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Over the past year, the most requested recipe on my blog is... red velvet cupcakes. I have tried-and-true recipes for chocolate cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes, but red velvet cupcakes were missing. To be honest, I was never a huge fan of red velvet up until a few years ago. Is it chocolate? Is it vanilla? The flavor always leaves me confused.

But I began to fall in love with it when I bit into a lavish 3 layer slice of red velvet cake at my friend's wedding. It was so unworldly moist, very buttery, full of vanilla flavor with a hint of chocolate goodness. And the tang from the cream cheese frosting was the perfect compliment to the indulgently sweet red velvet crumb underneath.

Simply put? That red velvet cake was the bees knees.

I have never been able to recreate something like it! I've felt like a red velvet failure for the past 3 and a half years. I've tried a lot of "good" red velvet cupcake and cake recipes- some great- but nothing that deserves a spot in my archives. When I received the billionth request from a red velvet loving reader (thank you for the nudge, Nancy!), I knew it was time to put on my big girl red velvet pajama pants. Ick! I don't wear velvet pants.

In the midst of all my pumpkin pie shenanigans last week, I also worked like a mad scientist on a red velvet cupcake recipe. And I am praising the heavens that I finally nailed it. NAILED IT! These cupcakes are absurdly amazing. And I'm not just saying that. My husband who "hates" red velvet inhaled 2 before his dinner of buffalo wings and french fries. The metabolism of a 20 something man, ladies and gents.

I'm getting off topic. So, let me tell ya a thing or two about these here cupcakes.

What makes red velvet stand out from say, chocolate cupcakes, is its wonderfully buttery flavor. I love that about red velvet. And during some recipe testing, I threw that flavor aside because all I could concentrate on was "make this cupcake moist, sally." And we all know oil brings so much moisture to cupcakes! But with oil we (1) don't have that natural buttery flavor and (2) the cupcakes aren't as light and soft. Something creamed butter imparts into cakes and cupcakes. Furthermore, I often find that too much oil weighs baked goods down.

So, let's use both. Oil - "the moist maker" (name that quote!) and creamed butter - a tried and true way to a fluffy cupcake crumb.

The cocoa. We're using that so the red velvet cupcakes can have a hint of chocolate. To me, red velvet is more of a vanilla cake than a chocolate cake. So I use only 4 teaspoons of cocoa to give the cupcakes that subtle chocolate flavor. It's perfect.

Though I typically love throwing brown sugar into just about everything I bake, I leave it out of these red velvet cupcakes. I don't want 1 hint of molasses flavor overtaking the vanilla, butter, and chocolate flavors. Simple white sugar is enough.
Baking Science // Nerd Alert...
Buttermilk is a must when it comes to red velvet. Slightly tangy, lots of moisture, and ultra creamy. You really cannot make these red beauties without it. Besides what buttermilk does to the taste and texture of these red velvet cupcakes, it also helps to activate the baking soda. So does the vinegar. Don't get scared, a touch of vinegar is normal in red velvet desserts- and no, you cannot taste it. If you don't have white vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar. The vinegar also makes the red... redder.

I almost forgot to mention the flour. What may have thrown off all my red velvet cupcake testing was the flour. Cake flour is key to an ultra light cake, but I (and you, I'm sure) don't really keep cake flour in the pantry. So, I usually develop my cake and cupcake recipes with all-purpose. Well. The moment I added cornstarch to all-purpose flour to make DIY cake flour was the moment I knew this recipe would be the winner. What's cake flour and why is it so extraordinary? Cake flour is a low protein flour (about 8%) and has a very fine texture. A lower protein count = less gluten forms when you mix it into a batter, thus producing a cake with a fine, soft crumb. Think, angel food cake. In a nutshell, cake flour produces a noticeably lighter cake crumb than all-purpose and red velvet cakes are known for their soft, light texture. Rather than buying cake flour, reduce all-purpose flour slightly and add cornstarch.

That was much longer than I intended it to be. Oy.

Though the red velvet cupcake itself is pretty impressive, my favorite part about this cupcake is its combination with cream cheese frosting. My frosting is like a cloud from cream cheese heaven. Incredibly creamy, tangy, sweet, smooth, and luscious. It's my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe and has never steered me wrong.

