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 love white chocolate! It tastes especially good in cheesecake (and blondies, too). Can’t wait to try this recipe.
beantownbaker — March 3rd, 2013 @ 11:11 am
I haven’t made a white chocolate cheesecake yet, but I bet the subtleness would be great in cheesecake.
I never realized blondies had white chocolate! These look so good! I looove white chocolate but love it even more with a burst of semi-sweet too.
beantownbaker — March 3rd, 2013 @ 11:12 am
Not all blondies are created equal. Some have white chocolate and some don’t. I think from now on, I’m going to use this recipe for my base recipe for blondies.
Oooooh these look great! I’m in the same boat with white chocolate. I loooove dark, and always get a little turned off by the “fakeness” of white chocolate, but lately, it’s been a welcome addition.
these look absolutely fabulous!!
oh yum. i’m a HUGE white chocolate fan. these sound fabulous!
ok, so i’m wondering if my appeal to a middle of the road crowd could be semisweet chocolate? what do you think?
beantownbaker — April 1st, 2013 @ 8:44 am
I think semi-sweet would work just fine.