MSC – Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I have grown a fondness for snickerdoodles. Even after the initial disappointed of finding out that the cookies had NOTHING to do with Snickers themselves.

But I do love them. In all their cinnamon-sugary glory.

And now I can enjoy them in a cupcake too! Win-win!!

These are super simple, super tasty, light and fluffy.

The first time I made these, I made them into minis and glazed them with a simple confectioners sugar icing.

The second time I made them I skipped the frosting and topped them with a sprinkling of brown sugar (when they baked up, they has a nice sugary crunch in various places). Perfect for breakfast 😉

Yes, I’ve made them twice. Yes, I’ll make them again. Who knows, maybe with frosting and tiny snickerdoodle cookies as garnish 🙂

Thank you Katie from Katie’s Cakes for choosing this great cupcake!! Find the recipe in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book or here on her website.

MSC – Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I think everyone in my family is a self proclaimed cheesecake addict.

Well, everyone except my little brother. He’s 5. Don’t worry, he’ll catch on 😉

But anything with the word ‘cheesecake,’ even if it’s just implied (like with these ‘cupcakes’) is sure to be devoured. Chocolate cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, bourbon pumpkin cheesecake, turtle cheesecake, lemon cheesecake, any cheesecake… you name it, I’ll try it and most likely LOVE it.

Did I also mention that my sister is also a dedicated lover of Oreos? I’m sure you can guess who BOTH batches of these went to. Oh yes, we made them…. twice. They are worthy, trust me. I am the cheesecake queen after all.

They came together rather quickly and baked up nicely. I added extra oreos for the full ‘cookies and cream’ effect. The only thing I would change next time is to dial back on the sugar. These are SUPER sweet.


The worst part, waiting for them to come to room temp. Arg. The horrah!!!

A HUGE thanks from both my sister and myself goes out to Nina from Nina’s Cupcakes for choosing this recipe. You made the cheesecake/cookie lovers in my family VERY happy 🙂 Head on over to her blog for the recipe. Or you can find this in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book.

Up next month: Snickerdoodle cupcakes. These are addictive and perfect little tea cupcakes!

MSC – Triple Citrus Cupcakes

Upon reading the title and the recipe I wondered if the lemon would overpower the lime and orange flavors, but they didn’t.

They lived in harmony. Moist and tender crumb, beautiful flecks of zest peeking through the tops, an inviting aroma, lightly sweet and flavorful, these were a stunner. Now that’s what I call a happily ever after.

The texture was more muffin like to me so I only glazed one for show and left the rest plain to give away as a breakfast treat. I halved the recipe and used the zests of one lemon, one lime and one clementine. These were VERY well liked by the fiancé’s coworkers. They disappeared in no time, and I can understand why.

Another winner Martha. You don’t disappoint.

Thanks to Marthe from Culinairy Delights for choosing this recipe. You’ll have to get Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book for the recipe.

Up next month: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes. These are great!

MSC – Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

Don’t you just haaaate it when time runs away from you? Those times when you think you have an extra day when in all actuality, whatever you need done by ‘tomorrow’ is supposed to be done today?

I’m having one of those days.  I thought I had plenty of time to get this post up tomorrow. Nope, it needs to be up today.

You know what else I hate? When you think that tomorrow is Friday… and its not. It’s thursday.

That was my yesterday.

Imagine how bummed I was when I rejoined reality.

But these were a bright spot in my day none-the-less. They are super easy to whip up, they don’t need room temperature butter or any flour to be measured. These are a good cuppie to share with your gluten-free mates 🙂

They have a beautiful craggy, crusty look to them but once you get past that, they are moist and delicious underneath! Top with a scoop of your ice-cream of choice and you’re good to go!

Thank you to Lauryn from Bella Baker for choosing this recipe! Head on over to the other bakers’ blogs to see their beautiful creations! You can find the recipe in Martha’s book Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes.

MSC – Strawberry Cupcakes

These cupcakes are the perfect summer treat (aside from giant scoops of ice cream piled high with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, but that’s fodder for another post.) They come together quickly, the texture and taste are spot on, and they are SO refreshing. Even without frosting.

