Beautiful cherry almond cupcakes plus recipe link

Find out how to make these cherry almond cupcakes over at North Dakota Kitchen. They look fabulous!

Cute vanilla snowman cupcakes with only 143.5 calories each

Blogger Gina Homolka at SkinnyTaste serves up recipes that are fun and healthy - even cupcakes! From her about page:

On Skinnytaste, you'll find healthy dishes that don't sacrifice any of the flavor that can be found in their full-fat origins. Gina knows all the food she prepares for Skinnytaste is tasty and satisfying, because after all, this is the same food she cooks on a daily basis for her friends and family, and they are some of her toughest critics!

She caught my eye with these very cute vanilla snowman cupcakes.



The recipe involves Duncan Hines Cake Mix and Chobani yogurt, whose nutritional stats clock in at:

Servings: 24 • Size: 1 cupcake • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts* (3 pts no frosting)Calories: 143.5 • Fat: 2.7 g • Carbs: 27.3 • Fiber: 0 • Protein: 2.1 g • Sugar: 19.6Sodium: 143.2 mg

And if you just can't get enough, she's got lots more recipes on her site. Here are two of the cupcake ones:


super moist low fat chocolate cupcakes with chocolate glaze


pink lemonade confetti cupcakes

You can also follow SkinnyTaste on Facebook and @SkinnyTaste on Twitter.

Gluten-free Shirley Temple cupcakes plus recipe linke

These gluten-free Shirley Temple cupcakes are by Carol Kicinski of the blog Simply...Gluten Free, author of the cookbook Simply...Gluten-free Desserts, via Best Friends for Frosting.

Pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting plus recipe link by cupcake romance novelist Donna Kauffman

Donna Kauffman, author of the upcoming Cupcake Club romance novel series, featuring Sugar Rush (out December 27th) and Sweet Stuff, made these pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes and has the recipe for you on her blog, Cakes by the Cup. Check it out! More on her books coming soon. You can win a copy of Sugar Rush from publisher Kensington Books by following them @KensingtonBooks on Twitter.

Donna writes:Seriously…you have to try this! Incredibly moist, with that surprise bite of cheesecake in the middle, topped with chocolatey fudge goodness. It doesn’t get much better than that!



More about her cupcake novels, via Donna's website:


Sugar Rush

When baker extraordinaire Leilani Trusdale left the bustle of New York City for Georgia’s sleepy Sugarberry Island, she didn’t expect her past to follow. Yet suddenly, her former boss, Baxter Dunne, aka Chef Hot Cakes, the man who taught her everything pastry, wants to film his hit cooking show in her tiny cupcakery. The same Chef Hot Cakes whose molten chocolate brown eyes made Lani’s mouth water and her cheeks blush the color of raspberry filling–stirring all kinds of kitchen gossip, much of which Lani wished was true…

Lani’s friends are convinced that this time around, Baxter is the missing ingredient in her recipe for happiness. But convincing Lani will be a job for Baxter himself. And he’ll need more than black velvet frosting to sweeten the deal…


Sugar Rush

Riley Brown never imagined she would find her bliss on Georgia’s quiet Sugarberry Island after years of Chicago’s city life. With a new career and fantastic new friends, she’s got it all—except for eligible men. But a gig staging a renovated beach house delivers a delicious treat—six feet of blue-eyed, gorgeous writer as delectable and Southern as pecan pie. Quinn Brannigan has come to Sugarberry to finish his latest novel in peace, and suddenly Riley has a taste for the bad boy author that no amount of mocha latte buttercream or lemon mousse will satisfy…

Riley’s friends are rooting for her to give in to her cravings and spice up her life, but it’s Quinn who needs to learn that life’s menu just might include love, in all its decadent, irresistible flavors…

Cutest cupcake video EVER: 3-year-old Makes Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes

Can I just spend all Thanksgiving Day watching this extremely adorable video? Via One Green Planet and it's not just cute, it really has a vegan pumpkin cupcake recipe! Petey Rojas, I hope you will be making more cupcakes and more videos! "What's vanilla?" "You mix it up until the pumpkin goes away." Love this!

