Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes - made October 23, 2011 from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Another recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, mostly because I had it out and when I was flipping through it and saw the Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcake recipe, I also saw this recipe and wanted to try it as well.  Martha's version called for frosting it with vanilla frosting and dusting it with sugar and cinnamon on top.  I've included the frosting recipe below in case you want to try it Martha's way.  Or you can follow my version to make it a little more snickerdoodle-y.  That is to say, I brushed the top with melted butter then dunked it in a cinnamon sugar mixture, rolling it right around to get that mixture adhering to the melted butter.  YUM.  I liked my way better, not only because I'm not a frosting person but also because the cinnamon sugar topping really makes it more of a snickerdoodle cupcake to me.  The cupcake itself is a nice cinnamon-flavored cupcake, great texture, soft, moist and all a cupcake is meant to be.  But the melted butter-cinnamon-sugar combo really made the cupcake.  The only thing I would do differently next time is make these as mini cupcakes.  They'd be smaller but then you could roll the whole thing in cinnamon sugar rather than just the top for more all-over goodness.

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus ½ teaspoon for dusting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months.
4. To finish, combine remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (Ateco #809 or Wilton #1A), pipe frosting on each cupcake. Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting then release pressure and pull up to form a peak. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon sugar. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.