Easy Gourmet Cupcakes: Maple Bacon Brown Butter

Get ready to love me forever. Brown butter. Maple cream. Bacon. If you're trying to win someone over, use this cupcake.

These Easy Maple Bacon Brown Butter Cupcakes will be your new favorite breakfast.

The maple cream buttercream is to die for. (Feel free to die, but only if you must.) The cake mix is doctored the way we usually do it, except that this time we're browning the butter first. You can totally do this. Here's a video if you need encouragement. And, to top it all off - BACON!!! Come on now!




Here's our line up - yellow cake mix, brown butter, crumbled bacon, and maple extract. There's just a couple of extra steps in this recipe, but they are so worth it. And I know you can handle it. You're a cupcake making pro now, after all.




First, let's make us some brown butter. Put two sticks of butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt over medium high heat. As soon as the butter is melted, swirl the pan, or stir with a wooden spoon, continuously until butter browns. If you stop swirling or stirring the butter will splatter, so keep it moving. It should take 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour into a heat proof bowl and let cool for a bit. You can cook up your bacon while you're waiting for the butter to cool.

When your butter has cooled down from boiling hot to warm you can mix up your cupcake batter. Bake your cakes and then cool.

After your cupcakes are completely cool, crumble your bacon so it's ready to top your cupcakes and work on whipping up the best frosting ever. I say that about every frosting, don't I?




Beat three sticks of softened butter for 30 seconds.

Beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Scrape down the bowl and beat in a pinch of salt and 1 3/4 tsp maple extract. Beat in another 3 cups powdered sugar. Then, beat in some milk a tablespoon at a time until your buttercream is piping consistency - not too stiff, not too soft.

The fluffiest maple cream buttercream tops my Easy Maple Bacon Brown Butter Cupcakes.

Then, scrape down the bowl again and beat on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. So light. So fluffy. So maple-y (happy sigh).

My Easy Maple Bacon Brown Butter Cupcakes will make a morning person out of you.

Pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes and top with crumbled bacon. I find it's best to kinda push the bacon into the buttercream a bit.

These Easy Maple Bacon Brown Butter Cupcakes make the best breakfast ever.

Welcome to your new favorite breakfast!

Easy Gourmet Maple Bacon Brown Butter Cupcakes
(makes 24 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

For the brown butter cupcakes:
1 15.25 oz box yellow cake mix
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
* These ingredients are based on a cake mix that calls for 3 eggs, 1 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of oil. I added an extra egg, subbed whole milk for the water, and subbed butter for the oil, and then doubled the amount of butter.

For the maple cream buttercream:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1 3/4 tsp maple extract
a pinch of salt
1 to 4 Tbsp milk

1 cup crumbled bacon to top cupcakes (about 8 slices)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners.
2. Brown the butter for the cupcakes. Heat 2 sticks of butter over medium high heat until melted. Then, swirl or stir continuously for 3 to 5 minutes until butter is a deep auburn color. Immediately pour into a heat proof bowl and allow to cool to warm.
3. Cook and crumble bacon while butter cools.
4. In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients for the cupcakes, including the brown butter, and mix well using a hand mixer, whisk, or wooden spoon. The batter should be smooth.
5. Scoop a scant 1/4 cup of batter (or use a size 20 cupcake scoop) into each liner.
6. Bake cupcakes for the time recommended on your cake mix box for cupcakes. Check them at the earliest time by inserting a toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes near the center of the oven until it comes out clean.
7. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 15 minutes and then remove from the pans to cool completely.
8. For the maple cream buttercream, beat 3 sticks of softened butter for 30 seconds.
9. Scrape down the bowl and beat in 3 cups powdered sugar.
10. Scrape down the bowl again and beat in the maple extract and salt.
11. Scrape down the bowl and beat in 3 more cups powdered sugar.
12. Scrape down the bowl again and beat in milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you get a good pipable consistency - not too stiff, not too soft.
13. Scrape down the bowl again and beat on high for 3 minutes until buttercream is light and fluffy.
14. Snip off one corner of a Ziplock freezer bag a little smaller than your piping tip. Slide in your piping tip and set bag in a tall cup to easily fill with buttercream.
15. Twist the top of your bag closed and pipe buttercream onto each cupcake.
16. Immediately top with bacon pushing it into the buttercream a bit.