Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I recently hosted a baby shower for a dear friend. We decided to hold the shower at the Poland, Ohio Library where we themed the party around Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and Kravitz's catered a brunch for us (Note: The caterers at Kravitz are amazing and I highly recommend them). Once the gracious staff allowed me to bring in homemade cupcakes to the event, I started brainstorming designs, flavors, etc. immediately. Planning out my baking led me to a cookbook I haven't used in years: The Cake Mix Doctor. My mom bought the cookbook for me when I was in college for it's premise is simple: Take an ordinary cake mix and add additional ingredients to create a premium cake in very little time. Brilliant! If you know the story of The Giving Tree it is "about a tree who loved a boy very much - even more than she loved herself." I was going to create cupcakes in the shape of apples featured in this book but once I reconnected with the Cake Mix Doctor and found the beloved snickerdoodle cake recipe. I swapped theme-design for glorious flavor. These cupcakes were a big hit. And I found theme-appropriate cupcake wrappers anyway. #Winning Here's what I learned from making this recipe:

1. The Cake Mix Doctor is right! Anne's cookbook is based on 'good shortcuts to make dinner happen.' Sometimes all that is needed to make a good recipe great is a shortcut and using pre-measured cake mix is a perfect time solution!

2. One cup of frosting will cover a dozen cupcakes. This buttercream recipe actually makes 2.5-3 cups, while the cake recipe makes between 15-18 large cupcakes. You should have plenty of frosting to pipe over the cakes.

3. No piping bag; use a gallon-size freezer bag. I'm sure I've said this in previous posts, but a gallon-size bag works just as well as a professional piping bag. It held all 3 cups of this buttercream recipe perfectly.

4. A little extra cinnamon and sugar didn't hurt anyone. I sprinkled some extra cinnamon and vanilla sugar on top of the finished cupcakes for a nice, finished look. It also added an extra "umph" to the flavor, too.

5. You can store them for up to one week in the refrigerator. I'm not sure how these amazing cupcakes would last more than a day in your household but if need be you can store them in an airtight container in the frig for up to one week.

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Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Buttercream Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tablespoons of whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Yield: 15-18 cakes Prep Time:15-20 mins Bake Time:18-20 mins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line baking cup sheet with cupcake wrappers.

3. Place the cake mix, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended.

4. Divide batter within the cupcake pan.

5. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger.

6. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

7. While cupcakes are cooling prepare the frosting. Place butter in mixing bowl and blend until fluffy. Stop mixer and add powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until ingredients form a frosting like consistency. Note: If it seems to think. add 4th tablespoon of milk.

8. Frost the cooled cupcakes and serve. Enjoy!

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