Maple Walnut Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Who doesn't love a homemade cupcake?  Those perfectly-sized bombs of delectable goodness come in every variety under the rainbow, and I love trying new ones!  I whipped up a small batch of these puppies for dessert after our Valentine's Day dinner yesterday, and I wanted to share the recipe with all of you!

*side note:  Every time I try to type the word "cupcake" in this post, I end up typing "pancake" instead and have to go back and fix it.  I guess there's something about the phrase "maple walnut" that tells my brain that I can only be referring to pancakes!

Maple Walnut Cupcakes

Yield: 18 cupcakes

What You'll Need:

• 2.5 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp ground ginger
• 1 stick room temperature unsalted butter
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 and ¼ cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

What You'll Do:

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger.   In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.   Add the eggs, syrup, and vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture.   Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.   Fold in walnuts.   Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners and add batter to each one until ¾ of the way full.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting.

Wait wait.. you didn't think that was it, did you?  We still have to frost these babies!  That's the best part of the whole cupcake!  The whole reason for baking them in the first place!  So you just sit yourself right back down and let's continue!

Now, where was I?  Ah yes, frosting.  As you know, there's really no wrong way to frost a cupcake, depending on your personal taste.  Personally, I was having a jones for some from-scratch vanilla buttercream, so that's what I chose to slather all over the top of these babies.  Here is the recipe I used:

Delicious Vanilla Buttercream

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (use the good stuff, man!)

What You'll Do:

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.  This usually takes just a few minutes.  You can add small amounts of cream to the frosting until it reaches the consistency that you desire.  Use a very large pastry tip to pip the frosting onto each cupcake.

 

If you noticed from the pictures, my large pastry tip has gone missing, so I had to use a smaller, fluted one.  The result isn't quite as nice and neat as it would have been, but it worked!  If you don't want to deal with piping, you can always use a butter knife and just slather the stuff on.  I won't tell anyone.

If you're feeling adventurous, here's a sinful recipe for Maple Butter Frosting  that you can use instead!

Maple Butter Frosting

What You'll Need:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

⅔ cup dark brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup maple syrup

¾ tsp vanilla extract (use dat good stuff!)

1 cup powdered sugar

What You'll Do:

In a mixing bowl, mix together butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.  While beating, add the maple syrup and vanilla. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar a bit at a time until combined.   Continue mixing on high speed for an additional minute until light and fluffy.   Place frosting in the refrigerator and let chill for at least 1 hour before spreading onto cupcakes.