THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE

If I have not said it before, I just love baking cupcakes!  I get great joy from baking for special occasions and special people, but it's fun to just create some yummy, yummy treats for no good reason.  This week's creation was just that! 

My inspiration was the Sunday morning breakfast of the two soon-to-be-six-year-old princesses.  Emma slept over with Kennedy and Mack slept over with Ian.  Sunday morning I made the girls a batch of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.

I think they really enjoyed some time without their brothers!  They sat on the couch in front of the TV watching Disney Channel and eating the 8 cinnamon rolls ALL BY THEMSELVES!!  Kennedy wanted the one in the middle of course.  That's my girl!  As a child, I always wanted the middle cinnamon roll or middle biscuit.

Even before the girls finished their breakfast, I started researching a good recipe!  There are tons of wonderful recipes and tempting pictures of ooey gooey goodness online.  The general elements were cream cheese frosting and cinnamon.  Many had nuts and were made like a real cinnamon roll using a yeast based recipe.  I wanted a true cupcake that tastes like a cinnamon roll, not a cinnamon roll in a cupcake paper. 

I came across one that used a box cake mix and a brown sugar and cinnamon glaze.  With my tried and true Cream Cheese Frosting, this would be an AWESOME cupcake.  Sold ! ! !

The plan for the day's creation required me to go to Publix for a few items.  After a couple of hours of dress up, make up, and a bath, the girls and I headed to town for some lunch and to meet up with the rest of the Laslie crew and Mack.

The kids all agreed that they had a great time together.  I think they would each be happy with swapping siblings, maybe not permanently, but at least until they finally missed their own.  When we parted ways, the kids were talking about the next time they would see each other at Kennedy's birthday party! (I simply cannot believe she will be 6!)

On the way home, I stopped by Michael's and picked up a few new packages of cupcake papers.  They have the cutest, most economical, and largest variety of cupcake papers of any one store in town.  With a number of papers to choose from, I am ready for baking!!!

After a few more stops, including at Publix, I finally get into the kitchen!  Let me tell you, this is an EASY recipe.  A few steps, but overall an easy recipe.

I mixed up the batter and filled the papers.  I have to tell you, this being my first try at the recipe, I overfilled them a bit.  I cannot lie.  If you follow the recipe and not my example, you should be able to get the full 24 as promised.  Mine only made 13.  Oh well.  They were more like Cinnabon cinnamon rolls than a canned Pillsbury!

Oh well...

BIGGER

IS

BETTER

(when it's a cupcake...)

While the cupcakes were cooling, I mixed up a batch of the frosting and the glaze.  For the glaze, I used the remaining brown sugar / cinnamon mixture, which was about 1/2 of a recipe.  So I used 1/2 the butter the glaze recipe calls for and stirred away.  Over medium heat, the mixture gets to a pourable consistency pretty quick.  In fact, faster than I thought and since I had not frosted the cupcakes yet it sat in the pot off of the heat until the cakes were cool enough to frost.  That was not a problem and it did well with the fresh shot of heat.

 The frosted cakes before....

  

...and after!!!

These cupcakes were fun to decorate!  The glaze was applied without care for neatness.  The messier the better, was may theory.  They say you eat with your eyes first.  Well, these should make your sugar shoot sky high with just one look.

With the exception of the 13th cupcake, I put the cupcakes immediately into the fridge.  The warm glaze and the soft frosting would be a bad combinaton without refrigeration.  Phillip and I enjoyed the 13th fresh hot cupcake that evening.  It was worth the effort and worth the wait.

The rest of the cupcakes?  Well, those made their way to Pat's house for the monthly bunco gathering.  They were a big hit.  I am certain to make this recipe again.

These cupcakes were just plain fun.  They weren't meant to be anything but tasty.  They were not pretty or neat or unusual.  Just yummy.  Thank you for letting me make them for you and for following my adventure in cupcakes.

Angie

And now for the recipe...

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick of unsalted butter (8tbsp. or 1/2 c.) melted
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. brown sugar + 1 & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, combined

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water and butter and beat on low speed until combined.
• Increase speed to high and beat for one minute.
• Fill the prepared cupcake liners 1/4 of the way full.
• Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon / brown sugar mixture over batter.
• Add more batter and fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full.
• Sprinkle another teaspoon of cinnamon / brown sugar over the top.
• Bake for about 15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
• Let cupcakes cool in pan for a few minutes then remove and cool completely on wire rack.
• Top with Cream Cheese Frosting (see LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN) and the Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Glaze.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8 tbsp or 1/2 c.) butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

 Directions:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with brown sugar and cinnamon until combined and pourable but not boiling. 
• Spoon mixture over frosted cupcakes and immediately place in the refrigerator to set.