Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

Do you ever have one of those days when everything just seems to fall in place? And even if something happens that you would normally perceive as stressful, you just brush it off as insignificant? I guess I was just feeling very optimistic today (despite the fact that Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes were not my 1st choice, or 2nd for that matter)! When I asked my boyfriend to go with me to the grocery store, he said yes without any of the usual griping. While I was baking, he was totally occupied in the other room watching "Beer Fest," instead of letting me know how bored he was. I did my weekly house cleaning while the cupcakes were in the oven. The smell of cinnamon permeating the house made cleaning sooo much more pleasant! I planned on piping the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorating them really pretty, but the frosting came out too thin. However, it didn't bother me at all. No panic attack, no stressful thinking about how to fix it. I just smeared it all over the cupcakes without batting an eyelash. Today was just a nice day!

ingredients (that's cake mix and instant pudding mix in the back!)Cinnamon toast cupcakes cooling in their new clothes, Wilton "Cupcake Heaven" baking cups I got for my birthday!Your first place winner with 64 votes... Cinnamon Toast Cupcake!

The cupcakes tasted great. The flavor reminded me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Everyone loved them. One reaction I got was "D@&#, this $*!# is good!" Hahaha :) The frosting was mediocre in my opinion (no one else complained). I probably won't use this exact frosting recipe again, but I did it for the sake of the Cinnamon Toast Cupcake recipe in the book. I normally don't use a recipe for cream cheese frosting. I usually start with 8 oz. cream cheese, 1/2 stick butter, and start adding confectioners sugar until I like the consistency (sometimes I even add more cream cheese or butter). Then I add vanilla until the flavor is right.

Anyways.... Here is the recipe from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.

MY NOTES: I got 23 cupcakes. I had leftover frosting because it's too thin to pipe or pile high.

Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar for sprinkling (1 Tbsp sugar + 1/4 tsp cinnamon)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 min­utes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it 3/4 full. (You will get between 20 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans side by side in the oven.
3. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 22 min­utes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners. Lift the cup­cakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your finger­tips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for
15 minutes before frosting.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.
5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Sprinkle the frosting with the cinnamon­ sugar mixture. Place these cupcakes, uncovered or in a cake saver, in the refrig­erator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. The cupcakes are ready to serve.

Store the cupcakes in a cake saver or under a glass dome at room temperature
for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver for up to 6 months. Thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 3 cups

1 package (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the con­fectioners' sugar, a little at a time, blend­ing with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute. Add the cinnamon, then increase the mixer speed to medium and blend the frost­ing until fluffy, 1 minute more.