You're going to love 'em. Red velvet lovers, now we rejoice.

More Red Velvet to Love:

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Keywords: red velvet cupcakes

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Red Velvet Cupcakes - Sally's Baking Addiction

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Over the past year, the most requested recipe on my blog is... red velvet cupcakes. I have tried-and-true recipes for chocolate cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes, but red velvet cupcakes were missing. To be honest, I was never a huge fan of red velvet up until a few years ago.

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Pure, simple, and loaded with cinnamon-sugar, snickerdoodle cookies will always be a family favorite. I'm pretty sure cinnamon-sugar runs through all our veins!

So how about a cupcake recipe including all of that wonderful flavor? It's doable. And delicious. Ladies and gents, welcome to my snickerdoodle cupcakes with cinnamon swirl frosting!

I wasn't shy about loading cinny-swirls inside these snickerdoodles cupcakes. Cinnamon peeking through the edges, cinnamon-sugar dusted on top, a mountain of cinnamon-swirl frosting, and a mini snickerdoodle cookie to finish it all off. Go grab a tall glass of milk because you'll need it to get through this post!

Today's recipe is a fine example that show-stopping desserts don't have to be difficult or challenging! You can impress everyone with a simple recipe and a little creativity. Seriously... how can you resist THESE?

Making today's cupcakes is so easy, you'll feel like you did something wrong.

There are 3 parts to these snickerdoodle cupcakes:

Cinnamon-Swirled Vanilla Cupcakes

Cinnamon & Vanilla Swirled Frosting

Mini Snickerdoodle Cookies for decor

1) First, the cupcake batter. Very easy. It's mixed together in minutes! You don't even need an electric mixer. Simply melt butter, whisk it with some sugar, 1 egg, vanilla extract, yogurt, and milk. Yep, I used protein-packed Greek yogurt in these cupcakes. Not a lot, only a little to make them extra moist. You can use sour cream instead if it's easier.

The assembly: Spoon 2 Tablespoons of cupcake batter into 12 cupcake liners. Then, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar. Top with more cupcake batter and 1 more teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar. Some of the cinnamon-sugar layer from the center may peek out on the top. Here is what my cupcakes looked like before baking:

Now it's time to bake the snickerdoodle cupcakes. And then smell the cinnamon goodness wafting through your entire kitchen. The smell of these cupcakes is pure bliss!

2) The frosting. These snickerdoodle cupcakes are so gosh darn amazing, that you don't even need frosting. But let's be serious. I had the opportunity to make cinnamon frosting, so clearly cinnamon frosting is what I did...!

You can't really tell from the photos, but the frosting I used to top these cupcakes is two-toned. First, I made vanilla frosting. Then I transferred half of the frosting to a separate bowl and beat 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon into it. Cinnamon + vanilla in one. I could eat this swirly frosting all day and be set for life.

Here is exactly how I swirled the two frostings together. I simply filled my piping bag with half of the cinnamon frosting and half of the vanilla frosting. I used a Wilton 1M tip to frost, but any piping tip would work. If you do not have a frosting piping bag + tip, no worries! You can frost the two frostings however you'd like on top of the snickerdoodle cupcakes. Or just use all vanilla frosting or all cinnamon frosting.

3) And last but not least, a little decor for your Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. Mini snickerdoodle cookies. Whip up a batch of my Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles (a 20 minute recipe) and make them into mini cookies, which is about 2 teaspoons of cookie dough per cookie. Bake them for 7 minutes. This is optional!

So there ya go. A mini snickerdoodle cookie for your easy snickerdoodle cupcakes. 🙂 You could also decorate the cupcakes with a cinnamon stick, white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, sliced almonds, a drizzle of caramel sauce, a banana slice, apple slice, etc. Anything that goes with cinnamon. (Which is everything.)

Enjoy your new favorite cupcakes!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting

Author: Sally

Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x

Keywords: snickerdoodle cupcakes

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Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting - Sally's Baking Addiction

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Pure, simple, and loaded with cinnamon-sugar, snickerdoodle cookies will always be a family favorite. I'm pretty sure cinnamon-sugar runs through all our veins! So how about a cupcake recipe including all of that wonderful flavor? It's doable. And delicious. Ladies and gents, welcome to my snickerdoodle cupcakes with cinnamon swirl frosting!