Is there such a thing as breakfast cupcakes?

Because if there isn't, there should be! I decided that an ACOT crop was befitting of some cupcakes and concocted these Cinnamon Bun Cupcakes. If you are a cinnamon lover like I am you are going to want to make some of these!

They taste exactly like cinnamon buns in cupcake form.

Note: If you use as much cinnamon swirl as I did, and do not swirl it enough, you may get some crunchy cinnamon bites in your fully cooled cakes. If you like less cinnamon swirl in your baked goods you can cut the cinnamon sugar part in half, but I liked the crunch in there!



Cinnamon Bun Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

For Cake:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack in the middle position. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake wrappers.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light colored and fluffy, about 3 minutes.Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla and beat at medium speed until thoroughly incorporated.
- Add the sour cream and beat until incorporated.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
- Add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
- Spoon half the mixture into the cupcake cups
- Spoon the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter in the cups
- Spon the remaining batter on top of the cinnamon layer and use a toothpick or skewer to gently swirl the layers.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-24 minutes.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (you can do all vanilla if you prefer)
2 - 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar


- Cream the cream cheese and butter together for about 3 minutes
- Add the extract(s)
- Incorporate the confectioner's sugar slowly and mix till fluffy

Knee-deep in crop...

No, that wasn't a typo. :-) This coming weekend, the 14th-16th, there is another awesome fun-filled online crop at A Cherry On Top! I, and the rest of the Creative Team, have been hard at work planning all kinds of fun challenges, fast scraps, and games. You KNOW you want some points.

I have been a scrappin' fool lately with the ESE stuff, crop planning, and trying to get ready for teaching a December class at SparkCraft Studios in Somerville, MA. Maybe someday I will actually have time to scrap my own stuff again!

What a Weekend!

So last weekend was the Extreme Scrapbooking Event (ESE) hosted by The Button Farm in Manchester, NH. They weren't kidding when they said extreme! Picture one hundred women in one room scrapping fantastic mini album kits for two days straight. I was originally a little nervous about shelling out so much dough for one weekend without seeing the projects first, but it was SO worth it! Angela designs the most amazing, detailed kits and everything was very well organized. I highly recommend ESE for some fun and fab albums!

Here is the first one we did... I will be keeping it for myself!
More photos to come as I add pictures to the albums.