Rise and Shine Cupcakes

Who said cupcakes were only for dessert? Not me. :) Yesterday I baked some brown sugar cupcakes. As I was working on the frosting it decided it didn't want to work with me. So I was left with two dozen cupcakes without frosting.

I searched the Internet and stumbled upon a glaze on MarthaStewart.com. Then I decided to adapt it and see how it turned out. After sampling the product it reminded me of something I would eat for breakfast. It falls into the same category with a cinnamon roll, coffee cake, or monkey bread! The only thing that was missing was a cup of coffee!! When you are ready to eat, remove the wrapper and warm the cupcake in the microwave for a few seconds or until the glaze starts to melt down.

Brown Sugar Cupcake:

• 3 cups of cake flour 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 6oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup of milk (I used reduced fat)
• 4 extra large eggs (large will work as well)
• 2 tsp of pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl combine cake flour, salt, baking powder, and brown sugars. Mix on low speed to combine. Add in butter and sour cream. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add mix into the flour mixture. Fill cupcake liners. Bake for 18 minutes. Yields about 24 cupcakes.

Glaze:

• 4oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2-3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar (more to taste)

Melt stick of butter into a sauce pan at medium heat. Once golden brown pour melted butter into a bowl. Add sugars, vanilla, and milk. Mix together. For a thinner glaze add another tablespoon of milk. Spoon onto cupcakes. Refrigerate cupcakes to make the glaze firm. 

Happy Baking,

AJ

Recipes adapted from Martha Stewart  and The Frosted Cake n' Cookie blog