Sweet potato pie cupcakes with marshmallow frosting plus recipe link

Not only do these sweet potato pie cupcakes with marshmallow frosting by blogger Jessica at How Sweet It Is look amazing, she has never actually eating sweet potato pie! Read all about it and get the recipe at the link above. I'm a sucker for anything involving marshmallow so these sound amazing to me.

Pomegranate cranberry mini cupcakes and recipe link

I just ate some pomegranate seeds during breakfast - I love the sweet/tart combination, so these vegan pomegranate cranberry mini cupcakes by blogger and cookbook author Hannah Kaminsky are right up my alley, and very Thanksgiving appropriate. Visit her blog Bittersweet for the recipe!


image via Flickr

Recap: Friday's Twitter Chat About Vanilla Cupcakes

If you were on Twitter last Friday afternoon and followed the hastag #cupcakechat, then you know we chatted about vanilla and vanilla cupcakes. We had people on the chat from Egypt, the UK, Greece, Germany (Hi Betsy!) as well as many from across the US.

I asked about favorite vanilla cupcake recipes. Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and Cook's Illustrated are well-regarded. Many bakers start from a basic recipe but add on ingredients including buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla pudding and even yogurt to their vanilla cupcakes.

We talked about vanilla as well. Which do bakers prefer? There are three main types- Madagascar, Mexican and Tahitian. Which brands do they use? It's old skool, but I have used McCormick's Vanilla Extract. Many chatters like Neilsen-Massey extract, Trader Joe's Vanilla Bourbon extract and one mentioned Veracruz Vanilla. BTW, there's a recent article on Cook's Illustrated about vanilla beans.

We also chatted a bit about flour. A soft all-purpose flour is best. Don't use self-rising flour. Pillsbury and King Arthur were name-checked. One question I asked: What's the difference between angel food, yellow cake and vanilla cake? Angel food uses egg whites, not yolks. Angel food cake has a completely different texture; it is more like a sponge. Yellow has a distinct taste that's different than vanilla.

 Links to a few Vanilla Cupcake Recipes:

• Vegan Vanilla Cupcake Recipe from Isa Chandra of Post Punk Kitchen.
• Amy Sedaris' Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
• Baking Bites Vanilla Cupcake Recipe 
• Brown-Eyed Baker's Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Our next cupcake twitter chat will be Friday, November 18 at 2PM. This time we will talk about Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Butterfinger Blizzard candy cupcakes and recipe link!

Mother and daughter blog duo Double the Deliciousness has baked up these delicious-looking Butterfinger Blizzard cupcakes, and they've got the recipe! I love this part of the instructions:

Now for he Butterfinger Buttercream!! You need to unwrap the butterfingers and shave the chocolate off the outside of each bar. It's a little tricky, but if you've got some helpers (Kyla!) this is something they seem to think is fun!! Take the orange middles and crush in a bowl or in a plastic bag. Sift as much of the candy as possible. You want to get about 1/2 cup of orange Butterfinger powder.

Andes mint chocolate cupcakes and recipe link

Audra of the blog The Kurtz Corner made these Andes mint cupcakes and I'm right there with her in my love of Andes mints! Click through to her blog for the recipe! She writes:

Mmmm...Don't you just love those mints from Olive Garden, you know, the chocolate and mint ones? Love Andes Mints! And judging by several of my previous posts you should know I love cupcakes! So I thought to myself, why not combine the two?! Yes! Low and behold others have had the same idea. Lizzy from Your Cup of Cake perfected this cupcake recipe and inspired me to make my own, minus the from scratch part!

Nutella Cupcakes with Triple Cream Cheese Frosting

Image courtesy of Goodlife Eats

Just the sight of the name of these cupcakes made my mouth water. That's an indication of one amazing recipe...wouldn't you agree? These Nutella cupcakes are topped with a triple cream cheese frosting. What's so triple about it you ask? Well, there's actually three separate cream cheese frostings. Chya. It's so serious. The frostings are: Nutella Cream Cheese, Almond Butter Cream Cheese and Vanilla Cream Cheese. Katie Goodman of Goodlife Eats is a cupcake genius for creating these. Check out the recipe here!

