Stout Soaked Caramel Corn Cocoa Cupcakes with Stout Buttercream Frosting [Recipe]

If you want to blow the doors off of St. Patrick’s Day then this is the right recipe, however this is not for beginners.  This is one of those recipes that you have to plan for because it’s time consuming and actually hard work.  There are four phases:

• The cupcakes
• The Stout Reduction
• The Stout Buttercream
• The Stout Caramel Corn

I suggest breaking the recipe up because the reduction alone can take as much as 45 minutes.   That’s 45 minutes of monitoring everything closely.  The good part is that after you make the reduction, you can store that in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.

When it’s said and done the finished product will look great.  I’m all four anything that I don’t have to pull out the decorating tips for.  Just stick the popcorn to the top and you have caramel, salty, crunchy with a hint of a stout after taste.  Oddly Delish!!  Hit the Recipe button and BAKE!!

Caramel Candy Apple Cupcakes [Recipe]

Does anyone know what the number one problem with a caramel apple is?  They are just so dar-gone hard to eat.  I don’t know about you, but half the time I want to throw away that stick and just grab the apple and eat it!  I end up biting it at all weird angles, getting sticky knuckles and getting caramel all over my face….don’t ask.

I think I look like this

But I really look like this:

This recipe puts an end to all that madness.  My issue here was dealing with the caramel.

THE CARAMEL SAUCE!!

In the recipe there are two warnings about working with the caramel.

The first says not to heat it up too hot because then it would be really hard when it cools.  The second advice is to serve the cupcakes the same day that you bake them.

Well after making some super sticky, super hard caramel like mess, I decided to use my own recipe for caramel.  It’s called, Trader Joes Caramel Sauce!

This way if I want to wait a day, I can warm the cupcakes, warm the caramel sauce and Voila!  I’m not saying it tastes better then making the caramel yourself, I’m just saying it was a lot easier and tasted pretty dang good.  Click the Recipe button and get to baking!

Apple Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Bacon Frosting [Recipe]

This was a surprise hit of the weekend. These might look like ordinary cupcakes but they are cupcakes made from pancake mix!! Everybody was going crazy over these and wanted more.

Six was definitely not enough for my family.

FROSTING OR NO FROSTING

This is a win win depending on how much time and energy you have. I would say make the frosting and frost every other one. I had one hot with butter and syrup and then one with frosting and couldn’t tell you which one I liked more.

If you are like me, as soon as you eat the first one, your mind will start wondering if Bananas or blueberries would work. I think so. Why Not!

This goes on the list of little work and a lot of reward. Best of all these lil babies are ready in about 12 minutes. What are you waiting for – hit the button and bake!!

“2 Rise” Monkey Bread Cupcakes [Recipe]

These are essentially little Monkey Breads, but made and sized individually.

I call them “2 Rise” because this recipe involves yeast!  I hate yeast but as I mature into a sophisticated baker the use of yeast, flowering tips, and various other things I find a pain the rear become a necessity.

WARNING: This recipe is work. I didn’t know that before I started – Now I know! It involved me rolling and dipping about a million balls into a sugar and butter dip.  This is not a recipe that you will bang out quickly.  In fact, if you have kids, this is something that they can help with.  They can be your rollers and dippers.  After you fill the cupcake liners up, you have to cover them and let them rise, then you have to bake them and let them rise again.  Hence – 2 Rise.

Recruit a little one hit the recipe button (below) and Get to Work!

Oreo Cookie and Cream CheeseCake Cupcakes [Recipe]

The most spectacular thing about these cupcakes, is how easy they are to make.  When I first looked at the pictures, I thought I would need to a degree in bakeology to pull this off, but it’s soooo not true.  These are actually easy-peasy.

Just a couple of watch outs:

• If you use liners that are too thick you won’t see the Oreo cookie imprint on the bottom.  They will still taste great but showing off the cookie is one of the great parts of this recipe.

• Be careful with the oven temperature and cooking time.  Watch it closely.

• The other thing that is not really a watch out, but some advice.  Make sure you chill these before you serve them.  Trust me, it will be worth the wait.

Click the Recipe Button and get started.  If you want more photos for inspiration, check this site – Grace’s Sweet Life