During the summer’s hottest and most humid days, there are times when you want a cooler alternative to cakey cupcakes with thick and sugary icing. Those muggy days are where cheesecake cupcakes can be the perfect substitute. Their density isn’t overly sweet and they’re usually at their tastiest when served chilled. While cheesecake cupcakes work with or without toppings, the fresh fruit of summer is often the perfect finishing touch. So here are recipes for several cheesecake cupcakes to try.

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It looks like cupcakes may be on Oprah’s list of favorite things. The OWN section of Huffington Post has, well, posted a slideshow of fantastic cupcake recipes. Several are twists on old favorites. Adding a swirl of caramel to a simple vanilla cupcake is an easy way to shake up the classic. Or adding a dash of cinnamon to the cream cheese frosting that traditionally sits atop red velvet cupcakes. The candy pie cupcakes are more of a decorating idea with the linked recipe using a standard vanilla cupcake but substitutions should be easy. In fact, a blueberry cupcake or cherry cupcake that coordinate to the colored M&Ms could taste like chocolate dipped fruit. Other flavors featured, are a little more involved. Read the rest of this entry »

I know that Comic Con was a few weeks ago now and the summer blockbusters are winding down, but with the new television season is creeping up on the horizon and the promotions beginning for several major franchises’ autumn and Thanksgiving/holiday releases, my inner nerd isn’t going into hibernation any time soon. In fact, it seems to be spreading. Lucky for me, I found Rosanna Pansino’s Nerdy Nummies tutorials on YouTube and a new, tasty outlet has been opened for my nerdiness. Read the rest of this entry »

Coffee cake already borders the boundary between breakfast treat and decadent dessert. It doesn’t take much to turn your favorite weekend brunch or late morning snacks into an excuse to have cupcakes for breakfast. Many of the recipes I found for coffee cake cupcakes labeled themselves “coffee cake muffins” but if the word “cake” appears anywhere in the description, I think calling them “muffins” is misguided. You can use a muffin pan, but they’re still cupcakes. Especially when they’re glazed or have any kind of icing. These three recipes rightly asserted themselves as cupcakes.

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We’ve all had those days in the kitchen where something happens and we’re unexpectedly left with a cupcake tray that has empty liners and the conundrum of whether to reconcile the situation with fewer or smaller cupcakes. Whether you dismiss it as a consequence of the spill at the hands of favorite your little helper or the presence of too many willing volunteers offering their batter-sampling services, you might shrug it off and move on to the next thing. But when that situation arises and you’re alone in the kitchen, you realize the sad truth that the culprit might actually have been your trusty box of cake mix all along.

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Each Sunday I like to flip through the Parade Magazine that comes inside the Sunday newspaper with the coupons and flyers.  There is usually a good recipe or two inside.  This week, in preparation for Easter there is a vanilla cupcake recipe and three Easter cupcake decorating ideas.  I think I have seen versions of these over the years but sometimes it’s good to see an old idea again.  Personally I still love the “hot chick” because it looks too easy to mess up!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  I hope you all have a very lucky day and if you’re old enough you have a green beer or one of these Guinness, Jameson & Baileys cupcakes!  These triple liquor cupcakes have Guinness in the frosting, Jameson in the chocolate ganache, and Baileys in the frosting.  Topped with a small green shamrock, these cupcakes by Cake & Allie look festive and delicious!

A 30 calorie cupcake? Is it possible? These frozen yogurt cupcakes are easy to make (only 4 ingredients), beautiful, and good for you! It’s the perfect spring cupcake! You can find the recipe and instructions at Fit Sugar.

There are so many different options for St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes.  At first it seems like the classic dyed green is the only option but when you start thinking about it there are Irish car bomb cupcakes, mint variations of cupcakes, lucky charms cupcakes, and these Emerald Isle Cupcakes from Gooseberry Patch.  Instant pistachio pudding mix gives the cake portion their green coloring and a few drops off food coloring help add a darker festive green to the frosting.

As much as I love all the crazy and unique cupcake flavors my favorite cupcake is usually a simple vanilla cupcake.  I noticed She Makes and Bakes blog post for the perfect vanilla cupcake and it peaked my interest.  My favorite vanilla cupcakes usually have real vanilla beans in them in addition to vanilla extract so we will see how these, which only call for extract, turn out.   I haven’t tried these cupcakes yet as I decided to give up desserts for lent but as soon as Easter arrives I’m going to test these out.  Click “continue reading” for She Makes and Bakes’s recipe. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you bake treats for your pets?  Have you made them special birthday cupcakes?  I have yet to try baking homemade dog treats for our dog but if they look like these cupcake pops for pets from the blog of Created by Diane, I think any dog or cat will love these treats!

A few years ago we shared these chocolate avocado cupcakes from The Vegetarian Times with you.  The recipe sounded interesting and I have always been curious to see what a chocolate avocado cupcake would taste like but I never got around to buying all the ingredients.  Actually I have never bought tofu so I was excited to find another chocolate avocado cupcake recipe.  This recipe is NOT vegan but it does use lots of ingredients that I tend to have on hand like Greek yogurt and buttermilk.  These chocolate Avocado cupcakes by Itsy Bitsy Foodies are officially back on my “to bake” list, are they on yours?  Have you tried them?

