Pseudo Churro Cupcakes

I've been feeling uninspired when it comes to baking now that I and my waistline are trying to recover from the holidays. But with a book club meeting last Monday I knew I had to come up with something. The book we were discussing, The Night Circus, is full of beautiful, evocative language describing the magical circus that mysteriously appears and only opens its doors at dusk, bringing with it exotic sights, sounds, and smells that waft through the night air. One of the treats they serve is described as layers of pastry with cinnamon and sugar (described much better than I just did, of course), which got me thinking that I should try to whip up something with those flavors. But between coping with a puppy in the house and the sugar detox I'm currently going through I couldn't convince myself to go all out with these cupcakes. I considered adding a filling, dulce de leche, perhaps, or cinnamon strudel, but instead opted to keep it simple. I settled on cinnamon maple cake studded with some of King Arthur Flour's tiny cinnamon chips, cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and a little surprise on top in the form of fried tortilla strips sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Churros came up almost right away when I was searching for cinnamon sugar dessert ideas and one quick Google search later I found I wasn't the first person to want to incorporate that idea into a cupcake. Not so sure I accomplished that as, other than having the same flavors, these don't really qualify as churro-like. I toyed with the idea of actually making mini churros as toppers but wrote it off as too time consuming. Why did no one tell me a puppy would take up so much of my time and energy?! I kid, I kid. Instead I took the idea for something in the same vein but much easier from The Curvy Carrot. It still involved frying, which is something I hate to do, but I wanted to try something to step it up. In fact, this brings the total number of times I have fried food at home to three. Yes, I am revoking my Southerner membership card as we speak.

While these cupcakes didn't knock anyone's socks off, especially those accustomed to my usual over-the-top fare, everyone went home happy. I may have previously set the bar too high for myself. Still, this is a nice, simple fallback for those times when you're feeling too lazy to tackle a fancy cupcake recipe. You really can't screw anything up with this recipe and the toppers made for a fun, crunchy treat.

Pseudo Churro Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup King Arthur Flour cinnamon chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
2) In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs until smooth. Whisk in maple extract. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and milk, making three additions of flour and two of milk, beating just until combined. Fold in cinnamon chips.
4) Scoop batter into prepared pan. Baked 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) In a bowl using an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, and salt until creamy. With mixer on low speed, beat in confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add cinnamon and vanilla and mix until combined, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Fried Tortilla Topping
Recipe from The Curvy Carrot

One 8-inch flour tortilla, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips about 2"-3" long
Oil, for frying (I used canola)
Mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar, mixed to your liking of desired sweetness

1) In a deep frying pan, heat the oil (about 3/4-inch in depth) on medium heat until very hot.***I tested this by putting in a small piece of tortilla to make sure it would fry.
2) Fry only a few of the tortilla strips at a time, turning them with tongs until lightly browned on both sides (about 5-10 seconds on each side).
3) Place the strips on paper towel, and, while they are still warm, sprinkle both sides generously with the cinnamon-sugar combination.
4) Repeat with the remaining tortilla strips.

Brown Sugar Mocha Pound Cake Cupcakes

Finally I came up with a legitimate excuse to bake a batch of cupcakes. Ever since glutting myself while on vacation I've tried to avoid dessert, which means I also need to avoid baking. I've missed my time in the kitchen so was glad that my upcoming book club meeting gave me an excuse to whip up something sugary.

Ever since King Arthur Flour generously sent me some of their mini cinnamon chips to try out I've been wanting to use them in a coffee-flavored treat. Something about the combination seems comforting and appealing. A little bitterness from the coffee and a little spice from the cinnamon. What's not to like?

I nabbed a recipe from my Pinterest board for a bundt cake, halved it and added the cinnamon chips plus my favorite coffee buttercream. The cake is as dense as you'd expect a pound cake to be and they rise so much that they come out of the oven as huge specimens. I definitely felt full after eating just one. Still, the combination of flavors is, to use a cliche, like a party in your mouth. Chocolate? Check. Subtle cinnamon? Check. A hint of maple in a brown sugary cake? Check. The coffee buttercream really ties the whole thing together and adds that creamy element these dense cupcakes need. I hope you try them out for yourself the next time you can convince yourself that you deserve a treat.

