has lightly browned and top graham crackers have set.

Cool completely and slice.

Yields approx. 16 bars.

Cinnamon Butterscotch Muffins

I don't really remember how I came across it, but I stumbled on this recipe from the King Arthur website.  They call them "Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins", which is a total mouthful, so I've renamed them to Cinnamon Butterscotch Muffins.  I think I did something wrong when I making the cinnamon filling because it didn't quite look right in the bowl and what I was looking at certainly didn't sound like their description for the cinnamon filling.  I tasted it and it tasted like it was supposed to, so I think I might have misread the substitution and added too much water since mine was really liquidy.

At any rate, these muffins were only okay.  I wasn't too impressed.  Joe "liked" them, but he doesn't like muffins and he only ate the one that I put in his hand.  For me, the muffins tasted like they were missing something and they didn't really seem like they had enough cinnamon flavor in them to warrant the ridiculous name.  I don't know if this is related to my not-quite-right cinnamon filling, but I suspect that it is.

The biggest problem I had - and, reading through the reviews on the KA site, most other people have the same one - is that the muffins stick to the liners no matter what you do.  I sprayed mine with non-stick spray and still had a tough time getting them out so I could eat them.  I'd like to try making these again, but I think I'll try it as a bread.  The muffins were really dense anyway, so I think a bread might be a better way to get the flavors across without spending minutes unwrapping them.

This is the 2nd King Arthur recipe I've tried with only "meh" results.  Okay, so to be fair, the first one was scones and I modified it right out of the gate.  Have you ever tried a King Arthur recipe? Which one was it and how did it come out?

Cinnamon Butterscotch Muffins
Recipe from King Arthur

Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup diced pecans
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons soft butter

Filling
1/2 cup Baker's Cinnamon Filling mix*
3 to 4 tablespoons water

*Or substitute 3 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon for the Baker's Cinnamon Filling mix and water.

Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons Signature Secrets(r) Culinary Thickener or cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers, or grease it lightly.

Prepare the topping by mixing the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.

Prepare the filling by mixing the Baker's Cinnamon Filling with enough water to make filling with a soft, pudding-like consistency. Set it aside.

To make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the chips. Add the dry mixture to the liquid, stirring just until combined.

Divide half the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Dollop 2 teaspoons cinnamon filling onto each muffin, then top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle with topping, pressing it in lightly.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and wait 5 minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool. Yield: 12 muffins.