I recently read about Chasing Delicious’s blog as part of The Sweetest Occasion’s 2013 up and coming blog list from Alt Summit.  Every one of Chasing Delicious’s recipes looks amazing.  These rum caramel chocolate cinnamon cupcakes are complicated, requiring making three different parts, but the picture makes me think they would be worth all the work.  I really wish I was one of his friends he talked about in the blog post and I could have tried one of these cupcakes!

Mini Football Cupcakes are the perfect dessert for a Superbowl party tomorrow.  The cupcakes are festive and they are mini which means people are more likely to take them.  I think people are more likely to take mini desserts because they don’t feel as guilty eating a small portion.  On a night like Superbowl Sunday when there are tons of foods and desserts at parties I think you are better off brining a small bite sized dessert that way people can sample other things.

Project Domestication made these mini football cupcakes a few years ago but they are still one of my favorite football cupcakes because they are so easy to frost and decorate. Her cupcakes are chocolate-mint flavored but you can make any chocolate flavor you or your friends like!

For a few years now I have been reading The Little Red House’s blog but I somehow didn’t realize these Almond Cupcakes with Chocolate Coconut Buttercream were from her blog when I repinned the cupcakes on Pinterest.  I  have been trying to eat more almonds since the fall when I learned some of the latest research about almonds which help keep you full longer and keep blood sugars steady hours after consuming them.  Almond cupcakes would count as eating almonds, right?  Even if they don’t count, I still think these cupcakes sound and look great based on The Little Red House’s picture shown above.

This time of year is when everyone is on a healthy kick, my local whole foods is crowded with those looking to eat healthy.  My local gym is crowded with those looking to be physically fit.  With that in mind I’m sure a lot of people are avoiding cupcakes right now.  But what if you chose a “healthy cupcakes”?  I spotted these Beet & Kale Chocolate Cupcakes on The Realistic Nutritionist’s blog.

A little side note, I’m really excited to have found this blog, it means there are other nutritionists and dietitians who love cupcakes as much as I do.  Continuing with the cupcakes, the realistic nutritionist claims that these cupcakes are a dream come true because they have vegetables in them but do not taste like vegetables!  There are only 191 calories per serving and low in fat, so all of the resolutioners out there can enjoy a little “healthy” cupcake.

If your house is anything like mine I’m sure your spending today baking and cooking!  We already have three types of cookies made and a fourth cookie dough chilling.  I have a feeling we wont have time to make cupcakes but if we were going to I would bake these skinny gingerbread cupcakes with sweet cinnamon glaze by The Scrumptious Pumpkin.  Gingerbread and cinnamon are two flavors and smells that remind me of Christmas and these cupcakes are supposed to be healthy!  What kind of cupcakes does your family bake for the holidays?

Too pretty to eat, right? These pear and cranberry cupcakes were created by The Baking Pan,where you’ll find complete recipe and instructions. Mmm … just the idea of sweet pears and cranberries alongside the warmth of cloves and nutmeg … gotta go!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had lots to be thankful for! Image via Sweetopia for Gluten Free Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Icing.

Once fall hits I get on a pumpkin baking kick!  I crave sweet pumpkin desserts and what better way to satisfy that craving than with cupcakes?  How Sweet It Is shared a recipe for pumpkin s’more cupcakes.  The pictures of these cupcakes look amazing!  The cupcakes are made up of a graham cracker crust, pumpkin cupcake, fudge ganache filling, and marshmallow icing!  I’m tempted to bake these cupcakes in place of pumpkin pie which no one in our house eats anyway.

My mouth is watering for these mulled wine cupcakes from Good to Know Recipes. Imagine a soft spiced sponge, with a warming mulled wine center, and a sweet buttercream topping! What a perfect combination! Click here for recipe and instructions.

Here is yet another take on the Oreo-cupcake combo. And I bet this is one rich combination!

Visit Things that Make You Say Mmm for recipe and instructions. Then let us know how they taste!

Imagine a rich chocolate cupcake with a coconut ricotta filling! Mmm … Visit Taste of Home for the recipe. Use applesauce and fat-free ricotta and you can have two!

Maple Nut Goodies are an important food group in this household, so I’m not sure why I haven’t put them in cupcakes before now. But now that I have, there’s no going back, because these cupcakes were a HIT! I’m not sure I’ve ever received such rave reviews.

Here’s what I did:

I used a white cake mix (don’t tell!). The mix called for 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, which I replaced with real maple syrup, straight out of the tree. (Okay, not straight out of the tree.) This made the cupcakes a bit sticky, but the stickiness is well worth it.

I also plopped a Maple Nut Goodie right into each cupcake before baking. However, these sank to the bottom and caused the cupcakes to stick to their wrappers, so next time, I will cut the goodies into bits before putting them into the mix.

I baked as directed. In the meantime, I crushed up some salted peanuts and purchased some bottled caramel. For the frosting, I beat together 1 stick of butter, about 2 cups of powdered sugar, about a half cup of maple syrup, and a splash of half and half.

After the cupcakes cooled, I piped on some frosting. Then I sprinkled on some crushed peanuts. Then I drizzled on some caramel. Then I plopped another Maple Nut Goodie on top. And voila! The perfect sweet and salty Maple Nut Goodie cupcakes. Trust me. These are worth the effort!

Since it’s October and the weather is starting to feel like fall, I think now is the perfect time to make caramel apple cupcakes!  When I think of fair food I think of caramel apples along with anything fried so these caramel apple cupcakes are the perfect cupcake to make!  If you live in North Carolina and are getting excited for the North Carolina State Fair, which is just 10 days away, these cupcakes will definitely help get you in the fair food mood!