#10 Snickerdoodle

One of my favorite gifts I received from my bridal shower last month was the Martha Stewart cupcake cookbook. 

Seriously, I know this is sad, but I didn't even know this book existed! And of course one of the first things that come to mind was if anyone has tried to bake all 175 recipes and to my amazement I stumbled upon Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club.  As I was looking through this blog, I noticed they have open enrollment and the next cupcake would be the Snickerdoodle, which originally has 7min frosting, but I ended up with a 7min disaster!

So  right off the bat I knew that I wanted to top my cupcakes with cookies. So the day before I started the cupcakes I made Snickerdoodle cookies using Martha's recipe below.

The Goods

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed (I used a little extra)
2 large eggs

The How To

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar.

Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack.

Look mom I didn't even burn them!!

Now for the cupcakes!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
These are just chalked full of cinnamony goodness!!!

The Goods

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

The How To

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

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.

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.

The first batch were a little dry so I cooked next tray with less time and the turned out perfect and were even lighter in color

Seven Minute Frosting
Should be called  seven minutes of total confusion and a waste of good egg whites!!! I'm very glad I had a back up frosting plan.

The Goods

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 large egg whites, room temperature

The How ToCombine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.

This is where I think I messed up. My candy thermometer wasn't clipped to the side and was touching the bottom so I had an unacuate reading

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.

I originally had the mixing attachment on here and realized this after it had been mixing for a few minutes but I still reached the soft peak phase.

As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

So as you can see my frosting went flat as a pancake and I ended up throwing this out :(

Thank goodness for my backup frosting!!!

Cinnamon Penuche Frosting (courtesy of Cupcake Project)
I burned it the first try but went back and gave it another shot and I'm glad did it was delicious!

The Goods

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

The How To

In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.

Add the brown sugar.

Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Don't cook it on too high of heat beacause it will burn and then smell and taste really bad

Add the milk and cinnamon and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Cool to lukewarm.

Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. Beat until thick enough to spread. If too thick, add a little hot water

Turned out perfect!!!

Time to put these little suckers together!!!
Spread frosting on top of the cupcake

Add a cookie then drizzle more frosting on top

Then I add a little of the left over cinnamon sugar to the top

According to a few of my taste testers there were the best cupcakes so far

Up Next....
Something with pumpkin or apples or maybe a little butternut squash... Soo many choices!!