Oh, and can I just say how much I love Hobby Lobby? I don't think I've ever been in one as there aren't any within driving distance of where I live but while on vacation we stumbled across one. I've put myself on a strict budget so I didn't go crazy with the purchases but I did take advantage of their extensive scrapbook paper collection to grab a few new backgrounds for my cupcake photos. I'll have to experiment with moving the cupcakes a little closer to the background so you can really make out that fun houndstooth print.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Wives With Knives

5 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini cinnamon chips
1 1/2 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cups golden brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 cupcake wells with paper liners.
2) Mix chocolate chips and cinnamon chips with 1 tablespoon of the flour in medium bowl. Sift remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt into another medium bowl.
3) Using electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract and maple extract. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
4) Mix in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
5) Scoop into prepared pan and bake 17-22 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for ten minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Coffee Buttercream
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon hot coffee
Chocolate-covered coffee beans (optional garnish)

1) In a small bowl, mix together coffee granulates and hot coffee. Stir until coffee granules are dissolved. Let cool completely.
2) In a small bowl, using an electric miser on low speed, beat together butter, sugar, and salt until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, beating until frosting is smooth.
3) Add cooled coffee to butter mixture, beating until smooth, creamy, and well mixed. You will need to scrape down sides of the bowl several times while mixing.
4) Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and garnish with chocolate-covered coffee beans, if desired.

Cinnamon Cappuccino Cupcakes Made With King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Chips

When King Arthur Flour contacted me after I made the killer maple-bacon biscuit bake from their recipe I was so happy that I nearly danced a little jig. How was it that an amazing company like that would notice little old me and, better yet, offer to send me something from their fantastic store to test out? Turns out a friend of a friend works there so she helped bring me to their attention but I can still feel proud that they were impressed enough to get in touch. Since I have no scruples I was all too happy to cast aside my integrity and sell out for the sake of getting a freebie. Even better that I get to be a shill for a company I genuinely like with products I happily recommend already.

I may not regularly buy their flour due to my frugal German tendencies -- although their white whole wheat flour, which I won when I attended a KAF baking demo, is amazing -- but I do make a habit of splurging on other baking ingredients from their catalog as you can see from this picture of every item I found in my cupboards that came from King Arthur Flour:


They're the ones who first introduced me to Vanilla Bean Crush, the only vanilla extract I'll use now. It's got specks of vanilla bean floating in it for a remarkably strong and authentic vanilla flavor. When I make pizza dough at home I make sure to throw in some of their Pizza Dough Flavor and Pizza Seasoning for a pizza parlor-like flavor. By far, the absolute best item I've ever bought from them, one which I regularly buy as gifts and rave about to anyone I meet, is their Vietnamese Cinnamon. When I first smelled it I knew no other cinnamon would ever compare. It's both stronger and sweeter than the plain old cinnamon you can buy in the grocery store so it gives an extra little kick to everything I bake with it.

When King Arthur Flour kindly made their offer to send me something from their catalog, I immediately knew what I wanted to choose. I've had my eye on their mini cinnamon chips for years, both because I love cinnamon so much and because these chips in particular have gotten great reviews from other customers. I am happy to report that they sent me a large one-pound bag so I'll be able to make many more recipes in the future.


For my first cinnamon chip baking experiment, I nabbed a recipe from Tasty Kitchen and made a few adjustment. They featured a cappuccino muffin recipe that already contained a hint of cinnamon in the batter, so why not swap in cinnamon chips for some of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe? I couldn't possibly go wrong with cinnamon coffee cupcakes studded with mini cinnamon chips and chocolate chips with an extra dose of caffeine in the coffee buttercream.

The cinnamon chips seem to be made with the same quality Vietnamese cinnamon I adore. Needless to say, I was extremely pleased with the cinnamon flavor of the chips. The miniature size is perfect for cupcakes, which can sometimes be overwhelmed by larger baking chips. They blended seamlessly into the finished cupcakes, almost melting completely in place so you're left with soft pockets of zesty cinnamon flavor. A wonderful surprise! Even if this hadn't been a freebie I'd still find myself recommending them as a wonderful addition to your baked goods. Hop on over to King Arthur Flour and treat yourself to something fun like these cinnamon chips. You can't go wrong with any of their quality ingredients and bakeware. I know you'll love anything you try!

Cinnamon Cappuccino Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2 packages Starbucks Via Instant Coffee or enough instant coffee granules of your choice to make two cups of coffee
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Mini Baking Chips
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 375°. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
2) Dissolve Starbucks Via instant coffee in warm milk. Stir and mash with a spoon up against the side of the bowl until instant coffee is completely dissolved. Next, add melted butter, egg and vanilla and whisk until combined.
3) In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
4) Pour wet ingredients into a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir well to incorporate completely. Finally, stir in the cinnamon chips and chocolate chips.
5) Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes.
6) Let cool in pan on rack for ten minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Coffee Buttercream
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon hot coffee

1) In a small bowl, mix together coffee granules and hot coffee. Stir until coffee granules are dissolved. Let cool completely.
2) In a small bowl, using an electric miser on low speed, beat together butter, sugar, and salt until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, beating until frosting is smooth.
3) Add cooled coffee to butter mixture, beating until smooth, creamy, and well mixed. You will need to scrape down sides of the bowl several times while mixing.