Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Last Friday I got together with "the ladies" (as Brooklyn calls them) for a May birthday celebration.  Two of our birthdays fall in May so of course we met up for some Mexican food.  What does this have to do with Snickerdoodle Cupcakes?  Well, my friend Tarah brought Trophy cupcake samplers and I fell in love, LOVE, with the Snickerdoodle variety.  Thanks Tarah.  I think... 

I searched through a ton of cupcake recipes and combined two that I found and tried it out today.  I knew I was having dinner with my Grandparents, and Snickerdoodle cookies are my Papa Tom's favorite, so it seemed like a natural fit. 

It was a distant cousin to the Trophy version and was much closer to a Snickerdoodle cookie in texture/taste.  Trophy's was more of a strudel/muffin.  I will definitely make these again but I think I would swap out the frosting I tried today for my favorite White Chocolate Cream Cheese base but add the cinnamon.  Or, maybe a fluffy Cinnamon Buttercream would be a better fit.  This frosting was a little too cream cheesey for me...but my taste testers didn't complain.  :)  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

CAKE:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups whole milk

FROSTING:

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

TOPPING:

2 Tablespoons sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners.

2.  Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together 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.  Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with additions of milk, beating until combined after each addition.

4.  Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

5.  Prepare frosting.  In a medium bowl, use electric mixer to blend cream cheese and butter.  Add sugars, vanilla and ground cinnamon.  Spread onto cooled cupcakes, or scoop into piping bag and pipe on the frosting decoratively.  Place sugar/cinnamon mixture in a fine sieve and tap it lightly over the cupcakes to given them a light sparkle.