Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

It's no secret ... my boys are music boys. They are not ashamed to play in the band and sing in the choir ... and that's okay with me. When Collin was in junior high, he was a member of the swing choir. Jared, of course, followed in his brothers footsteps and also auditioned for the junior high swing choir. Both boys are talented musically, but let's face it ... they're boys ... they're going to make the swing choir.

Every semester the choir director puts together a snack schedule for the the rehearsals. The kids practice one day before school and one day after school, and snacks are a must. Today was Jared's turn to bring snacks, so cupcakes for everyone!

I decided to send two different kinds of cupcakes - chocolate (because really ... who doesn't like chocolate?) and snickerdoodle. Thanks to Jessica Burns at Elegance Made Easy, I was able to provide the kids with a treat they all loved.

Here's how I made them:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Assembly

Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Use a large plain tip to pipe your favorite buttercream onto each cupcake. Dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.


These really do taste like snickerdoodle cookies. The junior high kids loved them. The kids always look forward to the snacks ... and it's fun for them to get something different each week from the different parents. They all seemed pretty enthusiastic today when they saw the cupcakes (but I've also seen them enthusiastic about pre-packaged Rice Crispy Treats). I was told "Thank you!" and "These are awesome!" repeatedly while the kids were eating. If that doesn't feed the ego, I'm not sure what does.

These are definitely kid-friendly cupcakes. I'll have to make these again.