Holiday cupcakes
I made Gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and mint Oreo cupcakes. The original plan for the Oreo cupcakes was to make this recipe (hubby’s favorite) except to use the Trader Joe’s candy cane Joe Joe’s. The day of the party, the weather was nasty and I didn’t want to walk all the way to Trader Joes. So instead, I made the recipe (linked above) and added 2 tsp of peppermint extract to both the batter and the frosting.
Gingerbread Cupcakes (from Crazy about Cupcakes)
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2/3 cup light molasses
2 tsp lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour – I use King Arthurs White Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup sour cream
Preheat over to 375F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
In a large bowl cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, molasses, and lemon zest to the creamed mixture. Beat well.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
Add portions of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with portions of the sour cream, until they are completely integrated, about 30 seconds.
Fill the cupcake liners one-half to three-quarters full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m totally with you on liking bars over cookies! MUCH easier.
~ingrid
I’m a huge fan of bar cookies, in fact, I rarely make regular ones! They look great!
I’m with you on the bar thing vs cookies. They look great. I’ve never tried these before. How would you say these choc chip bars are different from blondies?
I’m a total sucker for chocolate chip cookies and these in bar form look awesome!
Those look delicious! They would make the perfect midnight snack with a glass of milk. 🙂
Mmm. Looks good to me too!
I love bars too, same reasons. Sorry I have been MIA, I have been so busy, but it has made me feel so bad not to have time to comment. Happy Birthday, hope the kitchen is going well.
I found these while surfing around the other day. Made them and LOVED them. Then had a little panic attack when I couldnt find your site. (Do you realize just how many options you get from chocolate chip cookie bars?)
Anyways, thanks so much! 😀