Cranberry and Cheese Danish cupcakes

Yum! Yum! Yum!

the Cupcake Project is at it again:

Cranberry and Cheese Danish cupcakes

How tasty do these look??

Stef writes:

"I made these single-serving Danish cupcakes with a cranberry cheese filling. I got a bit carried away with the filling quantity. I knew that it might cause exploding filling syndrome on some of the Danish cupcakes. But, like a kid with a bowl full of Halloween candy and a tummy already aching, I couldn't help myself. I kept overstuffing because I wanted to eat all of that filling!"

Check them out at thecupcakeproject.com

Chai Cream Cupcakes with Recipe Link

Yesterday, on my way to work, I drove through Starbucks for a well-deserved Chai Tea Latte (I had received a job offer the day before and decided to treat myself!) when I received my drink I was pleasantly surprised to be handed the coveted red holiday Starbucks cup...which everyone knows officially marks the holiday season!

These Chai Cream Cupcakes also remind me of this special time of the year! I think it's the cinnamon. These cupcakes were created by Baking Confessions. You can find step by step directions to create this spiced goods for yourself here!

Stout Cupcakes with Chocolate Covered Pretzels with Recipe Link

Somehow I managed to stumble upon another beer cupcake recipe. I'm still trying to get myself to indulge in such a sinful vice but have yet to bake up any alcohol based treats for myself. However, these beer-infused cupcakes created by Jamie of My Baking Addiction look too delicious not to at least try! I was particularly intrigued by these espresso stout based cupcakes because of the chocolate/coffee flavor mingling of it all. The kicker is the dark chocolate covered pretzels atop these little bad boys, because in her words, "what goes better with beer than pretzels?!" She created an easy to follow guide on her site so you can create these dude pleasing cupcakes for yourself!

Scaredy Cat Cupcakes with Recipe and Tutorial Link!

I have a soft spot for black cats and these sparkly cupcakes are no exception! Visit Earth Eats for a full recipe and tutorial on how to make these spooky cupcakes in your own kitchen. Happy Halloween! 

Vegan Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Recipe Link

How yummy do these Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes look?! Did I mention they're vegan? The kicker that sold me on these chocolate delights was that instead of frosting, they're topped with a vegan coconut milk based whipped cream!

At first glance, this just looks like any other cupcake but after I looked over the ingredients it seemed that this cupcake was anything but ordinary. Formulated by user ChefShanaRachel of the website Food52, she promises that this recipe will please vegans and non vegans alike! Check out the recipe here!

Blue Moon Cupcakes with Recipe Link

Lately I've been seeing more and more alcohol based cupcakes. Now I haven't had one myself but I occasionally like to partake in spirits and I do love cupcakes, so I see no reason why these two worlds shouldn't be combined to create some epic treats...and the site, Miss Make, figured out a way to do just that. The recipe looks pretty easy to follow, you can check it out here!

Bloody Brain Cupcakes---not for the squeamish

People, these are kinda gross......but really cool!!!

These were made by Craftzine.com...

"Make these bloody brain cupcakes that will be sure to leave your Halloween party guests saying both "Eww" and "Yum" at the same time. Featuring raspberry jam on top as the blood and marzipan brain baked inside, these cupcake treats are also fun for the little ghosts and goblins before the run off for a night of trick or treating." ---from the Craftzine website


They are a bit graphic but a neat idea for a Halloween treat!

ECLAIR cupcakes!!!

I was inspired by the gigantic ECLAIR cupcake at Molly's Cupcakes in NYC.

I tried to make some and they were awesome!!!

Mine ------------------------ Molly's

I followed a basic eclair cake recipe and then converted it to cupcakes! The inside was my favorite part!!!

These were sooo good. I mean really good. And relatively easy!! Thanks for the inspiration Molly's!


For more on these ECLAIR cupcakes click here

Broken Glass Cupcakes with Recipe Link

How gruesomely amazing are these Broken Glass cupcakes by Martha Stewart! The cupcake consists of a spice cake topped with a cream cheese frosting garnished with strained cherry preserves and sugar glass. The even more amazing part about these spooky treats is that everything is made from scratch! If you're willing to put in the time to make your Halloween cupcakes extra special then check out the recipe here!