Yes, I am a Frosting Nazi. I find most frosting to be cloyingly sweet. A simple, unadorned strawberry coulis (read: fancy word for puree) is the PERFECT compliment to this delightfully pure and lightly sweetened yummy treat. Top it with a fresh berry, and there you have it: a perfect treat after a light summer brunch.

I’ll quit boring you and let the pictures speak for themselves 😉

Thank you to Sherry from Sherry Starts Cooking for this scrumptious pick!

Up next month: Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes (which I am rather excited about!)

MSC – S’mores Cupcakes!

I. LOVE. S’MORES.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. Some may call it an obsession.

While most people think of snow and holidays and gift-wrapping once chilly weather arrives, I… think of s’mores.

Once acceptable s’mores weather passes, I make ’em in the microwave: assemble (minus the top graham cracker) and zap it for 10 seconds, top with graham cracker and squish!! Mmmm.

Anywho, you can imagine my childish squealing mature delight at being able to make this along with the MSC group this month.

I made half of the cupcake recipe, full recipe of the ganache and made 1/3 recipe of the 7 minute frosting instead of the marshmallow frosting.

I pulsed graham crackers in my food processor until it was fine, and assumed that this was what Martha meant by ‘graham flour.’ I also tossed a few chocolate chips on top of the cupcakes before they went in the over but they sunk to the bottom. Once they were cool, I cut small circles out of the tops of each cupcake to hold a bit extra ganache. Cus, let’s face it, ganache makes everything better. Topped it with a dollop of frosting. Magnifique!

All I can say is, these bad boys are trouble. A few people have tasted them and that’s the exact same response given by everyone. And I heartily accept that as a compliment 🙂

A huge thank you to Mary Ann from Meet Me in the Kitchen for indulging in my obsession, even though you didn’t know I had one 🙂

MSC – Coconut Cupcakes… OMG yum.

Let’s start this post off by noting that I was never a fan of coconut. Unless of course it was in the shape of an Almond Joy. But coconut cookies, cakes, anything sprinkled with the waxy, oddly textured stuff was shunned by me. I quickly turned my nose up in disgust and pranced away to play with barbies.

I am reformed! Can I get a hallelujah? I’d like to think that my adult taste buds are finally coming in and I am starting to branch out into different tastes and textures.

These cupcakes have opened up my mind. I must admit that I was a bit hesitant to try one but I sighed in that beautiful aroma and ogled the light, springy cupcake and I could no longer resist. Coconut or not, I was eating one! (After all, I had to even out the batch. Odd numbers bother me. I’m quirky, alright?)

And it was indeed perfect. Soft and springy and fluffy. Warm and delicious. Hints of coconut flavor, but not over-powering. Oh the joy. And that was without the frosting.

Now, the frosting, I wasn’t too crazy about. It had a great texture, but even when I added vanilla extract, it tasted like it was still missing something. It’s a great simply-throw-together type recipe but it needs to be tweaked, flavor wise.

I halved the recipe and yielded 9 cupcakes and halved the frosting as well and had wayyy too much left over. I am no cupcake artist, but I am rather proud of the way these turned out! PRAISE ME!! *imitates Invader Zim*

Now when I am offered a coconut treat, I’ll politely take one with an open mind. And then prance off to play with my barbies 🙂

A great big thank you goes out to Jennifer of Cinema Cupcakes for opening my coco-nutty world 😀

MSC – Gingerbread Cupcakes

I have run behind. BIG TIME. I keep proooomising myself that I’m going to post.

“I baked it, I photographed it, tiiiime to post”

But it hasn’t happened. I’ve been busy, tired, busy, or… well… tired.

But I’m breaking the chain. For now at least 😉

And what a recipe to come back on. Martha’s Gingerbread Cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting. This cupcake is the epitome of the holiday season. Holidays in a cupcake wrapper, if you will. It’s fluffy, aromatic and quite tasty.

I made half a batch of cupcakes (which actually yielded exactly 11 cuppies) and quartered the frosting and it was enough to frost all the cuppies so that each cuppie has a dash of sweet delight topped off with a sprinkling of cinnamon. 🙂

Kayte at Grandma’s Kitchen Table is to thank for this…. deliciousness! Thanks Kayte. PS, Hiii!!

The recipe can be found on page 246 of the Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book. Its a great book, trust me on that!!

Please forgive my piping skills, as I don’t have any 😉

For more pics, click here.