Monday, August 15, 2011

Papa's Snicker Cupcakes

My Papa Bob came to visit a week ago. He only visits about once a year so I had to make his favorite food, Snickers, into a cupcake. (His other favorite food is coney dogs but that would be nasty!) He loved them! I'm pretty positive he ate the whole dozen by himself! haha. These cupcakes include every element of a Snickers bar except for nougat (which would be odd in a cupcake). I think he really enjoyed his time here and we really enjoyed getting to see him. These cupcakes are honorarily named just for him!

P.S. I am without a photo for this cupcake because my photographer was unavailable. Sorry! For a reference, look at the Monster Peanut Butter cupcake, substituting the peanut butter cup for a snicker bar.


Papa's Snicker Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¾ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

½ cup warm water

¼ cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 regular-sized muffin pan with paper liners or spray each cup with cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, beat together the egg, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until combined.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool. When your cupcakes have cooled, remove a hole from the center, making sure to leave some cupcake on the bottom. This will stop the caramel fill from leaking out of the bottom of your cupcake. If you are using muffin cups (paper liners), you do not need to worry about this. I use a small spoon to scoop out the center in order to stop the hole from caving in. Fill each cupcake with the caramel sauce and then top with the peanut butter frosting. To finish off these cupcakes top with peanuts.

Caramel Filling

Saunders Caramel Sauce

I know I should have my own caramel sauce recipe but this stuff is too good to be true! Any sauce I make cannot even compare to Saunders Caramel filling! If you choose you can make your own caramel sauce but I will stick to my favorite. Just follow the directions on the back of the jar to melt the caramel sauce.

Peanut Butter Frosting Ingredients

4 teaspoons heavy whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

Peanuts (for topping)

Mix all ingredients except the heavy whipping cream in a large bowl until combined. Add whipping cream slowly until the frosting is thin enough to spread. You may not need to use all of the whipping cream.


S'mores and Mores

Sorry to my followers for the lack of new cupcakes! I have been busy at work and with family events. Get ready for a lot of new cupcakes coming this week! Every summer my family and I make s'mores in our backyard at our bonfire. A few weeks ago, my mom bought all the supplies for s'mores but unfortunately random Michigan weather led to rain. We ended up staying in all night playing board games and watching movies. Why leave perfectly good graham crackers and marshmallows to just sit when they can be made into a cupcake?!? I made a s'more cupcake to enjoy with our family game night. This treat is perfect for a rainy day or even the winter when a bonfire just isn't an option, especially in Michigan.


S'mores and Mores


Cupcake Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup warm water
¼ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 regular-sized muffin pan with paper liners or spray each cup with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, beat together the egg, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until combined.
Pour the batter into the muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Frosting Ingredients

1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup of milk
32 marshmallows
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, COLD

Topping

Graham crackers (4-6)
Hershey's Chocolate bar


Put all of the marshmallows and milk in a sauce pan on low heat. Stir occasionally until completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let it stand until it becomes room temperature. Using a electric beater, mix the butter and vanilla into the marshmallow mixture until well blended. Mine came out in a liquid form so I put it in the fridge for an hour and them remixed it with the electric mixer.

Coat each cupcake with the marshmallow frosting. Crush at least 4 of the graham crackers and dip each frosting covered cupcake into the graham cracker crumble. Then top it off with a single piece of Hershey's chocolate. Enjoy!