I have developed quite an attraction to anything maple. My most recent addiction, thanks to my friend Sherra, has been the Maple Leaf Cookie from Trader Joe’s. Can I just say YUM!!! If you like maple you are going to love these cookies!
Knowing my growing attraction to anything maple and cupcakes, Sherra sent me a recipe for Nutmeg Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream. I have been trying to make them for the last week and finally got to it yesterday.
I made a few changes to the recipe and am quite happy with how they turned out.
Instead of using straight nutmeg I decided to use the new Baking Spice I recently purchased from Penzeys. If you don’t have a Penzeys locally I highly suggest you mail order yourself some Baking Spice and throw in a bottle of Double Strength Vanilla while you are at it. Baking Spice is a combination of cinnamon, ground anise seed, allspice, mace and cardamon so you could make up your own blend or you could just use nutmeg!
I also decided to use my favorite buttercream frosting recipe as the frosting recipe Sherra sent looked a little labor intensive and the frosting looked a little too “shiny” for my texture issues!
These cupcakes may look a little familiar.
They look a little bit like those yummy Banana Cupcakes I shared a few months ago but they’re not! I just ran out of time and creativity and couldn’t think of anything else to put on top as a garnish except for chopped nuts. I did use hazelnuts this time instead of pecans! And besides that they are sitting on my new cute little green cake stand!
The frosting has maple syrup and brown sugar and is truly divine.
Combine the maple syrup, brown sugar and the Baking Spice blend and you have a truly wonderful Fall inspired treat.
Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C butter softened
- 1 1/2 C sugar
- 1 C buttermilk
- 1 tsp double strength vanilla or 2 tsp regular strength
- 2 C flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice or nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
- 1 C butter softened
- 2 3/4 C powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- Put butter in bowl and mix until whipped.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line cupcake pan with liners
- Cream 1/2 C of butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add in the eggs and mix well until combined
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice blend and salt
- Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk combined with the vanilla alternately in three parts
- Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cool and frost
Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
- Put butter in bowl and mix until whipped
- Mix in powdered sugar and beat for about a minute
- Scrape down the sides and add the brown sugar and maple syrup
- Mix for another 2-3 minutes or until frosting is fluffy
- Frost cooled cupcakes and garnish with chopped nuts - hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts
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Yum! Looks so good!
Yum! Yum! Yum! These look amazing! Wish I had not made the decision to go off sugar for awhile. . . . . . .You are making it hard, but thanks for sharing such amazing recipes.
OH, I miss Trader Joes! Especially around the holidays! Those cookies look so yummy! My favorite are their Peppermint Joe-Joes, I think that’s what they’re called??? Its been too long.
I just bought a donut pan (you bake them in the oven instead of frying them!) and I think I am going to try your cupcake recipes out with it. Yum, Yum!
Looks like a recipe I must try! How much sugar is in the cupcake recipe, I can’t seem to find it. Thanks, cindy
These look delicious!! I’m making them this week. About how many does this recipe make? Love your blog
about 2 dozen – depending on the size of your pan. Some are bigger than others.
First time I’ve ever made spice cupcakes, and they’re AMAZING!! To die for, especially with the scrumptiously rich maple frosting! My husband ate four as soon as they came out of the oven, and i had to hide the rest so they cool enough to properly frost them. A definite win — thank you!!!
Very good frosting recipe! It didn’t have quite enough maple punch for my taste though, so I added a teaspoon of maple flavoring extract. Best maple buttercream ever! I then used it to frost some vanilla cupscakes and topped with bacon. Maybe next time I’ll make these spiced cupcakes instead of the vanilla ones.